1900–01 Stoke F.C. season


The 1900–01 season was Stoke's 12th season of in the Football League.
It was a hard season for Stoke as they were almost relegated to the Second Division but survived after winning their final match of the season 4–2 away at Notts County.

Season review

League

By now Stoke had lost the valuable services of Tom Robertson, Jack Kennedy and Joe Turner while dedicated full-back Jack Eccles made only two appearances and later became club trainer as the team slowly broke up. Only two points were collected from their first eight games and a disjointed Stoke side slipped to the bottom of the table. The situation improved slightly with the arrival of Welsh forward Mart Watkins from Oswestry Town but Stoke were involved in a relegation dog-fight until the final day of the season.
On Good Friday Stoke went to Bury and were denied two blatant penalties and lost 3–2. This defeat left Stoke in 17th position, three points and one place above West Bromwich Albion who had three games in hand, while Preston and Wolves were just above them. Stoke's remaining two games were both away - to Wolves and Notts County. Preston ended their season with a home clash with West Brom who were struggling to find any form and looked doomed. Remarkably, Stoke upped their game and won both matches while Preston lost and went down with Albion leaving Stoke safe in 16th place. It had been a tense and difficult season and the club's finances were now in a very precarious state, both manager and chairman recognized this and the club would now look at the local leagues for players.
Unfortunately ace marksman William Maxwell bid farewell to Stoke at the end of the season joining Third Lanark for £250 after scoring 85 goals in 173 games for the "Potters" and he would be sorely missed.

FA Cup

The 1900–01 season saw Stoke having to play in the Intermediate Round which was a consequence of their secretary failing to get their entry to the competition to the FA by the required time. Stoke beat Second Division Glossop 1–0. In the first round Stoke lost 2–1 in a replay to Small Heath after a 1–1 draw at the Victoria Ground.

Final league table

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; Pts = Points

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Football League First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
11 September 1900Aston VillaA0–215,000
28 September 1900LiverpoolH1–212,000Maxwell
310 September 1900Notts CountyH1–15,000Jones
415 September 1900Newcastle UnitedA1–220,000Wood
522 September 1900Sheffield UnitedH0–17,000
629 September 1900Manchester CityA0–215,000
76 October 1900BuryH1–24,000Maxwell
813 October 1900Nottingham ForestA1–19,000Johnson
920 October 1900Blackburn RoversH2–010,000Jones, Maxwell
1027 October 1900The WednesdayH2–16,000Jones
113 November 1900West Bromwich AlbionA2–212,052Maxwell, Watkins
1210 November 1900EvertonH0–28,000
1312 November 1900Bolton WanderersH2–13,000Watkins, Wood
1417 November 1900SunderlandA1–65,000Johnson
1524 November 1900Derby CountyH0–13,000
161 December 1900Bolton WanderersA0–15,000
1722 December 1900Wolverhampton WanderersH3–05,000Maxwell
1825 December 1900Preston North EndA2–46,000Maxwell, Higginson
1926 December 1900Preston North EndH5–07,500Maxwell, Higginson, Watkins
2029 December 1900Aston VillaH0–012,000
211 January 1901LiverpoolA1–310,000Higginson
2212 January 1901Newcastle UnitedH2–06,000Benbow
2319 January 1901Sheffield UnitedA4–04,000Maxwell, Johnson, Watkins
2426 January 1901Manchester CityH2–13,000Johnson, Watkins
2516 February 1901Nottingham ForestH0–37,000
2623 February 1901Blackburn RoversA2–35,000Maxwell, Watkins
272 March 1901The WednesdayA0–43,000
289 March 1901West Bromwich AlbionH2–05,000Maxwell, Leech
2916 March 1901EvertonA0–310,000
3023 March 1901SunderlandH0–09,000
3130 March 1901Derby CountyA1–45,000Leech
325 April 1901BuryA2–32,000Watkins, Whitehouse
339 April 1901Wolverhampton WanderersA2–04,000Watkins, Higginson
3413 April 1901Notts CountyA4–26,000Watkins, Higginson, Maxwell, Johnson

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
IR5 January 1901GlossopH1–05,000Benbow
R19 February 1901Small HeathH1–112,000Watkins
R1 Replay13 February 1901Small HeathA1–2 10,000Benbow

Squad statistics