1934–35 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1934–35 season was Stoke City's 35th season in the Football League and the 21st in the First Division.
Stoke had an unprecedented amount of funds available as the chairman announced that they had recorded a £13,422 profit. The results on the pitch were similar to last season this time in reverse order with Stoke having a good first half but a poor second half to the campaign. Stoke finished in 10th position with 42 points.

Season review

League

Chairman Sherwin went on record in the summer of 1934 by saying never before in its history has the club been in such a good position financially, Stoke had just made a profit of £13,422. There was a considerable talk of more ground improvements to be made to the Victoria Ground, but some fans wanted the money to be spent on the development of younger players.
Stoke started the 1934–35 season by losing 4–1 at Sheffield Wednesday but then quickly made amends by beating Leeds United 8–1 in their opening home match with Stanley Matthews scoring four goals which earned him his first England call up. Another local star to emerge from the youth team was forward Freddie Steele who used to work for Downings Tileries before becoming a professional footballer. Stoke started the campaign well and for one week in October they sat top of the table. They remained in the top five until February but a disappointing run of results towards the end of the season saw them finish in mid-table position of 10th.

FA Cup

Stoke were embarrassed in this season's FA Cup losing, 4–1, away at Swansea Town.

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
125 August 1934Sheffield WednesdayA1–418,000Liddle
227 August 1934Leeds UnitedH8–124,555Matthews, Johnson, Sale
31 September 1934BirminghamH2–029,642Sale, Tutin
43 September 1934Leeds UnitedA2–420,000Sale, Liddle
58 September 1934Derby CountyA2–018,220Sale, Turner
615 September 1934Manchester CityA1–360,000Johnson
722 September 1934MiddlesbroughH2–019,768Matthews
829 September 1934Blackburn RoversA1–010,127Davies
96 October 1934ArsenalH2–245,349Sale
1013 October 1934PortsmouthA1–018,000Sale
1120 October 1934Aston VillaH4–133,744Sale, Johnson, Liddle
1227 October 1934ChelseaA2–025,000Sale
133 November 1934SunderlandH0–327,737
1410 November 1934Leicester CityA3–025,000Sale, Matthews
1517 November 1934EvertonH3–229,127Liddle, Johnson
1624 November 1934Grimsby TownA1–312,125Turner
171 December 1934Preston North EndH3–121,455Sale, Johnson
188 December 1934Tottenham HotspurA2–330,000Matthews, Davies
1915 December 1934Wolverhampton WanderersH1–218,000Sale
2022 December 1934Huddersfield TownA4–14,037Sale, Davies, Liddle
2125 December 1934West Bromwich AlbionA0–338,531
2226 December 1934West Bromwich AlbionH3–018,219Liddle, Johnson, Steele
2329 December 1934Sheffield WednesdayH1–119,387Liddle
245 January 1935BirminghamA0–030,000
2519 January 1935Derby CountyH1–125,006Liddle
2626 January 1935Manchester CityH2–024,453Ware, Johnson
272 February 1935MiddlesbroughA0–212,000
289 February 1935Blackburn RoversH3–120,646Davies, Sale
2920 February 1935ArsenalA0–230,529
3023 February 1935PortsmouthH1–215,014Johnson
312 March 1935Aston VillaA1–425,000Johnson
329 March 1935ChelseaH0–113,186
3316 March 1935SunderlandA1–430,000Ware
3423 March 1935Leicester CityH3–015,000Matthews, Turner
3530 March 1935EvertonA0–520,346
366 April 1935Grimsby TownH0–013,439
3713 April 1935Preston North EndA2–513,000Robson
3819 April 1935LiverpoolA0–520,000
3920 April 1935Tottenham HotspurH4–111,653Sale, Liddle
4022 April 1935LiverpoolH1–120,305Sale
4127 April 1935Wolverhampton WanderersA1–217,489Almond
424 May 1935Huddersfield TownH2–09,965Davies, Turner

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R31 January 1935Swansea TownA1–420,200Matthews

Squad statistics