1915–16 Stoke F.C. season

Stoke
1915–16 season
ChairmanMr E.Reynish
ManagerJoe Schofield
StadiumVictoria Ground
Lancashire Section Primary Competition8th
Midland Section Secondary Competition4th
Top goalscorerBob Whittingham
(26)
Highest home attendance14,000 vs Bolton Wanderers
(5 February 1916)
Lowest home attendance3,000 vs Various teams

The 1915–16 season was Stoke's first season in the non-competitive War League.[1]

With the start of World War I, all Football League football was cancelled.[1] In its place were formed War Leagues, based on geographical lines rather than based on previous league placement. Stoke contested the Lancashire Section in the Principal Tournament, and the Southern Division of the Midland Section in the Subsidiary Tournament. However, none of these were considered to be competitive football, and thus their records are not recognised by the Football League.[1]

Season review

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With Peter Hodge returning to his family in Scotland former club great, Joe Schofield returned to the club in 1915 as manager for the War-time seasons and with a number of first team players joining the army Stoke fielded a number of 'guest' players as did many other clubs.[1] For the whole war Stoke played in the Lancashire section and in the 1915–16 season ended up in mid-table position of 8th while in the Midland Section Secondary Competition Stoke finished 4th.[1] Stoke's best result was a 7–1 win over Chesterfield Town and guest forward Bob Whittingham was top scorer with 26 goals to his name.[1]

Final league table

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Lancashire Section Primary Competition

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
1 Manchester City 26 16 3 7 61 35 1.743 35
2 Burnley 26 14 5 7 71 43 1.651 33
3 Blackpool 26 14 3 9 54 41 1.317 31
4 Everton 25 15 0 10 59 42 1.405 30
5 Oldham Athletic 25 13 3 9 52 44 1.182 29
6 Liverpool 26 11 7 8 48 42 1.143 29
7 Stockport County 26 13 3 10 47 43 1.093 29
8 Stoke 26 10 7 9 43 46 0.935 27
9 Southport Central 26 9 6 11 41 41 1.000 24
10 Bury 26 10 3 13 46 52 0.885 23
11 Manchester United 26 7 8 11 41 51 0.804 22
12 Bolton Wanderers 26 9 3 14 48 65 0.738 21
13 Rochdale 26 7 5 14 34 56 0.607 19
14 Preston North End 26 4 2 20 23 67 0.343 10
Source: [citation needed]

Midland Section Secondary Competition

[edit]
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
1 Nottingham Forest 10 7 0 3 28 12 2.333 14
2 Notts County 10 5 3 2 16 12 1.333 13
3 Leicester Fosse 10 3 3 4 15 19 0.789 9
4 Stoke 10 4 0 6 21 18 1.167 8
5 Derby County 10 4 0 6 23 28 0.821 8
6 Chesterfield Town 10 3 2 5 15 29 0.517 8
Source: [citation needed]

Results

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Stoke's score comes first

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Lancashire Section Primary Competition

[edit]
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 4 September 1915 Preston North End H 3–1 6,000 Smith, Jones, Whittingham
2 11 September 1915 Stockport County A 1–3 4,000 Smith
3 18 September 1915 Liverpool H 2–2 8,000 Whittingham (2)
4 25 September 1915 Bury H 3–2 7,000 Whittingham (2), Herbert
5 2 October 1915 Manchester United H 0–0 6,500
6 9 October 1915 Blackpool A 1–1 4,000 Herbert
7 16 October 1915 Southport Central H 2–0 3,000 Whittingham, Tempest
8 23 October 1915 Oldham Athletic A 3–1 2,000 Whittingham (2), Herbert
9 30 October 1915 Everton H 3–2 4,000 Whittingham, Smith, Hargreaves
10 6 November 1915 Bolton Wanderers A 1–2 4,000 Smith
11 13 November 1915 Manchester City H 1–0 7,000 Parker
12 20 November 1915 Rochdale H 1–1 4,000 Whittingham
13 27 November 1915 Burnley A 2–3 4,000 Whittingham, Hargreaves
14 4 December 1915 Preston North End A 3–2 3,500 Whittingham (2), Ellis
15 11 December 1915 Stockport County H 0–2 3,000
16 18 December 1915 Liverpool A 0–2 7,500
17 25 December 1915 Bury A 2–4 2,000 Herbert, Whittingham
18 1 January 1916 Manchester United A 2–1 8,000 Hargreaves, Ellis
19 8 January 1916 Blackpool H 3–1 7,500 Whittingham, Watkin (2)
20 15 January 1916 Southport Central A 1–1 2,000 Whittingham
21 22 January 1916 Oldham Athletic H 2–1 6,000 Whittingham (2)
22 29 January 1916 Everton A 1–4 4,000 Whittingham (pen)
23 5 February 1916 Bolton Wanderers H 1–1 14,000 Parker
24 12 February 1916 Manchester City A 2–4 10,000 Own Goal, Ellis
25 19 February 1916 Rochdale A 1–3 3,000 Whittingham
26 26 February 1916 Burnley H 2–2 13,000 Whittingham, Smith

Midland Section Secondary Competition

[edit]
Match Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 4 March 1916 Chesterfield Town A 0–3 2,000
2 11 March 1916 Nottingham Forest H 0–1 4,000
3 18 March 1916 Leicester Fosse A 1–2 7,500 Whittingham
4 25 March 1916 Notts County H 3–0 6,000 Whittingham (2), Smith
5 1 April 1916 Derby County A 2–4 4,000 Smith (2)
6 8 April 1916 Chesterfield Town H 7–1 7,000 Herbert (3), Ellis, Turner, Boxley (2)
7 15 April 1916 Nottingham Forest A 1–3 4,000 Morris
8 22 April 1916 Leicester Fosse H 1–0 6,000 Own Goal
9 24 April 1916 Derby County H 6–1 6,000 Own Goal, Whittingham (2), Herbert, Boxley, Harrison
10 29 April 1916 Notts County A 0–3 4,000

Squad statistics

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Pos. Name Matches
Apps Goals
GK England Richard Herron 36 0
DF England G. Cameron 2 0
DF England George Clarke 2 0
DF Wales Albert Groves 2 0
DF England Alec McClure 2 0
DF England Alec Milne 1 0
DF England George Smart 32 0
DF England George Turner 36 1
DF England Billy Twemlow 1 0
MF England Frank Bentley 11 0
MF England George Handley 2 0
MF England Billy Harrison 7 1
MF Wales Joe Jones 33 1
MF England A. Morris 6 1
MF England Charlie Parker 28 2
MF England Jack Shelton 26 0
FW England David Boxley 2 3
FW England Billy Briscoe 2 0
FW England Matthew Burton 1 0
FW England S. Cooper 1 0
FW England Albert Ellis 20 4
FW England Reginald Forrester 1 0
FW England Thomas Greaves 7 0
FW England Henry Hargreaves 22 3
FW England Billy Herbert 35 8
FW England Jack Peart 1 0
FW England Dick Smith 23 7
FW England Billy Tempest 13 1
FW England Billy Tompkinson 4 0
FW England G. Ward 1 0
FW England Arthur Watkin 3 2
FW England Albert Whitehurst 1 0
FW England Bob Whittingham 32 26

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.