1973–74 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1973–74 season was Stoke City's 67th season in the Football League and the 43rd in the First Division.
The season started well for Stoke as they won the short lived Watney Cup prior to the start of the new campaign. But their league form was poor and by January they were in the bottom six. But the signing of Alan Hudson from Chelsea sparked an upturn in results which accumulated in beating Leeds United 3–2 in February ending their 29 match un-beaten run. Stoke continued to climb the table and after remaining unbeaten in their final nine fixtures they took 5th position in the table and qualified for the UEFA Cup.

Season review

League

Stoke, with no major summer signings, kicked off the 1973–74 season with George Eastham as assistant manager and the team got off to a fine start, winning the Watney Cup by beating Hull City 2–0 in the final. The opening league form though, was poor although there was a glimmer of hope as Nantwich born Dave Goodwin made a goal-scoring debut against West Ham United. By January 1974 Stoke were struggling in 17th position and the home support was slowly falling and Tony Waddington decided to sell the promising Stewart Jump to Malcolm Allison's Crystal Palace for £75,000 which raised a few questions from the supporters.
But there was method to the manager's apparent madness as he pulled off another major transfer swoop when he paid £240,000 for Chelsea's Alan Hudson. Hudson was an instant hit with the Stoke fans and in his debut against Liverpool he was named as man of the match, helping Stoke to a 1–1 draw. Stoke's next home match against Hudson's old team Chelsea was the first League match to be played on a Sunday, Stoke winning 1–0 in front of 31,985. Another big attendance, saw City's next home match against high-flying Leeds United who had gone 29 matches without defeat. At the time Don Revie's side were nine points clear at the top and they looked to be increasing their lead as they raced into a 2–0 lead, but Stoke rising to the challenge levelled before half time before Denis Smith grabbed the winner and Leeds' magnificent run was over, but they still took the First Division title. Stoke lost just twice in the final 23 matches and raised up the table to claim 5th place and so qualifying for next season's UEFA Cup.

FA Cup

Despite scoring twice at Bolton Wanderers Stoke lost 3–2 in the third round.

League Cup

After narrow wins over Chelsea and Middlesbrough, Coventry City knocked Stoke out with a narrow victory of their own.

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 1973LiverpoolA0–152,938
229 August 1973Manchester UnitedA0–143,614
31 September 1973Manchester CityH1–122,436Greenhoff 21'
45 September 1973EvertonH0–022,435
58 September 1973Queens Park RangersA3–318,118Hurst 26', 67', Smith 64'
611 September 1973EvertonA1–120,242Greenhoff 65'
715 September 1973Ipswich TownH1–117,096Hurst 72'
822 September 1973ArsenalA1–230,578Greenhoff 35'
929 September 1973West Ham UnitedH2–016,395Goodwin 40', Hurst 68'
106 October 1973Leeds UnitedA1–136,562Smith 89'
1113 October 1973Sheffield UnitedH1–217,975Colquhoun 30'
1220 October 1973SouthamptonA0–315,521
1327 October 1973Coventry CityH3–017,421Greenhoff 6', 75', Hurst 72'
143 November 1973Newcastle UnitedA1–227,941Ritchie 52'
1510 November 1973Norwich CityH2–015,363Ritchie 33', Goodwin 87'
1617 November 1973Birmingham CityH5–219,179Ritchie 10' 83', Robertson 25', Hurst 60', Mahoney 70'
1724 November 1973BurnleyA0–114,478
188 December 1973Tottenham HotspurA1–214,034Ritchie 62'
1915 December 1973Wolverhampton WanderersH2–313,843Smith 63', Robertson 62'
2022 December 1973West Ham UnitedA2–016,513Robertson 49', Greenhoff 84'
2126 December 1973Derby CountyH0–024,045
2229 December 1973Queens Park RangersH4–118,910Mahoney 49', Pejic 60', Ritchie 79', Greenhoff 85'
231 January 1974Manchester CityA0–035,009
2412 January 1974Ipswich TownA1–118,581Hurst 70'
2519 January 1974LiverpoolH1–132,789Hurst 67'
2627 January 1974ChelseaH1–031,985Hurst 80'
272 February 1974Wolverhampton WanderersA1–130,128Ritchie 68'
2816 February 1974Sheffield UnitedA0–019,972
2923 February 1974Leeds UnitedH3–239,598Pejic 27', Hudson 35', Smith 68'
302 March 1974Derby CountyA1–128,176Ritchie 55'
319 March 1974Coventry CityA0–225,136
3216 March 1974SouthamptonH4–120,415Hurst 13', Ritchie 50', 75', 80'
3323 March 1974Norwich CityA0–419,842
3430 March 1974ArsenalH0–018,532
353 April 1974Newcastle UnitedH2–116,437Greenhoff 23', Mahoney 57'
366 April 1974BurnleyH4–019,253Ritchie 28' 80', Greenhoff 31', Hudson 77'
3713 April 1974Birmingham CityA0–029,467
3815 April 1974Leicester CityH1–021,468Hurst 87'
3916 April 1974Leicester CityA1–121,682Hurst 40'
4020 April 1974Tottenham HotspurH1–020,189Haslegrave 44'
4127 April 1974ChelseaA1–017,150Hudson 50'
4229 April 1974Manchester UnitedH1–027,392Ritchie 30'

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R36 January 1974Bolton WanderersA2–339,138Ritchie 65', Haslegrave 84'

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R28 October 1973ChelseaH1–017,281Smith 48'
R331 October 1973MiddlesbroughH1–119,194Pejic 50'
R3 Replay6 November 1973MiddlesbroughA2–1 26,063Greenhoff 39', Pejic 106'
R420 November 1973Coventry CityA1–217,483Hurst 35'

[Texaco Cup]

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R1 1st leg19 September 1973Birmingham CityH0–09,530
R1 2nd leg2 October 1973Birmingham CityA0–0 13,433

[Watney Cup]

Friendlies

Squad statistics