The 1970–71 season was Stoke City's 64th 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 40th in the First Division. Stoke had a successful season making it to the semi-final of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

for only the second time in their history. Stoke made it through seven matches before facing Arsenal, where after building a 2–0 lead at Hillsborough Stoke let slip in the final few minutes and Arsenal levelled at 2–2. In the replay the "Gunners" won 2–0 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

. In the league Stoke finished in a mid-table position of 13th with 37 points, Stoke did record a famous win over Arsenal beating the eventual league champions 5–0 in September.

Season review

League

Stoke had a good opening spell to the 1970–71 season, losing just three of their first 12 matches one of which was a crushing 5–2 defeat at Midlands rivals

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

. But generally the defence looked strong and solid and indeed six clean sheets were kept during that period. Stoke's sixth home game of the season on 26 September was against

Bertie Mee Bertram Mee OBE (25 December 1918 – 21 October 2001) was an English footballer who played as a winger for Derby County and Mansfield Town. Mee was also a manager, noted for leading Arsenal to their first Double win in 1971. Playing career Bor ...

's impressive Arsenal side at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. History ...

. Because of local travel difficulties (bus driver strike) just over 18,000 fans saw the match and those lucky enough to be there watch one of the best performances by a Stoke City side. Arsenal, who would go on to become First Division and FA Cup winners were well beaten 5–0 by Stoke in front of the

Match of the Day ''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...

cameras. As the season wore on Stoke found it difficult to maintain a consistent run of form in the First Division and their attentions soon turned towards the FA Cup. With the cup a distraction Stoke did well to finish in a mid table position of 13th.

FA Cup

After Christmas Stoke became heavily involved in the FA Cup and they came very close to making it to their first final. Revenge was gained over

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 ...

in the third round and then

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. Th ...

proved to be difficult to get the better of, the tie finally being decided in a second replay at Old Trafford, Stoke winning 1–0 thanks to a goal from

Jimmy Greenhoff James Greenhoff (born 19 June 1946) is an English former footballer. He was a skilful forward and although capped five times at under-23 level, once as an over-age player, he never played for the full side, and is labelled as the finest Englis ...

. In the fifth round Stoke met

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

and after a goalless draw, Denis Smith scoring the only goal at

Portman Road Portman Road is a football stadium in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, which has been the home ground of Ipswich Town F.C. since 1884. The stadium has also hosted many England youth international matches, and one senior England friendly internation ...

to send Stoke through to face

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

in the quarter-final. The tie at

Boothferry Park Boothferry Park was a football stadium in Hull, England, which was home to Hull City A.F.C. from 1946 until 2002, when they moved to the KC Stadium. In later years, financial constraints forced Hull City to allow Kwik Save and Iceland superma ...

was a cracking encounter with Stoke winning 3–2 to claim a place in the semi-final for the first time since

1899 Events January 1899 * January 1 ** Spanish rule ends in Cuba, concluding 400 years of the Spanish Empire in the Americas. ** Queens and Staten Island become administratively part of New York City. * January 2 – **Bolivia sets up a c ...

, 75 years ago. Their opponents in the semi-final were Arsenal with the tie played at Hillsborough Stadium in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

. Stoke produced a dominant first half display and went into the half time break 2–0 up, with Smith and Ritchie scoring the goals that sent Stoke supporters ecstatic. Alas it was not to be as Arsenal clawed their way back into the match thanks to two second half goals from

Peter Storey Peter Edwin Storey (born 7 September 1945) is a former England international footballer. Able to play at full-back or more commonly as a defensive midfielder, he picked up a reputation in the Football League as an aggressive player in the 1960 ...

with the last being a penalty in the last minute of the game. Stoke were left to rue only scoring two goals in their first half dominance as the "Gunners" earned a replay they hardly deserved.

was the venue for 'part two' of the contest and in front of 62,356, Arsenal comfortably won 2–0 and went on to lift the trophy and complete a domestic double alongside their First Division league title. On the eve of the final, Stoke won the third place play off against Everton 3–2.

League Cup

knocked Stoke out of the League Cup 2–1 in the second round.

Final league table

Results

''Stoke's score comes first''

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Texaco Cup The Texaco Cup, officially known as the International League Board Competition, was an association football competition started in 1970, involving sides from England, Scotland, and Ireland that had not qualified for European competitions. It wa ...

Anglo-Italian Cup

Friendlies

Squad statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1970-71 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 ...