1958–59 Stoke City F.C. season
The 1958–59 season was Stoke City's 52nd season in the Football League and the 19th in the Second Division.
Manager Frank Taylor again decided not to make any signings in the summer of 1958 and was to regret that decision as Stoke crashed to a 6–1 defeat on the opening day of the season. However Stoke's fortunes started to improve and two decent unbeaten runs before the new year lifted Stoke into the promotion race. But just six wins in 1959 saw Stoke finish in 5th position, eleven points behind second placed Fulham.
Season review
League
The rebuilding of the main stand at the Victoria Ground had been completed over the summer months and cost the club around £70,000 and whilst it was fine a stand the supporters had hoped it would have cost less to avoid swallowing up the seasons transfer budget. As a result, there were no major signings whatsoever for the 1958–59 season, and for the opening day match away at Fulham Stoke were without both Bobby Howitt and Tony Allen. They were badly missed as Stoke were hammered 6–1 by an impressive Fulham side led by Johnny Haynes. After a poor start to their league campaign Stoke went on a nine match unbeaten run and didn't lose a match in December to lift Stoke to third in the table. However following the turn of the year Stoke's form dropped and Sheffield Wednesday and Fulham pulled to far ahead as Stoke ended the season in 5th place.It had been a fairly uninspiring yet somewhat of a transitional season with Neville Coleman moving on to Crewe Alexandra for a modest fee after scoring 52 goals in 126 games for the club while three club legends Frank Bowyer, John McCue and Harry Oscroft where entering the veteran stage of their careers. Before the season was out Oscroft was involved in a three-man swap, as he and Peter Ford move to Vale Park in exchange for John Cunliffe a left-winger who had a good career at Vale but failed to make an impression with Stoke. John Sellars who missed the season due to an eye injury decided to retire and Stoke decided to end their season with a trip to Morocco.
FA Cup
In the third round Dennis Wilshaw bagged a hat trick as Oldham Athletic were well beaten 5–1 before Ipswich Town came and frustrated Stoke and in the fourth round before nicking a 1–0 win.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
Football League Second Division
| Match | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 | 23 August 1958 | Fulham | A | 1–6 | 31,853 | Oscroft |
| 2 | 27 August 1958 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 3–0 | 24,126 | King, Cairns, Bullock |
| 3 | 30 August 1958 | Lincoln City | H | 1–0 | 20,359 | Oscroft |
| 4 | 30 August 1958 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 1–4 | 23,622 | Oscroft |
| 5 | 6 September 1958 | Sunderland | A | 1–3 | 31,894 | King |
| 6 | 10 September 1958 | Scunthorpe United | H | 4–3 | 17,824 | King, Bullock, Wilshaw |
| 7 | 13 September 1958 | Middlesbrough | H | 3–1 | 24,867 | King, Oscroft, Ratcliffe |
| 8 | 18 September 1958 | Scunthorpe United | A | 1–1 | 14,232 | Bullock |
| 9 | 20 September 1958 | Swansea Town | H | 3–0 | 20,196 | King, Wilshaw |
| 10 | 27 September 1958 | Ipswich Town | A | 2–0 | 17,569 | King, Wilshaw |
| 11 | 4 October 1958 | Bristol Rovers | H | 2–2 | 19,763 | Bowyer, Thomson |
| 12 | 13 October 1958 | Charlton Athletic | A | 2–1 | 17,959 | King, Howitt |
| 13 | 18 October 1958 | Bristol City | H | 2–1 | 22,657 | King, Thomson |
| 14 | 22 October 1958 | Derby County | H | 2–1 | 20,456 | Bowyer, Wilshaw |
| 15 | 25 October 1958 | Cardiff City | A | 1–2 | 20,351 | King |
| 16 | 1 November 1958 | Liverpool | H | 0–2 | 26,919 | |
| 17 | 8 November 1958 | Barnsley | A | 1–2 | 12,080 | Oscroft |
| 18 | 15 November 1958 | Rotherham United | H | 3–0 | 15,263 | Oscroft, Howitt |
| 19 | 22 November 1958 | Sheffield United | A | 1–2 | 18,636 | Anderson |
| 20 | 29 November 1958 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 3–0 | 13,251 | Wilshaw, Howitt |
| 21 | 6 December 1958 | Grimsby Town | A | 2–2 | 9,255 | Howitt, Asprey |
| 22 | 13 December 1958 | Huddersfield Town | H | 5–1 | 12,761 | Howitt, Wilshaw, Bowyer, Ward |
| 23 | 20 December 1958 | Fulham | H | 4–1 | 18,457 | Howitt, Oscroft |
| 24 | 26 December 1958 | Leyton Orient | A | 1–0 | 12,173 | Ward |
| 25 | 27 December 1958 | Leyton Orient | H | 3–2 | 30,083 | Asprey, Wilshaw |
| 26 | 3 January 1959 | Lincoln City | A | 1–3 | 8,813 | Bowyer |
| 27 | 31 January 1959 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–0 | 18,869 | |
| 28 | 7 February 1959 | Swansea Town | A | 0–1 | 11,123 | |
| 29 | 16 February 1959 | Ipswich Town | H | 1–0 | 11,230 | King |
| 30 | 21 February 1959 | Bristol Rovers | A | 0–1 | 16,341 | |
| 31 | 28 February 1959 | Barnsley | H | 2–1 | 13,015 | Asprey, Wilshaw |
| 32 | 7 March 1959 | Bristol City | A | 1–2 | 15,673 | Howitt |
| 33 | 14 March 1959 | Cardiff City | H | 0–1 | 11,929 | |
| 34 | 20 March 1959 | Liverpool | A | 4–3 | 35,507 | Asprey, Wilshaw, White |
| 35 | 28 March 1959 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–1 | 14,115 | Howitt, King |
| 36 | 30 March 1959 | Derby County | A | 0–3 | 24,342 | |
| 37 | 4 April 1959 | Rotherham United | A | 0–0 | 10,172 | |
| 38 | 6 April 1959 | Sunderland | H | 0–0 | 7,513 | |
| 39 | 11 April 1959 | Sheffield United | H | 1–2 | 10,439 | Bullock |
| 40 | 18 April 1959 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 2–2 | 19,501 | Bowyer, Bullock |
| 41 | 22 April 1959 | Huddersfield Town | A | 2–1 | 9,891 | Bowyer, Ward |
| 42 | 25 April 1959 | Grimsby Town | H | 4–0 | 6,855 | Ward, Asprey, King |
FA Cup
| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| R3 | 4 January 1959 | Oldham Athletic | H | 5–1 | 22,035 | Howitt, Asprey, Wilshaw |
| R4 | 8 January 1959 | Ipswich Town | H | 0–1 | 27,062 |