1977–78 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1977–78 season was Stoke City's 71st season in the Football League and the 24th in the Second Division.
With Stoke back in the Second Division for the first time since 1963 morale around the area was low and was not helped by a poor start to the season away at Mansfield Town. George Eastham was sacked in January 1978 and Alan A'Court took over as caretaker manager. A'Court was in charge of just one match, which was one of the most infamous in the club's history, a 3–2 defeat at home to non-league Blyth Spartans in the FA Cup. Alan Durban was appointed manager and his new signings brought life back into the squad and guided Stoke to a respectable 7th position.

Season review

League

With Mr T.Degg now Chairman and the club in the Second Division, with little or no money at his disposal and rumblings that Peter Shilton wanted to leave the picture was far from rosy. George Eastham, who was now given the managers job on a permanent basis sold veteran John Mahoney to Middlesbrough for £130,000. Into the club came experienced midfielder Howard Kendall from Birmingham City for £165,000, full-back Alec Lindsay from Liverpool, Paul Richardson from Chester City and David Gregory from Peterborough United. These new arrivals would go on to have mixed success at Stoke.
Stoke's first match in the Second Division for 14 years was against Third Division champions Mansfield Town on 20 August 1977. They lost 2–1 at Field Mill where the fans let the club down badly, as after the match there was a riot. The disenchantment was patently obvious and it was no surprise when Shilton moved on to Nottingham Forest for £240,000. Eastham was starting to become a worried man and with goalscoring still a major problem he brought in Viv Busby for £50,000 but he also failed to impress. It was becoming obvious that Eastham could not make it as a manager and he was sacked in early January. Alan A'Court took over as caretaker manager and in his only match in charge, Stoke lost to Blyth Spartans.
The Stoke board decided to appoint Shrewsbury Town's Alan Durban as the club's new manager. Durban, an ex-Wales international, had made over 600 appearances in the Football League and he immediately introduced some much needed discipline into the club. His first signing was Brendan O'Callaghan, brought from Doncaster Rovers for £40,000. O'Callaghan made a dream start to his Stoke career coming on as a substitute in the home match against Hull City, and he scored from a corner with his first touch. Goalkeeper Peter Fox also arrived as Stoke ended the season in decent enough form finishing in 7th place which was respectable considering at one stage they were lying in 18th. However it was a strange season as despite finishing in 7th Stoke were only five points away from relegation.

FA Cup

After easily defeating non-league Tilbury 4–0 in the third round Stoke were drawn again at home to non-league opponents, Blyth Spartans. Stoke struggled to cope with the part-timers on a terrible pitch and with the match seemingly heading for a replay, Terry Johnson scored the winning goal for Blyth to complete an FA Cup giant-killing.

League Cup

's Kevin Mabbutt scored the only goal as Stoke exited this season's League Cup at the first stage.

Final league table

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Football League Second Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
120 August 1977Mansfield TownA1–214,077Lindsay 88'
224 August 1977SouthamptonH1–013,867Crooks 77'
327 August 1977BurnleyH2–112,835Lindsay 10', Crooks 80'
43 September 1977MillwallA0–09,679
510 September 1977Sheffield UnitedH4–014,217Gregory 26', Kendall 30', Lindsay 43', Crooks 60'
617 September 1977Hull CityA0–09,126
724 September 1977SunderlandH0–018,820
81 October 1977Bolton WanderersA1–120,799Kendall 20'
94 October 1977Oldham AthleticA1–18,458Smith 6'
108 October 1977Crystal PalaceH0–217,749
1115 October 1977Brighton & Hove AlbionH1–016,290Gregory 53'
1222 October 1977Blackburn RoversA1–210,221Hird 31'
1329 October 1977Tottenham HotspurH1–321,012Crooks 75'
145 November 1977Cardiff CityA0–28,428
1512 November 1977FulhamH2–014,155Waddington 25', Crooks 40'
1619 November 1977Luton TownA2–19,384Kendall 26', Crooks 38'
1726 November 1977BlackpoolH1–215,132Cook 90'
183 December 1977Notts CountyA0–29,309
1910 December 1977Bristol RoversH3–210,613Richardson 2', Crooks 38', Kendall 82'
2017 December 1977FulhamA0–38,014
2126 December 1977Charlton AthleticH4–014,345Busby 68', Crooks 72', Scott 73', Conroy 80'
2227 December 1977OrientA0–26,192
2331 December 1977SouthamptonA0–123,460
242 January 1978Mansfield TownH1–113,834McGroarty 26'
2514 January 1978BurnleyA0–111,282
2625 February 1978Bolton WanderersH0–019,280
274 March 1978Crystal PalaceA1–014,702Busby 55'
288 March 1978Hull CityH1–013,890O'Callaghan 78'
2911 March 1978Brighton & Hove AlbionA1–224,797Richardson 60'
3014 March 1978Sheffield UnitedA2–112,950Kendall 39', Crooks 72'
3118 March 1978Blackburn RoversH4–218,989Scott 55', Crooks 66', 67', 90'
3222 March 1978Tottenham HotspurA1–330,646Crooks 16'
3325 March 1978OrientH5–114,595Kendall 3', Crooks 9', Gregory 20', Waddington 35', 73'
3428 March 1978Charlton AthleticA2–37,956O'Callaghan 30', Crooks 48'
351 April 1978Cardiff CityH2–014,804Waddington 5', O'Callaghan 32'
364 April 1978SunderlandA0–111,161
378 April 1978BlackpoolA1–112,261O'Callaghan 15'
3812 April 1978MillwallH2–112,370O'Callaghan 40', Crooks 66'
3915 April 1978Luton TownH0–015,544
4022 April 1978Bristol RoversA1–48,182Crooks 32'
4126 April 1978Oldham AthleticH3–011,260Kendall 44', O'Callaghan 70', Busby 80'
4229 April 1978Notts CountyH1–113,789Crooks 84'

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R37 January 1978TilburyH4–016,301Cook 5', 85', Gregory 25', Waddington 29'
R46 February 1978Blyth SpartansH2–318,765Busby 56', Crooks 58'

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R229 August 1977Bristol CityA0–117,872

Friendlies

Squad statistics