1932–33 Stoke City F.C. season
# 1932–33 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1932–33 season was Stoke City's 33rd season in the Football League and the 13th in the Second Division.

After almost gaining promotion last season there was great belief that Stoke would finally make a return to the First Division. And they would do so in impressive style, setting a number of records as they finished in 1st place, a point ahead of Tottenham Hotspur to claim the Second Division title.

## Season review

### League

After last season's success the main topic amongst the supporters was whether or not their squad of up-and-coming young players was good enough to get Stoke promoted. Mather did not sign anyone during the summer claiming he was happy with his squad and confident that promotion could be gained.

Stoke started the 1932–33 season brilliantly winning 13 from their first 18 matches, with Joe Johnson, Joe Mawson, Bobby Liddle and Stanley Matthews in fine form. No wins in December allowed Tottenham Hotspur to close the gap at the top of the table and they would be destined to be running partners for the rest of the season. Mawson suffered injury towards the end of the season which would ruin his career and Mather brought in Reading forward Jack Palethorpe to fill the gap and he did well scoring eight goals in ten matches.

Stoke produced the goods and with a 5–2 win over Lincoln City they finished top of the table taking the Second Division title in style finishing a point above Tottenham Hotspur and six ahead of third-placed Fulham. Stoke achieved a number of records during a memorable season, such as most wins in the Football League (25), the best goal average in the top two leagues (2.000), the best away record in Division Two, and the best defensive record. Joe Mawson became leading goalscorer for the second season running with 16 goals. During the season Bob McGrory was made coach of the reserve squad and only made a few appearances.

### FA Cup

With Stoke's main goal achieving promotion little pressure was placed on the FA Cup and ultimately they tamely lost 4–1 at Middlesbrough.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Stoke City | 42 | 25 | 6 | 11 | 78 | 39 | 2.000 | 56 | Division Champions |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur | 42 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 96 | 51 | 1.882 | 55 | Promoted |
| 3 | Fulham | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 78 | 65 | 1.200 | 50 | |
| 4 | Bury | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 84 | 59 | 1.424 | 49 | |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 67 | 59 | 1.136 | 49 | |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |
| - | - | - |

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 27 August 1932 | Manchester United | A | 2–0 | 24,996 | Mawson (2) |
| 2 | 29 August 1932 | Millwall | H | 1–2 | 13,026 | Mawson |
| 3 | 3 September 1932 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–0 | 12,230 | Davies (2) |
| 4 | 5 September 1932 | Millwall | A | 0–0 | 10,000 | |
| 5 | 10 September 1932 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–0 | 6,000 | Ware |
| 6 | 17 September 1932 | Oldham Athletic | H | 4–0 | 13,528 | Mawson (2), Johnson (2) |
| 7 | 24 September 1932 | Preston North End | A | 3–1 | 10,000 | Turner, Mawson, Ware |
| 8 | 1 October 1932 | Burnley | H | 3–0 | 12,583 | Johnson (3) |
| 9 | 8 October 1932 | Bradford Park Avenue | A | 2–2 | 8,000 | Turner, Mawson |
| 10 | 15 October 1932 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 2–0 | 10,156 | Mawson (2) |
| 11 | 22 October 1932 | Port Vale | H | 1–0 | 29,243 | Johnson |
| 12 | 29 October 1932 | Notts County | A | 4–3 | 8,500 | Liddle, Mawson (2), Johnson |
| 13 | 5 November 1932 | Swansea Town | H | 2–0 | 15,268 | Davies, Johnson |
| 14 | 12 November 1932 | Southampton | A | 0–1 | 10,000 | |
| 15 | 19 November 1932 | West Ham United | H | 0–0 | 11,069 | |
| 16 | 26 November 1932 | Fulham | A | 3–1 | 25,000 | Turner, Sale, Mawson |
| 17 | 3 December 1932 | Chesterfield | H | 2–1 | 12,102 | Davies, Johnson |
| 18 | 10 December 1932 | Lincoln City | A | 3–2 | 4,500 | Mawson, Johnson, Sale |
| 19 | 17 December 1932 | Bury | H | 2–3 | 13,521 | Turner, Sale |
| 20 | 24 December 1932 | Bradford City | A | 1–1 | 7,500 | Sale |
| 21 | 26 December 1932 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–1 | 22,279 | |
| 22 | 27 December 1932 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–1 | 13,000 | |
| 23 | 31 December 1932 | Manchester United | H | 0–0 | 14,115 | |
| 24 | 7 January 1933 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 2–3 | 20,000 | Liddle, Ware |
| 25 | 21 January 1933 | Grimsby Town | H | 2–0 | 8,421 | Mawson, Johnson |
| 26 | 31 January 1933 | Oldham Athletic | A | 4–0 | 3,908 | Johnson (2), Ware, Salmon |
| 27 | 4 February 1933 | Preston North End | H | 1–1 | 12,750 | Sale |
| 28 | 11 February 1933 | Burnley | A | 2–1 | 12,228 | Sellars, Mawson |
| 29 | 18 February 1933 | Bradford Park Avenue | H | 4–0 | 7,962 | Sellars, Liddle, Mawson, Ware |
| 30 | 25 February 1933 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 0–1 | 8,000 | |
| 31 | 4 March 1933 | Port Vale | A | 3–1 | 19,484 | Johnson, Ware, Matthews |
| 32 | 11 March 1933 | Notts County | H | 0–2 | 14,223 | |
| 33 | 18 March 1933 | Swansea Town | A | 2–0 | 7,000 | Palethorpe (2) |
| 34 | 25 March 1933 | Southampton | H | 3–1 | 18,891 | Sale, Jackson, Palethorpe |
| 35 | 1 April 1933 | West Ham United | A | 2–1 | 10,000 | Sale, Palethorpe |
| 36 | 8 April 1933 | Fulham | H | 0–1 | 17,000 | |
| 37 | 14 April 1933 | Charlton Athletic | A | 0–1 | 10,000 | |
| 38 | 15 April 1933 | Chesterfield | A | 2–1 | 8,000 | Sale, Palethorpe |
| 39 | 17 April 1933 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–0 | 22,341 | Liddle, Palethorpe |
| 40 | 22 April 1933 | Lincoln City | H | 5–2 | 19,998 | Liddle, Sale (2), Palethorpe, Ware |
| 41 | 29 April 1933 | Bury | A | 2–3 | 8,790 | Johnson, Palethorpe |
| 42 | 6 May 1933 | Bradford City | H | 4–1 | 17,380 | Turner, Liddle (2), Sale |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 14 January 1933 | Southampton | H | 1–0 | 18,526 | Davies |
| R4 | 28 January 1933 | Middlesbrough | A | 1–4 | 25,000 | Liddle |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Dave Beswick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| GK | Roy John | 40 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| DF | Arthur Beachill | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 |
| DF | Joe Buller | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | Bob McGrory | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| DF | Charlie Scrimshaw | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Spencer | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| MF | Jack Hartshorne | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Peter Jackson | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| MF | William Robertson | 39 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| MF | Henry Salmon | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| MF | Harry Sellars | 39 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 41 | 2 |
| MF | Arthur Turner | 42 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 44 | 5 |
| FW | Walter Bussey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Harry Davies | 31 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 5 |
| FW | Joe Johnson | 41 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 43 | 15 |
| FW | Bobby Liddle | 33 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 35 | 8 |
| FW | Stanley Matthews | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| FW | Joe Mawson | 26 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 16 |
| FW | Jack Palethorpe | 10 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 8 |
| FW | Tommy Sale | 21 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 11 |
| FW | Harry Ware | 29 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 7 |
