1967–68 Stoke City F.C. season
# 1967–68 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1967–68 season was Stoke City's 61st season in the Football League and the 37th in the First Division.

Since gaining promotion back to the First Division in 1963, Stoke had done well and managed to consistently finish in mid-table avoiding any fears of relegation. However, in 1967–68 Stoke did have a later than expected fight against relegation and after going seven straight matches without a win towards the end of the season it looked as if Stoke were heading back to the Second Division but a thrilling 3–2 win over Leeds set Stoke up to beat Liverpool on the final day ensuring survival by three points.

## Season review

### League

Dennis Viollet left Stoke in May 1967 for Baltimore Bays in the United States, and Tony Waddington decided against signing a replacement, making just one transaction prior to the start of the 1967–68 season, purchasing Burnley left back Alex Elder for £50,000. Elder had a fine career at Turf Moor but at Stoke after an early injury he never produced the form expected of him and is considered to be one of Waddington's worst signings. After a decent enough start to the campaign by Christmas results did not go well at all and the side slipped down the table and into the relegation places. Results continued to be poor and after a 3–0 defeat away at West Bromwich Albion on 13 March, Stoke went and lost the next six matches.

Consequently, a lot of 'wheeling a dealing' was done in the transfer market with Alan Philpott leaving for Oldham, Maurice Setters to Coventry and the popular Calvin Palmer moving to Sunderland for £70,000. To fill the gap Waddington brought in Willie Stevenson from Liverpool for £30,000. Thanks to three fine results late on in the season, including a thrilling 3–2 win over Don Revie's Leeds and a decisive 2–1 victory over Liverpool, Stoke managed to finish in 18th place three points away from the relegation places.

### FA Cup

After beating Welsh side Cardiff City in the third round Stoke were knocked out by West Ham United who won 3–0 at the Victoria Ground.

### League Cup

Stoke made it through to the quarter-final of the 1967–68 League Cup losing 2–0 to Leeds United at Elland Road after knocking out Watford, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 16 | Southampton | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 66 | 83 | 0.795 | 37 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 66 | 75 | 0.880 | 36 |
| 18 | Stoke City | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 50 | 73 | 0.685 | 35 |
| 19 | Sheffield Wednesday | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 51 | 63 | 0.810 | 34 |
| 20 | Coventry City | 42 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 51 | 71 | 0.718 | 33 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

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

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 19 August 1967 | Arsenal | A | 0–2 | 27,048 | |
| 2 | 23 August 1967 | Sheffield United | H | 1–1 | 20,823 | Bloor |
| 3 | 26 August 1967 | Manchester City | H | 3–0 | 22,456 | Bloor, Palmer, Burrows (pen) |
| 4 | 29 August 1967 | Sheffield United | A | 0–1 | 17,099 | |
| 5 | 2 September 1967 | Newcastle United | A | 1–1 | 38,470 | Mahoney |
| 6 | 6 September 1967 | Leicester City | H | 3–2 | 19,032 | Palmer, Burrows (pen), Conroy |
| 7 | 9 September 1967 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–0 | 21,036 | |
| 8 | 16 September 1967 | Chelsea | A | 2–2 | 26,614 | Dobing, Burrows (pen) |
| 9 | 23 September 1967 | Southampton | H | 3–2 | 18,618 | Burrows (2) (1 pen), Vernon |
| 10 | 30 September 1967 | Liverpool | A | 1–2 | 50,120 | Dobing |
| 11 | 7 October 1967 | West Ham United | A | 4–3 | 24,471 | Dobing (2), Burrows (2) |
| 12 | 14 October 1967 | Burnley | H | 0–2 | 19,532 | |
| 13 | 23 October 1967 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–1 | 33,002 | Burrows |
| 14 | 28 October 1967 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–1 | 26,341 | Burrows (2) |
| 15 | 4 November 1967 | Manchester United | A | 0–1 | 51,041 | |
| 16 | 11 November 1967 | Sunderland | H | 2–1 | 19,554 | Dobing, Bloor |
| 17 | 18 November 1967 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 4–3 | 34,544 | Bloor, Mahoney, Burrows, Palmer |
| 18 | 25 November 1967 | Fulham | H | 0–1 | 18,344 | |
| 19 | 2 December 1967 | Leeds United | A | 0–2 | 29,958 | |
| 20 | 9 December 1967 | Everton | H | 1–0 | 17,154 | Dobing |
| 21 | 16 December 1967 | Arsenal | H | 0–1 | 16,110 | |
| 22 | 23 December 1967 | Manchester City | A | 2–4 | 40,121 | Dobing, Burrows |
| 23 | 26 December 1967 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–3 | 37,577 | |
| 24 | 30 December 1967 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–3 | 20,948 | Mahoney |
| 25 | 6 January 1968 | Newcastle United | H | 2–1 | 17,623 | Burrows (2) |
| 26 | 20 January 1968 | Chelsea | H | 0–1 | 21,751 | |
| 27 | 3 February 1968 | Southampton | A | 2–1 | 20,880 | Burrows, Palmer |
| 28 | 26 February 1968 | West Ham United | H | 2–0 | 16,092 | Dobing, Mahoney |
| 29 | 13 March 1968 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–3 | 20,500 | |
| 30 | 16 March 1968 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–1 | 15,785 | |
| 31 | 23 March 1968 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–3 | 29,530 | |
| 32 | 30 March 1968 | Manchester United | H | 2–4 | 32,549 | Eastham, Dobing |
| 33 | 6 April 1968 | Sunderland | A | 1–3 | 27,813 | Harris (o.g.) |
| 34 | 13 April 1968 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–2 | 26,290 | |
| 35 | 15 April 1968 | Coventry City | A | 0–2 | 31,380 | |
| 36 | 16 April 1968 | Coventry City | H | 3–3 | 20,170 | Bentley, Dobing, Mahoney |
| 37 | 20 April 1968 | Burnley | A | 0–4 | 13,188 | |
| 38 | 23 April 1968 | Leeds United | H | 3–2 | 24,518 | Dobing (3) |
| 39 | 1 May 1968 | Fulham | A | 2–0 | 12,523 | Dobing, Vernon |
| 40 | 4 May 1968 | Everton | A | 0–3 | 43,302 | |
| 41 | 11 May 1968 | Leicester City | A | 0–0 | 23,852 | |
| 42 | 15 May 1968 | Liverpool | H | 2–1 | 27,693 | Dobing, Mahoney |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 27 January 1968 | Cardiff City | H | 2–1 | 23,563 | Stevenson, Vernon |
| R4 | 17 February 1968 | West Ham United | H | 0–3 | 36,704 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R2 | 13 September 1967 | Watford | H | 2–0 | 10,126 | Allen, Palmer |
| R3 | 11 October 1967 | Ipswich Town | H | 2–1 | 14,815 | Burrows, Bridgwood |
| R4 | 1 November 1967 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 0–0 | 26,001 | |
| R4 Replay | 15 November 1967 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 2–1 | 21,185 | Bentley, Palmer |
| Quarter-final | 13 December 1967 | Leeds United | A | 0–2 | 24,558 | |

### Friendlies

| Match | Opponent | Venue | Result |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Stockport County | A | 2–2 |
| 2 | Asante Kotoko | H | 1–3 |
| 3 | Portsmouth | A | 1–2 |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Gordon Banks | 39 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| GK | John Farmer | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| GK | Paul Shardlow | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Tony Allen | 38 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 45 | 1 |
| DF | Bill Bentley | 30(2) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 35(2) | 2 |
| DF | Alan Bloor | 37 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 43 | 4 |
| DF | Micky Bloor | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | Alex Elder | 24 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| DF | Tony Lacey | 0(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 |
| DF | Jackie Marsh | 2(2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3(2) | 0 |
| DF | John Moore | 12(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12(1) | 0 |
| DF | Calvin Palmer | 23 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 30 | 6 |
| DF | Eric Skeels | 34 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| MF | Mike Bernard | 11(6) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13(6) | 0 |
| MF | Gerry Bridgwood | 14(1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 15(1) | 1 |
| MF | Terry Conroy | 8(1) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10(1) | 1 |
| MF | George Eastham | 38(1) | 1 | 0(1) | 0 | 5 | 0 | 43(2) | 1 |
| MF | John Mahoney | 27(1) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31(1) | 6 |
| MF | Geoff Nulty | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Alan Philpott | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0(1) | 0 | 1(1) | 0 |
| MF | Maurice Setters | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | Willie Stevenson | 18 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| FW | Harry Burrows | 42 | 15 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 49 | 16 |
| FW | Peter Dobing | 37 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 43 | 15 |
| FW | Bob Hulse | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Roy Vernon | 19 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 23 | 3 |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 0 | – | 1 |
