1930–31 Stoke City F.C. season
# 1930–31 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1930–31 season was Stoke City's 31st season in the Football League and the 11th in the Second Division.

Stoke experienced an average season as they finished in the same position as last season, 11th. The season was notable for the debuts of future star players Arthur Turner and Tommy Sale.

## Season review

### League

Stoke's overall form in the 1930–31 season improved only marginally as they again took 11th position in the Second Division. Wins of 5–0 v Swansea Town and 4–0 over Oldham Athletic were the best results at home whilst a 7–3 hammering away at relegated Reading a day to forget for Stoke supporters. Stoke also conceded five at Everton, Preston North End and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The campaign ended with record gate receipts being taken from the final home league fixture against FA Cup winners West Bromwich Albion. A crowd of 26,064 amounting to £1,540 saw Albion win 1–0 to clinch promotion. Three debutants in 1930–31 who were later to have a big impact on the club's fortunes, were Tommy Sale, Arthur Turner and Harry Ware whilst Tom Williamson left for Norwich City in January.

### FA Cup

Stoke were knocked out of the FA Cup at the first attempt after an epic cup tie against Manchester United. After a 3–3 draw at the Victoria Ground and a goalless one at Old Trafford Stoke lost 4–2 in the 2nd replay at Anfield.

## Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 9 | Southampton | 42 | 19 | 6 | 17 | 74 | 62 | 1.194 | 44 |
| 10 | Bradford City | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 61 | 63 | 0.968 | 44 |
| 11 | Stoke City | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 64 | 71 | 0.901 | 44 |
| 12 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 61 | 72 | 0.847 | 42 |
| 13 | Bury | 42 | 19 | 3 | 20 | 75 | 82 | 0.915 | 41 |

## Results

Stoke's score comes first

### Legend

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

### Football League Second Division

| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 30 August 1930 | Millwall | A | 3–1 | 20,337 | Kirkham (2), Sellars |
| 2 | 1 September 1930 | Bradford Park Avenue | H | 1–1 | 13,000 | Cull |
| 3 | 6 September 1930 | Oldham Athletic | H | 4–0 | 15,055 | Kirkham (3), Liddle |
| 4 | 8 September 1930 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–5 | 16,000 | Kirkham |
| 5 | 13 September 1930 | Nottingham Forest | A | 0–3 | 9,986 | |
| 6 | 15 September 1930 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–2 | 14,000 | Liddle |
| 7 | 20 September 1930 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 2–1 | 10,254 | Taylor, Armitage |
| 8 | 27 September 1930 | Preston North End | A | 1–5 | 12,036 | Taylor |
| 9 | 4 October 1930 | Burnley | H | 1–1 | 13,124 | Archibald |
| 10 | 11 October 1930 | Southampton | A | 1–2 | 10,000 | Mawson |
| 11 | 18 October 1930 | Barnsley | H | 0–0 | 9,353 | |
| 12 | 25 October 1930 | Charlton Athletic | A | 2–1 | 10,047 | Mawson, Wilson |
| 13 | 1 November 1930 | Swansea Town | H | 5–0 | 7,224 | Bussey (2), Wilson (2), Mawson (pen) |
| 14 | 8 November 1930 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 2–1 | 15,000 | Bussey, Mawson |
| 15 | 15 November 1930 | Cardiff City | H | 1–0 | 8,900 | Liddle |
| 16 | 22 November 1930 | Everton | A | 0–5 | 20,120 | |
| 17 | 29 November 1930 | Bury | H | 3–1 | 7,505 | Wilson (2), Chester (o.g.) |
| 18 | 6 December 1930 | Bristol City | A | 1–1 | 10,000 | Liddle |
| 19 | 13 December 1930 | Port Vale | H | 1–0 | 26,649 | Robertson |
| 20 | 20 December 1930 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–4 | 15,629 | |
| 21 | 25 December 1930 | Bradford City | A | 2–2 | 8,000 | Wilson, Liddle |
| 22 | 26 December 1930 | Bradford City | H | 1–1 | 15,727 | Wilson |
| 23 | 27 December 1930 | Millwall | H | 2–3 | 10,196 | Wilson, Armitage (pen) |
| 24 | 3 January 1931 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–3 | 11,305 | Kirkham |
| 25 | 17 January 1931 | Nottingham Forest | H | 1–0 | 6,194 | Williamson |
| 26 | 26 January 1931 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–3 | 10,346 | |
| 27 | 2 February 1931 | Preston North End | H | 3–1 | 6,340 | Burns (2), Liddle |
| 28 | 7 February 1931 | Burnley | A | 2–1 | 7,072 | Liddle (2) |
| 29 | 14 February 1931 | Southampton | H | 1–3 | 10,095 | Bussey |
| 30 | 21 February 1931 | Barnsley | A | 2–4 | 4,903 | Wilson (2) |
| 31 | 28 February 1931 | Charlton Athletic | H | 0–0 | 2,405 | |
| 32 | 7 March 1931 | Swansea Town | A | 2–1 | 8,000 | Liddle, Archibald |
| 33 | 14 March 1931 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 0–0 | 8,490 | |
| 34 | 21 March 1931 | Cardiff City | A | 2–3 | 4,500 | Liddle, Kirkham |
| 35 | 28 March 1931 | Everton | H | 2–0 | 12,300 | Liddle, Bussey |
| 36 | 3 April 1931 | Reading | A | 3–7 | 4,600 | Armitage (pen), Kirkham (2) |
| 37 | 4 April 1931 | Bury | A | 3–0 | 3,000 | Liddle, Kirkham (2) |
| 38 | 6 April 1931 | Reading | H | 2–1 | 10,939 | Sale, Archibald |
| 39 | 11 April 1931 | Bristol City | H | 3–1 | 7,626 | Kirkham (2), Liddle |
| 40 | 18 April 1931 | Port Vale | A | 0–0 | 13,190 | |
| 41 | 30 April 1931 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 0–1 | 26,064 | |
| 42 | 2 May 1931 | Bradford Park Avenue | A | 2–2 | 6,767 | Sale, Liddle |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| R3 | 10 January 1931 | Manchester United | H | 3–3 | 23,415 | Wilson (pen), Sale (2) |
| R3 Replay | 14 January 1931 | Manchester United | A | 0–0 (aet) | 22,013 | |
| R3 2nd Replay | 19 January 1931 | Manchester United | N | 2–4 | 11,788 | Archibald, Liddle |

## Squad statistics

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Dave Beswick | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| GK | Norman Lewis | 36 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| DF | Arthur Beachill | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | Bob McGrory | 39 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| DF | Charlie Scrimshaw | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Spencer | 39 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| DF | Jack Tennant | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Len Armitage | 27 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 3 |
| MF | Peter Jackson | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| MF | John McDaid | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | William Robertson | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 23 | 1 |
| MF | Harry Sellars | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 36 | 1 |
| MF | Paddy Turley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | Arthur Turner | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | Tom Williamson | 14 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 1 |
| FW | John Alderson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | Bobby Archibald | 40 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 43 | 4 |
| FW | Billy Burns | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| FW | Walter Bussey | 39 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 42 | 5 |
| FW | William Cook | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | John Cull | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| FW | Bert Hales | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Wilf Kirkham | 23 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 14 |
| FW | Bobby Liddle | 41 | 14 | 3 | 1 | 44 | 15 |
| FW | Joe Mawson | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| FW | Tommy Sale | 17 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 20 | 4 |
| FW | Harold Taylor | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| FW | Harry Ware | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Charlie Wilson | 16 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 19 | 11 |
| – | Own goals | – | 1 | – | 0 | – | 1 |
