1967–68 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1967–68 season was Stoke City's 61st season in the Football League and the 37th in the First Division.
Since gaining promotion back to the First Division in 1963, Stoke had done well and managed to consistently finish in mid-table avoiding any fears of relegation. However, in 1967–68 Stoke did have a later than expected fight against relegation and after going seven straight matches without a win towards the end of the season it looked as if Stoke were heading back to the Second Division but a thrilling 3–2 win over Leeds set Stoke up to beat Liverpool on the final day ensuring survival by three points.

Season review

League

left Stoke in May 1967 for Baltimore Bays in the United States, and Tony Waddington decided against signing a replacement, making just one transaction prior to the start of the 1967–68 season, purchasing Burnley left back Alex Elder for £50,000. Elder had a fine career at Turf Moor but at Stoke after an early injury he never produced the form expected of him and is considered to be one of Waddington's worst signings. After a decent enough start to the campaign by Christmas results did not go well at all and the side slipped down the table and into the relegation places. Results continued to be poor and after a 3–0 defeat away at West Bromwich Albion on 13 March, Stoke went and lost the next six matches.
Consequently, a lot of 'wheeling a dealing' was done in the transfer market with Alan Philpott leaving for Oldham, Maurice Setters to Coventry and the popular Calvin Palmer moving to Sunderland for £70,000. To fill the gap Waddington brought in Willie Stevenson from Liverpool for £30,000. Thanks to three fine results late on in the season, including a thrilling 3–2 win over Don Revie's Leeds and a decisive 2–1 victory over Liverpool, Stoke managed to finish in 18th place three points away from the relegation places.

FA Cup

After beating Welsh side Cardiff City in the third round Stoke were knocked out by West Ham United who won 3–0 at the Victoria Ground.

League Cup

Stoke made it through to the quarter final of the 1967–68 League Cup losing 2–0 to Leeds United at Elland Road after knocking out Watford, Ipswich Town and Sheffield Wednesday.

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
119 August 1967ArsenalA0–227,048
223 August 1967Sheffield UnitedH1–120,823Bloor
326 August 1967Manchester CityH3–022,456Bloor, Palmer, Burrows
429 August 1967Sheffield UnitedA0–117,099
52 September 1967Newcastle UnitedA1–138,470Mahoney
66 September 1967Leicester CityH3–219,032Palmer, Burrows, Conroy
79 September 1967West Bromwich AlbionH0–021,036
816 September 1967ChelseaA2–226,614Dobing, Burrows
923 September 1967SouthamptonH3–218,618Burrows , Vernon
1030 September 1967LiverpoolA1–250,120Dobing
117 October 1967West Ham UnitedA4–324,471Dobing, Burrows
1214 October 1967BurnleyH0–219,532
1323 October 1967Sheffield WednesdayA1–133,002Burrows
1428 October 1967Tottenham HotspurH2–126,341Burrows
154 November 1967Manchester UnitedA0–151,041
1611 November 1967SunderlandH2–119,554Dobing, Bloor
1718 November 1967Wolverhampton WanderersA4–334,544Bloor, Mahoney, Burrows, Palmer
1825 November 1967FulhamH0–118,344
192 December 1967Leeds UnitedA0–229,958
209 December 1967EvertonH1–017,154Dobing
2116 December 1967ArsenalH0–116,110
2223 December 1967Manchester CityA2–440,121Dobing, Burrows
2326 December 1967Nottingham ForestA0–337,577
2430 December 1967Nottingham ForestH1–320,948Mahoney
256 January 1968Newcastle UnitedH2–117,623Burrows
2620 January 1968ChelseaH0–121,751
273 February 1968SouthamptonA2–120,880Burrows, Palmer
2826 February 1968West Ham UnitedH2–016,092Dobing, Mahoney
2913 March 1968West Bromwich AlbionA0–320,500
3016 March 1968Sheffield WednesdayH0–115,785
3123 March 1968Tottenham HotspurA0–329,530
3230 March 1968Manchester UnitedH2–432,549Eastham, Dobing
336 April 1968SunderlandA1–327,813Harris
3413 April 1968Wolverhampton WanderersH0–226,290
3515 April 1968Coventry CityA0–231,380
3616 April 1968Coventry CityH3–320,170Bentley, Dobing, Mahoney
3720 April 1968BurnleyA0–413,188
3823 April 1968Leeds UnitedH3–224,518Dobing
391 May 1968FulhamA2–012,523Dobing, Vernon
404 May 1968EvertonA0–343,302
4111 May 1968Leicester CityA0–023,852
4215 May 1968LiverpoolH2–127,693Dobing, Mahoney

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R327 January 1968Cardiff CityH2–123,563Stevenson, Vernon
R417 February 1968West Ham UnitedH0–336,704

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R213 September 1967WatfordH2–010,126Allen, Palmer
R311 October 1967Ipswich TownH2–114,815Burrows, Bridgwood
R41 November 1967Sheffield WednesdayA0–026,001
R4 Replay15 November 1967Sheffield WednesdayH2–121,185Bentley, Palmer
Quarter Final13 December 1967Leeds UnitedA0–224,558

Friendlies

Squad statistics