The 1995–96 season was Stoke City's 89th 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 33rd in the second tier. Prior to the start of the 1995–96 season, the possibility of building a new stadium to bring Stoke up to the requirements of the

Taylor Report The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...

was discussed. On the pitch Stoke enjoyed their most successful season for quite a long time as they mounted a push for promotion to the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

and made the end-of-season

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. However, Leicester scored the only goal in the two-legged tie and they were the team that went on to be promoted.

Season review

League

There were few transactions taking place in the summer of 1995 with the main talk being about a change of home. The

had come to the conclusion that all football stadia in England should be all-seater and the best option for Stoke would be to build a new stadium rather than convert 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 ...

. The season began slowly with one win picked up in the first eight matches and with Icelandic midfielder Toddy Orlygsson leaving for

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

after a contract dispute. But wins over 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 ...

and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

kick started Stoke's season and after a 5–0 win at home against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, City went on a run of six wins in seven and took the team into the play-off zone. In November Stoke completed a master-stroke signing swapping Keith Scott, for

Mike Sheron Michael Nigel Sheron (born 11 January 1972) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who is under-23's head coach at Blackburn Rovers. As a player, he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Manchest ...

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. He formed a great partnership with

Simon Sturridge Simon Andrew Sturridge (born 9 December 1969) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He made more than 250 appearances in the Football League for Birmingham City, Stoke City, Blackpool, Northampton Town and Sh ...

and the pair scored 29 goals between them this season. Fielding a settled side, Stoke continued to remain in the hunt for promotion and after a 2–0 win at home to rivals Barnsley at the start of March Stoke put distance between themselves and 7th. But on transfer deadline day

Paul Peschisolido Paolo Pasquale Peschisolido (born 25 May 1971), commonly known as Paul Peschisolido, is a Canadian soccer manager and former player. Peschisolido was manager of English League Two club Burton Albion from May 2009 until March 2012. A forward, ...

was controversially sold back to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...

with Macari claiming not to have been aware of any deal. Attention was diverted by Sheron's club record run of seven goals in seven games as five wins out the last seven cemented Stoke place in the

. By this time it was agreed and ratified that in two years Stoke would be moving to a new purpose-built all-seater stadium. Stoke's opponents in the play-offs were

Martin O'Neill Martin Hugh Michael O'Neill, (born 1 March 1952) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. Starting his career in Northern Ireland, O'Neill moved to England where he spent most of his playi ...

whom Stoke had already beaten twice in the league. The first leg at

Filbert Street Filbert Street was a football stadium in Leicester, England, which served as the home of Leicester City F.C. from 1891 until 2002. Although officially titled the City Business Stadium in the early 1990s, it remained known almost exclusively by ...

ended 0–0. In the second leg, Stoke produced a poor performance and Leicester scored the only goal, Garry Parker's left-foot volley ending Stoke's hopes of promotion.

FA Cup

Stoke outplayed Premier League

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

but fell to a 2–0 defeat in a replay.

League Cup

Stoke drew

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in the second round and after a 0–0 draw at home Stoke produced a brilliant performance away at Stamford Bridge and came away with a memorable 1–0 victory thanks to a 75th-minute goal from

. Alas Stoke couldn't match another Premiership side, Newcastle United, who eased to a 4–0 win.

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League First Division

First Division play-offs

FA Cup

League Cup

Anglo-Italian Cup

* Note: The final group match against Reggiana was postponed and never replayed the result defaulted at 0–0.

Squad statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1995-96 Stoke City F.C. season Stoke City F.C. seasons

Stoke City F.C. Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...