The 1964–65 season was

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

's 58th 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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

and the 34th in the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

. Stoke's main aim for the 1964–65 season was to consolidate themselves in the First Division and despite having not the greatest run of results Stoke finished in a comfortable position of 11th.

Stanley Matthews Sir Stanley Matthews (1 February 1915 – 23 February 2000) was an English Association football, footballer who played as an Forward (association football)#Outside forward, outside right. Often regarded as one of the greatest players of the Br ...

called time on his long and famous career on 6 February 1965 against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

at the age of 50 and 5 days.

Season review

League

Manager

Tony Waddington Anthony Waddington (9 November 1924 – 21 January 1994) was an English football player and manager. He managed both Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City. Waddington had a seven-year playing career with Crewe Alexandra before becoming a coach at ...

continued to improve the squad prior to the start of 1964–65 season with experienced players. This policy found favour with the fans, the quality of an attack that included Peter Dobing,

Dennis Viollet Dennis Sydney Viollet (20 September 1933 – 6 March 1999) was an English footballer who played for Manchester United and Stoke City as well as the England national team. He was famous as one of the Busby Babes and survived the Munich air disa ...

and

Jimmy McIlroy James McIlroy (25 October 1931 – 20 August 2018) was a Northern Ireland international footballer, who played for Glentoran, Burnley, Stoke City and Oldham Athletic. He was regarded as one of Burnley's greatest players, having played 497 mat ...

was there for all too see, and local prospects flourished alongside this impressive forward line. One of whom was John Ritchie who was top scorer in 1964–65 with 25 league goals including four against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

who would sign Ritchie in 1966. On 6 February 1965

again entered the record books when at the age of 50 years and five days he turned out for Stoke one last time against

, Stoke won the match 3–1. To say thank you to Matthews, Stoke arranged a match against a team of international star players which was broadcast live to an estimated worldwide audience of 112 million. More players arrived at Stoke during the season with the arrivals of

Maurice Setters Maurice Edgar Setters (16 December 1936 – 22 November 2020) was an English football player and manager. As a player, he made more than 400 appearances in the Football League for Exeter City, West Bromwich Albion, Manchester United, Stoke Cit ...

Roy Vernon Thomas Royston Vernon (14 April 1937 – 4 December 1993) was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a forward for Blackburn Rovers, Everton and Stoke City. Vernon won 32 caps for Wales, scoring eight goals in total, and representing h ...

and

Harry Burrows Henry "Harry" Burrows (born 17 March 1941) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Plymouth Argyle and Stoke City. Career Burrows was born in Haydock and attracted the attentions of First ...

helping Stoke to finish in 11th position, winning and losing 16 matches.

FA Cup

After an impressive 4–1 win against

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

Stoke drew 0–0 with

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

before losing 1–0 at a foggy

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

League Cup

Stoke, last season's runners-up, had a poor League Cup campaign this season as they needed a replay to beat

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1886, the club were inaugur ...

, then edged past

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

before losing 3–1 away at

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club has played ...

in a replay.

Final league table

Results

''Stoke's score comes first''

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Friendlies

Squad statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1964-65 Stoke City F.C. season Stoke City F.C. seasons

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...