The 1905–06 season was

Stoke Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stok ...

's 17th season in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

. It was a good season for Stoke as they started well winning their first five matches and with a number of good local players in the team playing regularly. Stoke's form did eventually drop and they finished in 10th position a much improved finish from previous seasons. However it would be a case of 'calm before the storm' for Stoke and their supporters.

Season review

League

For the 1905–06 season, the First Division was extended to 20 clubs. Stoke enticed goalkeeper

Leigh Richmond Roose Leigh Richmond "Dick" Roose, Military Medal, MM, (27 November 1877 – 7 October 1916) was a Welsh international association football, footballer who kept goal for a number of professional clubs in the English Football League, Football League b ...

back to the club whilst

James Bradley James Bradley (1692–1762) was an English astronomer and priest who served as the third Astronomer Royal from 1742. He is best known for two fundamental discoveries in astronomy, the aberration of light (1725–1728), and the nutation of the ...

departed for Liverpool. The 'Potters' started the season off in fine style winning their opening five matches to go top of the league table for the first time in their history–and they remained there for five weeks.

Horace Austerberry Horace Denham Austerberry (1868–1946) was an English football manager who managed Stoke. Career Austerberry was born in Hanley and worked at St. John's school as assistant schoolmaster to former Stoke manager Thomas Slaney. It was Slaney who ...

seemed to have found the right line-up and managed to keep it settled for the first seven matches. The crowds improved steadily and they reached the 12,000 mark as Stoke began to play well at home. In early November

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

were well beaten 4–0 with

Ted Holdcroft Hugh Edward Holdcroft (c. 1882 – 4 February 1952) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Burslem Port Vale and Stoke in the early 1900s. Career Holdcroft joined Burslem Port Vale in October 1901. His debut came at ce ...

scoring twice, to bring his goals tally to six in ten games unfortunately for Holcroft it was also his final goals of the season. Stoke's decent form continued but

George Baddeley George Baddeley (8 May 1874 – July 1952) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke and West Bromwich Albion. Career Born in Fegg Hayes, Stoke-upon-Trent, Baddeley attended Fegg Hayes Church of England School. Afte ...

injured his knee on boxing day and Stoke's form began to drop. They eventually finished in 10th position with 39 points 12 behind champions Liverpool.

FA Cup

Stoke again went out of the cup in the second round this time losing 1–0 to

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

after beating

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References