The 1920–21 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 21st in the Football League and the third in the Second Division. Despite strengthening the Stoke squad with veteran

Tom Brittleton John Thomas Brittleton (23 April 1882 – 22 February 1955) was a professional footballer. He was one of the pioneers of the long throw-in. With a career spanning over 30 years, including 24 seasons in the Football League, he is the oldest pers ...

the most notable signing Stoke struggled all season and were involved in a fight against relegation. With one team being relegated this season, Stoke finished five points from bottom place Stockport County which was too close for comfort.

Season review

League

For the 1920–21 season efforts were made to strengthen the pool of players and the first of these was former England international

who made the move from Sheffield Wednesday and immediately became club captain. Competition for places or not manager

Arthur Shallcross Arthur J. Shallcross (1876 – 1950) was an English association football manager who managed Stoke City between February 1919 and March 1923. Career Shallcross played for his native Leek before becoming a Football League referee in 1895. He was ...

maintained a settled side that is until in October when he transferred Charlie Parker to

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. He had spent six years at Stoke and became a fan favourite. A shortage of goals saw Stoke slip dangerously towards the lower regions of the Second Division as the 1920–21 season progressed and with only one club being relegated to the newly formed Third Division North the margin of five points and a 20th-place finish out of 22 was too close for comfort.

Arthur Watkin Arthur Watkin (30 July 1895 – 27 August 1972) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Stoke. His brother Frank Watkin was also a footballer who played for Stoke. Career Watkin was born in Burslem and joined Stoke in ...

top scored with 15 and

Billy Tempest William Tempest (8 January 1893 – 1945) was an English footballer who played on the left-wing. He played for Stoke between 1912 and 1924, before finishing his career in 1926 with Port Vale. Career Tempest played for Trentham in two spells ar ...

scored 10 however other than those two there was a lack of goals in the side. A most significant signing in April 1921 was that of

Bob McGrory Robert Gerald McGrory (17 October 1891 – 24 May 1954) was a Scottish footballer who played in the Football League for Burnley and Stoke City with whom he later had a long spell as manager. McGrory played football with Dumbarton before joining ...

, a full-back from Burnley. Rumours has it that McGrory had reservations about joining Stoke as he did not like the look of the place. Whether this was true or not, he went on to spend 31 years with the club as a player and manager eventually leaving the club in May 1952.

FA Cup

Stoke again exited the competition at the first hurdle losing 3–2 away at eventual runners-up Wolverhampton Wanderers in front of 35,000 spectators.

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League Second Division

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References