1981–82 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1981–82 season was Stoke City's 75th season in the Football League and the 49th in the First Division.
In the Summer of 1981 Alan Durban quit as Stoke manager to take up the same position at Sunderland. His former assistant at Shrewsbury Town, Ritchie Barker was appointed as manager and despite a good start the team were involved in a relegation battle. The arrival of Sammy McIlroy from Manchester United helped Stoke to scrape to survival finishing two points away from the drop zone.

Season review

League

's ambitions were bigger than Stoke's and in the summer of 1981 he was tempted by Sunderland's cash to become their manager. Durban's former assistant at Shrewsbury Town, Ritchie Barker was appointed as manager at the Victoria Ground and he inherited a reasonable squad of players but he also knew that the club had financial problems, which to a certain extent were eased when for the first time players wore shirts with a sponsor's name across their chests, Ricoh. By this time Barker had sold Kevin Sheldon, Paul Johnson, Paul Richardson and Iain Munro.
The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win and Stoke got their first trio of points on the opening day of the season away at Arsenal. This was followed by a 4–0 win at home against Coventry City. However results and performances declined and after picking up just four more wins by January Stoke found themselves in a fight against relegation. Youth team product Adrian Heath was fast becoming one of the most talked about midfielders in the division and so Barker allowed him to join Everton for a healthy £700,000. He brought in England international David Watson from Southampton for £50,000 to replace the ageing Denis Smith and Sammy McIlroy for £350,000. Mike Doyle left soon after Watson's arrival following an argument with Barker. Despite an upturn in the results in February Stoke managed just a point in their next nine matches. With Stoke looking destined for relegation McIlroy proved to be a calming influence and Stoke managed to survive by two points.

FA Cup

A poor crowd of 12,805 saw Norwich City beat Stoke 1–0 in the third round.

League Cup

again knocked Stoke out of the League Cup at the second round this time on penalties.

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 First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
129 August 1981ArsenalA1–028,212Chapman 44'
22 September 1981Coventry CityH4–013,914Chapman 5', 77', Heath 12', 54'
35 September 1981Manchester CityH1–325,256Chapman 62'
412 September 1981West Ham UnitedA2–328,774O'Callaghan 29', Maguire 87'
519 September 1981Nottingham ForestH1–215,653Heath 5'
623 September 1981Aston VillaA2–225,637Griffiths 63', Maguire 65'
726 September 1981MiddlesbroughA2–311,604Griffiths 18', Chapman 80'
83 October 1981EvertonH3–116,007Chapman 2', 90', Maguire 80'
910 October 1981Tottenham HotspurA0–230,520
1017 October 1981Swansea CityH1–214,665Griffiths 35'
1124 October 1981Birmingham CityH1–015,399Chapman 50'
1231 October 1981Brighton & Hove AlbionA0–017,862
137 November 1981SouthamptonH0–213,884
1414 November 1981West Bromwich AlbionA2–115,787Heath 25', Chapman 37'
1521 November 1981Ipswich TownH2–013,802Chapman 60', Maguire 90'
1624 November 1981Coventry CityA0–310,250
1728 November 1981Wolverhampton WanderersA0–215,314
185 December 1981Leeds UnitedH1–213,901Heath 51'
199 January 1982Manchester CityA1–131,491O'Callaghan 39'
2020 January 1982ArsenalH0–19,625
2123 January 1982Manchester UnitedH0–319,662
2230 January 1982Nottingham ForestA0–016,219
236 February 1982West Ham UnitedH2–111,987Chapman 10', Maguire 80'
2410 February 1982SunderlandA2–014,317O'Callaghan 65', McIlroy 70'
2513 February 1982EvertonA0–020,656
2620 February 1982MiddlesbroughH2–010,473O'Callaghan 29', Chapman 46'
2727 February 1982Tottenham HotspurH0–220,592
286 March 1982Swansea CityA0–311,811
299 March 1982LiverpoolH1–516,758McIlroy 56'
3013 March 1982Birmingham CityA1–212,018Chapman 79'
3120 March 1982Brighton & Hove AlbionH0–09,120
3227 March 1982SouthamptonA3–420,058Biley 49', Watson 75', McIlroy 75'
3310 April 1982SunderlandH0–111,399
3413 April 1982LiverpoolA0–230,419
3517 April 1982Ipswich TownA0–220,309
3624 April 1982Wolverhampton WanderersH2–113,797Maguire 35', Chapman 47'
3726 April 1982Notts CountyA1–38,686Chapman 27'
381 May 1982Leeds UnitedA0–017,775
395 May 1982Aston VillaH1–010,363Bracewell 17'
408 May 1982Notts CountyH2–211,011Watson 25', Maguire 27'
4115 May 1982Manchester UnitedA0–243,073
4220 May 1982West Bromwich AlbionH3–019,698Watson 25', Chapman 38', O'Callaghan 73'

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R32 January 1982Norwich CityH0–112,805

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R2 1st Leg10 October 1981Manchester CityA0–223,146
R2 2nd Leg28 October 1981Manchester CityH2–0 17,373Chapman 80', Evans 87'

Friendlies

Squad statistics