1912–13 Stoke F.C. season
The 1912–13 season was Stoke's fourth season in the Southern Football League. In 1913 the club reached its 50th year in existence.
Stoke had ambitions to return to the Football League and the objective for the 1912–13 season was earn a top six place in the Southern League Division One. However Stoke failed spectacularly and ended up finishing bottom and being relegated to the Southern League Division Two. The season was a complete embarrassment to the directors and management and fans started to lose patience with manager Alfred Barker.
Season review
League
With Alfred Barker still manager of the club there were high hopes that the 1912–13 season would see Stoke come good in the top division of the Southern League. The players who had served the club well over the past 12 months or so were all retained and new players were added to the squad to make competition for places harder. The main ambition was a top six place, but by Christmas time Stoke were bottom of the table and stayed there. The directors attributed relegation to bad luck while the supporters blamed Barker. William Smith, who had been such a key player in attack missed most of the season through injury and his absence proved costly as Stoke had a very poor forward line. Only 14 goals were scored in the first 15 matches summed up Stoke's problems and there was no upturn in fortune after Christmas and relegation was duly suffered and it was back to the drawing board once more.By the end of the season the directors came under considerable pressure from supporters as they were reluctant to accept a place back in Division Two and by the end of April 1913 no players had been offered a new contract contrary to previous practice. The directors eventually accepted life in the Southern League Division Two again but fans vented their anger at them in the annual general meeting.
FA Cup
Stoke's miserable season also included a first round exit to fellow Southern League side Reading.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 = PointsResults
Stoke's score comes firstLegend
Southern Football League Division One
| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 2 September 1912 | Norwich City | H | 0–1 | 10,000 | |
| 2 | 5 September 1912 | Norwich City | A | 0–1 | 3,000 | |
| 3 | 7 September 1912 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–3 | 4,000 | Whittaker |
| 4 | 14 September 1912 | Northampton Town | H | 1–0 | 4,000 | A Smith |
| 5 | 21 September 1912 | Coventry City | A | 2–5 | 6,000 | A Smith, Revill |
| 6 | 28 September 1912 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 0–0 | 7,000 | |
| 7 | 2 October 1912 | Watford | A | 4–2 | 4,000 | Revill, Hardman, English |
| 8 | 12 October 1912 | Brentford | H | 1–0 | 5,000 | Hardman |
| 9 | 19 October 1912 | Merthyr Town | A | 1–2 | 3,000 | A Smith |
| 10 | 26 October 1912 | Millwall Athletic | H | 0–2 | 3,000 | |
| 11 | 2 November 1912 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–1 | 3,000 | |
| 12 | 9 November 1912 | Bristol Rovers | H | 2–1 | 4,000 | A Smith, Turner |
| 13 | 16 November 1912 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 0–4 | 5,000 | |
| 14 | 23 November 1912 | Swindon Town | H | 1–1 | 8,000 | Revill |
| 15 | 30 November 1912 | Southampton | A | 1–2 | 7,000 | A Smith |
| 16 | 7 December 1912 | Portsmouth | H | 2–0 | 6,000 | Revill, Lenaghan |
| 17 | 14 December 1912 | Reading | A | 2–6 | 3,000 | Lenaghan, Hardman |
| 18 | 21 December 1912 | Exeter City | H | 0–2 | 5,000 | |
| 19 | 25 December 1912 | West Ham United | A | 0–5 | 8,000 | |
| 20 | 26 December 1912 | West Ham United | H | 0–1 | 10,000 | |
| 21 | 28 December 1912 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 4–1 | 7,000 | A Smith, Revill, Hardman, Herbert |
| 22 | 4 January 1913 | Northampton Town | A | 0–9 | 1,600 | |
| 23 | 18 January 1913 | Coventry City | H | 0–1 | 5,000 | |
| 24 | 25 January 1913 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 0–1 | 12,000 | |
| 25 | 6 February 1913 | Watford | H | 1–2 | 6,000 | Herbert |
| 26 | 15 February 1913 | Brentford | A | 2–4 | 2,000 | Herbert, A Smith |
| 27 | 22 February 1913 | Merthyr Town | H | 2–0 | 4,000 | Herbert, A Smith |
| 28 | 1 March 1913 | Millwall Athletic | A | 2–1 | 9,000 | Herbert, Pentland |
| 29 | 8 March 1913 | Crystal Palace | H | 0–0 | 7,000 | |
| 30 | 14 March 1913 | Bristol Rovers | A | 0–4 | 2,000 | |
| 31 | 21 March 1913 | Gillingham | A | 0–0 | 5,000 | |
| 32 | 22 March 1913 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 0–2 | 5,000 | |
| 33 | 24 March 1913 | Gillingham | H | 0–2 | 3,500 | |
| 34 | 29 March 1913 | Swindon Town | A | 2–3 | 3,000 | W Smith, Holmes |
| 35 | 5 April 1913 | Southampton | H | 3–1 | 4,000 | W Smith, Holmes |
| 36 | 12 April 1913 | Portsmouth | A | 1–4 | 4,000 | A Smith |
| 37 | 19 April 1913 | Reading | H | 4–0 | 3,500 | Revill, W Smith, Heggarty |
| 38 | 26 April 1913 | Exeter City | A | 0–1 | 1,000 |
FA Cup
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R1 | 16 January 1913 | Reading | H | 2–2 | 14,000 | A Smith, Revill |
| R1 Replay | 22 January 1913 | Reading | A | 0–3 | 12,000 |