1891–92 Stoke F.C. season
# 1891–92 Stoke F.C. season

The 1891–92 season was Stoke's third season in the Football League.

Stoke returned to the Football League after a season in the Football Alliance. Stoke continued to struggle in the more demanding competition and finished in 13th position with 14 points and had to seek re-election for the third time, they were successful in doing gaining more votes than Darwen and Sheffield United.

## Season review

### League

Prior to the start of the season Stoke had to ditch their traditional red and white striped kit due to the Football League ruling that only one style of kit can be used by one club and Sunderland were allowed to use red and white. Stoke used amber and black which changed to plain maroon coloured shirts, it took until the 1910s before Stoke could use red and white stripes on a regular basis. The rule was eventually scrapped in 1919.

For the 1891–92 season the Football League was increased from 12 to 14 clubs, Stoke along with Darwen joined the Football League. Despite a bright enough start, Stoke winning 2–1 at home to Derby County, there was a lack of improvement in their overall form and the team quickly dropped down the table. A 9–3 defeat at Darwen, who eventually finished bottom of the league and failed to be re-elected, was the most disappointing performance of a dismal campaign, although Stoke did win 5–1 in the return fixture. Goalkeeper Bill Rowley had now returned from injury and was captain of the side, while Arthur Reeves replaced Joseph Bradshaw as manager in January 1892. Re-election was again sought and duly achieved beating Sheffield United by one vote. They instead joined the newly formed Second Division for the 1892–93 season. Left-winger Joe Schofield made his debut for Stoke against Burnley on 10 October 1891. Schofield would go on to become one of Stoke's greatest players of the 1890s and earned a reputation as a goalscoring winger and he later managed the club during World War I.

### FA Cup

After beating amateur side Casuals 3–0 (twice, after the first match was declared void due to icy pitch) and Burnley 3–1, Stoke drew 2–2 with Sunderland to set up Stoke's first cup replay which they lost 4–0.

## Final league table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 10 | Derby County | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 46 | 52 | 0.885 | 24 | |
| 11 | Accrington | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 40 | 78 | 0.513 | 20 | Re-elected |
| 12 | West Bromwich Albion | 26 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 51 | 58 | 0.879 | 18 | FA Cup Winners |
| 13 | Stoke | 26 | 5 | 4 | 17 | 38 | 61 | 0.623 | 14 | Re-elected |
| 14 | Darwen | 26 | 4 | 3 | 19 | 38 | 112 | 0.339 | 11 | Failed re-election |

* ↑ FA Cup winners — no re-election required
* 1 2 New club in the league
* ↑ Not re-elected, invited to join Second Division.

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

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

### Football League

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 5 September 1891 | Derby County | H | 2–1 | 3,000 | Turner (2) |
| 2 | 12 September 1891 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–3 | 5,000 | Dunn |
| 3 | 19 September 1891 | Burnley | A | 1–4 | 4,000 | Evans |
| 4 | 26 September 1891 | Notts County | A | 1–1 | 6,000 | Cameron |
| 5 | 3 October 1891 | Darwen | A | 3–9 | 4,500 | Cameron, Dunn, Naughton |
| 6 | 10 October 1891 | Burnley | H | 3–0 | 3,500 | Cameron (2), Schofield |
| 7 | 17 October 1891 | Derby County | A | 3–3 | 5,000 | Naughton, Schofield, Turner |
| 8 | 24 October 1891 | Aston Villa | H | 2–3 | 7,000 | Clifford, Schofield |
| 9 | 7 November 1891 | Preston North End | H | 0–1 | 4,500 | |
| 10 | 9 November 1891 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 0–1 | 4,000 | |
| 11 | 14 November 1891 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 1–1 | 3,500 | Ballham |
| 12 | 21 November 1891 | Aston Villa | A | 1–2 | 5,500 | Naughton |
| 13 | 28 November 1891 | Sunderland | H | 1–3 | 1,500 | Schofield |
| 14 | 5 December 1891 | Darwen | H | 5–1 | 3,000 | Schofield (2), Dunn, Turner, Evans |
| 15 | 12 December 1891 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–1 | 2,000 | |
| 16 | 19 December 1891 | Accrington | H | 3–1 | 3,000 | Ballham (2), Schofield |
| 17 | 25 December 1891 | Preston North End | A | 2–3 | 3,000 | Evans, Schofield |
| 18 | 2 January 1892 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–4 | 1,300 | Dunn |
| 19 | 9 January 1892 | Accrington | A | 0–3 | 1,500 | |
| 20 | 6 February 1892 | Notts County | H | 1–3 | 4,000 | Evans |
| 21 | 5 March 1892 | Everton | A | 0–1 | 7,000 | |
| 22 | 12 March 1892 | Everton | H | 0–1 | 2,000 | |
| 23 | 19 March 1892 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 3–5 | 2,000 | Ballham (2), Turner |
| 24 | 2 April 1892 | Sunderland | A | 1–4 | 3,000 | Brodie |
| 25 | 11 April 1892 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 2–2 | 10,000 | Evans, Turner |
| 26 | 23 April 1892 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 1–0 | 5,400 | Schofield |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R1 | 16 January 1892 | Casuals | H | 3–0 | 2,000 | Dunn (2), Evans |
| R1 | 23 January 1892 | Casuals | H | 3–0 | 2,000 | Schofield, Ballham, Unknown |
| R2 | 30 January 1892 | Burnley | A | 3–1 | 5,000 | Turner, Schofield (2) |
| R3 | 13 February 1892 | Sunderland | H | 2–2 | 9,000 | Turner, Schofield |
| R3 Replay | 20 February 1892 | Sunderland | A | 0–4 | 10,000 | |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Ike Brookes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| GK | Bill Rowley | 24 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| FB | George Bateman | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| FB | Tommy Clare | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| FB | Jesse Stanley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FB | Alf Underwood | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| HB | Davy Brodie | 24 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| HB | Davy Christie | 26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| HB | Hughie Clifford | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| HB | Billy Draycott | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| HB | Jack Proctor | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| HB | Bobby Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Tommy Arthern | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Lewis Ballham | 18 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 23 | 6 |
| FW | John Cameron | 9 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
| FW | Billy Dunn | 23 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 28 | 6 |
| FW | Ted Evans | 15 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 20 | 6 |
| FW | Billy Forrester | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Billy Fraser | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Willie Naughton | 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 3 |
| FW | Joe Schofield | 16 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 21 | 13 |
| FW | John Tunnicliffe | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Wilmot Turner | 26 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 31 | 8 |
