The 1935–36 season was Stoke City's 36th season in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

and the 22nd in the First Division. In June 1935 long-serving defender

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 ...

replaced

Tom Mather Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in '' Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

as first-team manager and in his first season in charge Stoke went on to record their finest season up to this point finishing in 4th position in the First Division. They were never out of the top four for the last three months of the season and whilst they never really threatened runaway leaders Sunderland, Stoke were considered to be one of the best teams in the country. The 1935–36 season finish of 4th is only matched by the performance by the Stoke team of the 1946–47 season.

Season review

League

After last season Stoke went on a tour of

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winning all three matches against local opposition. On their return to England in June 1935,

replaced

as manager. Mather had been at the helm for over eleven years and did well in taking Stoke from Third Division football to the First. It also spelt the end of McGrory's playing career in which he made 510 appearances for the club, a total not to be surpassed for 24 years. The first signing McGrory made was that of Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Norman Wilkinson he would prove to be a sound addition. Despite this McGrory gave the squad a vote of confidence and indeed few clubs in the country showed little alteration to their squads than Stoke City. Whilst it was 'as you were' on the playing side, Stoke appointed a host of new backroom staff and Arthur Turner was made club captain. The supporters were disappointed that despite there being money available no new players arrived and their concerns were increased when the reserves beat the first team in a public friendly match. The supporters need not have worried as McGrory's first season turned out to be one of the finest in the club's history as they achieved fourth place in the First Division. They were never out of the top four for the last three months of the season and were generally accepted as one of the countries most impressive sides. With more players being promoted from the youth ranks Stoke looked set for a bright future.

FA Cup

Stoke required replays to beat lower league

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

and Manchester United but Barnsley knocked Stoke out 2–1 in the fifth round.

Final league table

Results

''Stoke's score comes first''

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1935-36 Stoke City F.C. season Stoke City F.C. seasons

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 ...