1983–84 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1983–84 season was Stoke City's 77th season in the Football League and the 51st in the First Division.
Manager Ritchie Barker decided to change his tactics prior to the start of the season which was seen a strange decision as Stoke played well in the previous season playing good football. He change to the long ball style of play and whilst it worked with other sides in the Division it didn't with Stoke and results were poor. Barker was sacked and his assistant Bill Asprey took over and he brought back club legend Alan Hudson which sparked a revival with a 4–0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers on the final day of the season seeing Stoke stay up by two points.

Season review

League

It was apparent during the summer of 1983 at a coaching course at Lilleshall that manager Ritchie Barker was converted to the long ball game. In truth it was used by several sides with great success in 1983–84, but not with Stoke. Another youth team product Paul Bracewell was sold to Sunderland for £250,000 and that money was spent on Paul Dyson and Robbie James. Stoke used their new style of play in their pre-season friendlies which drew some interesting results but was quite clear that the players were unhappy at the change and once the season started they struggled desperately out on the pitch. In their first 24 matches they managed just three wins and in deep relegation trouble and it was no surprise to see Barker sacked by the board.
Bill Asprey was put in charge of the team and his task was to get Stoke out of trouble and his first move was to bring back Alan Hudson and sell Mickey Thomas. Hudson inspired a great recovery and Stoke's latter season performances were of a high standard yet the threat of relegation was still there but Stoke's fine efforts saw them take the relegation battle all the way to the final day of the season. Stoke came up against already relegated Wolverhampton Wanderers. It turned out to be an easy game for Stoke as they won 4–0 with Paul Magurie scoring all the goals leaving Stoke safe in 18th place with 50 points two more than Birmingham City.

FA Cup

No progress was made in the FA Cup, Stoke losing 2–0 at home to Everton who would go on to lift the cup.

League Cup

Stoke beat Peterborough United and Huddersfield Town before losing to Sheffield Wednesday in the fourth round.

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
127 August 1983EvertonA0–122,658
229 August 1983West Bromwich AlbionH3–116,156Painter 26', 35', Maguire 57'
33 September 1983Manchester UnitedH0–123,704
46 September 1983Birmingham CityA0–113,728
510 September 1983Ipswich TownA0–516,315
617 September 1983WatfordH0–412,619
724 September 1983Leicester CityA2–210,215Painter 11', Maguire 25'
81 October 1983West Ham UnitedH3–113,825McAughtrie 30', Chamberlain 70', Thomas 80'
915 October 1983SunderlandA2–211,923James 27', 70'
1022 October 1983Notts CountyA1–17,684Bould 74'
1129 October 1983Coventry CityH1–311,836Thomas 40'
125 November 1983Tottenham HotspurH1–114,727Thomas 25'
1312 November 1983Aston VillaA1–119,272Chamberlain 44'
1419 November 1983LiverpoolA0–126,529
1526 November 1983Nottingham ForestH1–111,655Chamberlain 7'
163 December 1983SouthamptonA1–315,301James 13'
1710 December 1983Luton TownH2–410,329James 36', 65',
1817 December 1983Wolverhampton WanderersA0–08,679
1926 December 1983Norwich CityH2–012,049Maguire 23', James 82'
2031 December 1983Manchester UnitedA0–140,164
212 January 1984Leicester CityH0–113,728
2214 January 1984EvertonH1–18,435Heath 68'
2317 January 1984Queens Park RangersA0–69,320
2421 January 1984WatfordA0–214,076
2528 January 1984ArsenalH1–012,840Maguire 75'
264 February 1984West Ham UnitedA0–318,775
2711 February 1984Ipswich TownH1–010,315Painter 87'
2818 February 1984Coventry CityA3–27,937Hampton 41', Chamberlain 67', O'Callaghan 81'
2925 February 1984Notts CountyH1–011,725Chamberlain 8'
303 March 1984Tottenham HotspurA0–118,271
3110 March 1984Aston VillaH1–013,967Painter 73'
3217 March 1984Birmingham CityH2–113,506Dyson 21', Bould 56'
3324 March 1984West Bromwich AlbionA0–313,681
3431 March 1984SunderlandH2–111,047Painter 22', Dyson 28'
357 April 1984ArsenalA1–321,211Chamberlain 70'
3614 April 1984LiverpoolH2–024,372Painter 21', Russell 50'
3721 April 1984Norwich CityA2–216,084McIlroy 5', Chamberlain 70'
3823 April 1984Queens Park RangersH1–213,735Russell 2'
3928 April 1984Nottingham ForestA0–013,625
405 May 1984SouthamptonH1–112,171Maguire 80'
417 May 1984Luton TownA1–09,867Painter 5'
4212 May 1984Wolverhampton WanderersH4–018,977Maguire 17', 41', 49', 89'

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R37 January 1984EvertonH0–216,462

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R2 1st Leg5 October 1983Peterborough UnitedH0–011,085
R2 2nd Leg26 October 1983Peterborough UnitedA2–19,898O'Callaghan 41', James 61'
R3 1st Leg8 November 1983Huddersfield TownH0–014,175
R3 2nd Leg22 November 1983Huddersfield TownA2–014,191Bould 8', Magurie 52'
R430 November 1983Sheffield WednesdayH0–118,633

Friendlies

[FA Youth Cup]

RoundOpponentVenueResult
Round 2Chester CityA2–1
Round 3WalsallH3–0
Round 4Luton TownH3–2
Quarter FinalChelseaA2–1
Semi Final 1st LegArsenalH3–2
Semi Final 2nd LegArsenalA3–0
Final 1st LegEvertonA2–2
Final 2nd LegEvertonH0–2

Squad statistics