1935–36 Stoke City F.C. season
# 1935–36 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1935–36 season was Stoke City's 36th season in the Football League and the 22nd in the First Division.

In June 1935 long-serving defender Bob McGrory replaced Tom Mather as first-team manager and in his first season in charge Stoke went on to record their finest season up to this point finishing in 4th position in the First Division. They were never out of the top four for the last three months of the season and whilst they never really threatened runaway leaders Sunderland, Stoke were considered to be one of the best teams in the country. The 1935–36 season finish of 4th is only matched by the performance by the Stoke team of the 1946–47 season.

## Season review

### League

After last season Stoke went on a tour of Denmark winning all three matches against local opposition. On their return to England in June 1935, Bob McGrory replaced Tom Mather as manager. Mather had been at the helm for over eleven years and did well in taking Stoke from Third Division football to the First. It also spelt the end of McGrory's playing career in which he made 510 appearances for the club, a total not to be surpassed for 24 years.

The first signing McGrory made was that of Huddersfield Town goalkeeper Norman Wilkinson he would prove to be a sound addition. Despite this McGrory gave the squad a vote of confidence and indeed few clubs in the country showed little alteration to their squads than Stoke City. Whilst it was 'as you were' on the playing side, Stoke appointed a host of new backroom staff and Arthur Turner was made club captain. The supporters were disappointed that despite there being money available no new players arrived and their concerns were increased when the reserves beat the first team in a public friendly match.

The supporters need not have worried as McGrory's first season turned out to be one of the finest in the club's history as they achieved fourth place in the First Division. They were never out of the top four for the last three months of the season and were generally accepted as one of the countries most impressive sides. With more players being promoted from the youth ranks Stoke looked set for a bright future.

### FA Cup

Stoke required replays to beat lower league Millwall and Manchester United but Barnsley knocked Stoke out 2–1 in the fifth round.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | Derby County | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 61 | 52 | 1.173 | 48 |
| 3 | Huddersfield Town | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 59 | 56 | 1.054 | 48 |
| 4 | Stoke City | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 57 | 57 | 1.000 | 47 |
| 5 | Brentford | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 81 | 60 | 1.350 | 46 |
| 6 | Arsenal | 42 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 78 | 48 | 1.625 | 45 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

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

### Football League First Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 31 August 1935 | Leeds United | H | 3–1 | 22,549 | Johnson (2), Davies |
| 2 | 4 September 1935 | Chelsea | A | 5–3 | 27,000 | Johnson, Davies, Sale (2), Matthews |
| 3 | 7 September 1935 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–2 | 25,000 | |
| 4 | 9 September 1935 | Chelsea | H | 3–0 | 21,306 | Sale, Steele, Turner (pen) |
| 5 | 14 September 1935 | Sunderland | H | 0–2 | 34,509 | |
| 6 | 18 September 1935 | Liverpool | A | 0–2 | 35,000 | |
| 7 | 21 September 1935 | Birmingham | A | 5–0 | 12,000 | Matthews (3), Johnson (2) |
| 8 | 28 September 1935 | Arsenal | H | 0–3 | 45,470 | |
| 9 | 5 October 1935 | Manchester City | A | 2–1 | 40,000 | Sale, Westland |
| 10 | 12 October 1935 | Preston North End | H | 2–1 | 21,876 | Sale, Turner (pen) |
| 11 | 19 October 1935 | Brentford | A | 0–0 | 30,000 | |
| 12 | 26 October 1935 | Derby County | H | 0–0 | 27,384 | |
| 13 | 2 November 1935 | Everton | A | 1–5 | 34,000 | Johnson |
| 14 | 9 November 1935 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 1–2 | 21,668 | Sale |
| 15 | 16 November 1935 | Huddersfield Town | A | 1–2 | 12,000 | Johnson |
| 16 | 23 November 1935 | Portsmouth | H | 2–0 | 16,470 | Sale (2) |
| 17 | 30 November 1935 | Aston Villa | A | 0–4 | 25,000 | |
| 18 | 7 December 1935 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 4–1 | 16,000 | Sale (2), Liddle (2) |
| 19 | 14 December 1935 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–0 | 14,000 | Sale |
| 20 | 21 December 1935 | Middlesbrough | H | 1–1 | 8,374 | Matthews |
| 21 | 25 December 1935 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–0 | 21,976 | Matthews |
| 22 | 26 December 1935 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 2–0 | 23,000 | Sale (2) |
| 23 | 28 December 1935 | Leeds United | A | 1–4 | 12,000 | Steele |
| 24 | 4 January 1936 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 3–2 | 20,188 | Steele, Matthews, Liddle |
| 25 | 18 January 1936 | Sunderland | A | 0–1 | 14,000 | |
| 26 | 1 February 1936 | Arsenal | A | 0–1 | 47,000 | |
| 27 | 6 February 1936 | Birmingham | H | 3–1 | 11,485 | Davies (2), Westland |
| 28 | 8 February 1936 | Manchester City | H | 1–0 | 27,386 | Westland |
| 29 | 19 February 1936 | Preston North End | A | 1–1 | 10,000 | Turner (pen) |
| 30 | 22 February 1936 | Brentford | H | 2–2 | 15,000 | Sale, Liddle |
| 31 | 29 February 1936 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 10,204 | Steele, Matthews |
| 32 | 7 March 1936 | Aston Villa | H | 2–3 | 18,344 | Steele (2) |
| 33 | 14 March 1936 | Derby County | A | 1–0 | 20,000 | Steele |
| 34 | 21 March 1936 | Huddersfield Town | H | 1–0 | 22,000 | Matthews |
| 35 | 28 March 1936 | Portsmouth | A | 0–2 | 17,000 | |
| 36 | 4 April 1936 | Everton | H | 2–1 | 18,717 | Turner, Matthews |
| 37 | 10 April 1936 | Grimsby Town | A | 0–3 | 9,000 | |
| 38 | 11 April 1936 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–1 | 20,000 | Steele |
| 39 | 13 April 1936 | Grimsby Town | H | 1–0 | 22,770 | Hodgson (o.g.) |
| 40 | 18 April 1936 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 0–3 | 16,362 | |
| 41 | 25 April 1936 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–0 | 10,000 | |
| 42 | 2 May 1936 | Liverpool | H | 2–1 | 13,231 | Westland, Bradshaw (o.g.) |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 11 January 1936 | Millwall | A | 0–0 | 25,000 | |
| R3 Replay | 15 January 1936 | Millwall | H | 4–0 | 18,000 | Steele (3), Liddle |
| R4 | 25 January 1936 | Manchester United | H | 0–0 | 25,000 | |
| R4 Replay | 28 January 1936 | Manchester United | A | 2–0 | 35,000 | Sale, Robson |
| R5 | 15 February 1936 | Barnsley | A | 1–2 | 40,245 | Davies |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Norman Lewis | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| GK | Norman Wilkinson | 25 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Spencer | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| DF | Charlie Scrimshaw | 42 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| DF | Bill Winstanley | 26 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| MF | Harry Sellars | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| MF | Horace Smith | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | Frank Soo | 35 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| MF | Arthur Turner | 42 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 47 | 4 |
| MF | Arthur Tutin | 42 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| FW | John Almond | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | George Antonio | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Harry Davies | 29 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 34 | 5 |
| FW | Syd Fursland | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Joe Johnson | 31 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 7 |
| FW | Bobby Liddle | 33 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 38 | 5 |
| FW | Stanley Matthews | 40 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 45 | 10 |
| FW | Billy Robson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| FW | Tommy Sale | 32 | 14 | 5 | 1 | 37 | 15 |
| FW | Freddie Steele | 29 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 33 | 11 |
| FW | James Westland | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 4 |
| – | Own goals | – | 2 | – | 0 | – | 2 |
