1984–85 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
1984–85 season
Chairman	Frank Edwards
Manager	Bill Asprey (until April 2) ; Tony Lacey (caretaker)
Stadium	Victoria Ground
Football League First Division	22nd (17 Points)
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: Ian Painter ; (6); All: Ian Painter ; (9)
Highest home attendance	21,013 vs Manchester United ; (26 December 1984)
Lowest home attendance	4,597 vs Norwich City ; (24 April 1985)
Average home league attendance	10,700
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1983–84 1985–86 →

The 1984–85 season was Stoke City's 78th season in the Football League and 52nd in the First Division.

Bill Asprey was given the managerial position on a permanent basis by the board following the previous season's close escape. However Stoke won three of their 42 league matches managing to pick up 17 points, a record low which would stand for 21 years. Stoke scored 24 goals and conceded 91 giving them a goal difference of –67. Supporters stopped attending matches with crowds falling below 5,000. The season became known as The Holocaust season and Stoke would not gain a return to the top flight until 2008.^[1]^[2]

Season review[edit]

League[edit]

The directors did not hesitate in appointing Bill Asprey on a full-time basis, but there was a shock for the supporters when it was announced that both Paul Maguire and Peter Hampton were being released.^[1] Asprey had decided to start building his own team but he knew that there was no money available for him and so a club once filled with international stars had to loan players from other clubs.^[1] As the season started goals were almost non-existent and by autumn Asprey had sold Robbie James for £100,000 to Queens Park Rangers so he could buy Keith Bertschin a proven goalscorer from Norwich City.^[1]

Still there was no improvement and as the season wore on Stoke struggled to even compete with their First Division rivals and it turned into a case of when and not if Stoke would be relegated.^[1] Stoke went down breaking almost every record available: fewest goals scored (24); fewest wins (3); and lowest points tally (17).^[1] Ian Painter was top goalscorer with six of which four were penalties.^[1] With the season drawing to a close Asprey was relieved of his duties as his health had been affected by the season's traumas and Tony Lacey took over the last eight matches losing all of them.^[1] Chairman Frank Edwards took the full brunt of the supporters protests following relegation before he died following a heart attack.^[1] Sandy Clubb took over from Edwards and he appointed Mick Mills as manager as the club began to rebuild in the Second Division.^[1]

FA Cup[edit]

Luton Town knocked out Stoke after a replay in the third round.^[1]

League Cup[edit]

Stoke were defeated by Third Division Rotherham United in the second round.^[1]

Final league table[edit]

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
18	Coventry City	42	15	5	22	47	64	−17	50
19	Queens Park Rangers	42	13	11	18	53	72	−19	50
20	Norwich City^[a] (R)	42	13	10	19	46	64	−18	49	Relegation to the Second Division
21	Sunderland (R)	42	10	10	22	40	62	−22	40
22	Stoke City (R)	42	3	8	31	24	91	−67	17

Source: World Football
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored
(R) Relegated
Notes:

^ Norwich City would have qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.

Results[edit]

Stoke's score comes first

Legend[edit]

Win	Draw	Loss

Football League First Division[edit]

Match	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
1	25 August 1984	Luton Town	A	0–2	8,626
2	27 August 1984	Aston Villa	H	1–3	12,605	Painter 44'
3	1 September 1984	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–1	13,032	McIlroy 35', Heath 44'
4	15 September 1984	Leicester City	H	2–2	13,591	Hemming 65', Bould 69'
5	19 September 1984	Norwich City	A	0–0	13,051
6	22 September 1984	Arsenal	A	0–4	26,758
7	29 September 1984	Sunderland	H	2–2	8,882	Dyson 75', Bould 87'
8	6 October 1984	Nottingham Forest	A	1–1	14,129	Berry 11'
9	13 October 1984	Southampton	H	1–3	9,643	Heath 41'
10	20 October 1984	West Ham United	H	2–4	9,945	Painter 81', Chamberlain 90'
11	27 October 1984	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–4	23,477
12	3 November 1984	Liverpool	H	0–1	20,567
13	10 November 1984	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–2	12,258
14	17 November 1984	Everton	A	0–4	26,705
15	24 November 1984	Watford	H	1–3	10,564	Painter 58' (pen)
16	1 December 1984	Newcastle United	A	1–2	21,135	McIlroy 55'
17	4 December 1984	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–2	8,403
18	8 December 1984	Ipswich Town	H	0–2	7,925
19	15 December 1984	Chelsea	A	1–1	20,534	Dyson 71'
20	22 December 1984	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–2	19,799	Bould 45'
21	26 December 1984	Manchester United	H	2–1	21,013	Painter 70' (pen), Saunders 75'
22	29 December 1984	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–2	10,811
23	1 January 1985	Coventry City	A	0–4	9,829
24	12 January 1985	Leicester City	A	0–0	10,111
25	2 February 1985	Sunderland	A	0–1	14,762
26	23 February 1985	Liverpool	A	0–2	31,368
27	2 March 1985	Tottenham Hotspur	H	0–1	12,533
28	12 March 1985	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–0	6,995
29	16 March 1985	Southampton	A	0–0	14,608
30	23 March 1985	Nottingham Forest	H	1–4	7,453	Parkin 10'
31	27 March 1985	Aston Villa	A	0–2	10,874
32	30 March 1985	Arsenal	H	2–0	7,371	Painter 55' (pen), Dyson 62'
33	6 April 1985	Manchester United	A	0–5	42,940
34	8 April 1985	Luton Town	H	0–4	6,985
35	20 April 1985	Everton	H	0–2	18,258
36	24 April 1985	Norwich City	H	2–3	4,597	Bertschin 10', Saunders 90'
37	27 April 1985	Watford	A	0–2	14,586
38	4 May 1985	Newcastle United	H	0–1	7,088
39	6 May 1985	Ipswich Town	A	1–5	14,150	Bertschin 69'
40	11 May 1985	Chelsea	H	0–1	8,905
41	14 May 1985	West Ham United	A	1–5	13,362	Painter 63' (pen)
42	17 May 1985	Coventry City	H	0–1	6,930

FA Cup[edit]

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
R3	5 January 1985	Luton Town	A	1–1	7,270	Painter 78'
R3 Replay	9 January 1985	Luton Town	H	2–3	9,917	Painter 47' (pen), Chamberlain 68'

League Cup[edit]

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
R2 1st Leg	26 September 1984	Rotherham United	H	1–2	8,221	Saunders 65'
R2 2nd Leg	9 October 1984	Rotherham United	A	1–1	6,898	Painter 22'

Friendlies[edit]

Match	Opponent	Venue	Result
1	Parkway Clayton	A	4–1
2	Cardiff City	A	0–3
3	Oldham Athletic	A	2–3

Squad statistics[edit]

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Paul Barron	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
GK	Joe Corrigan	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
GK	Peter Fox	14	0	0	0	2	0	16	0
GK	Stuart Roberts	3	0	2	0	0	0	5	0
GK	Barry Siddall	15	0	0	0	0	0	15	0
DF	Steve Bould	38	3	2	0	2	0	42	3
DF	Aaron Callaghan	2(3)	0	0	0	0	0	2(3)	0
DF	Alan Dodd	16	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
DF	Paul Dyson	37	3	2	0	2	0	41	3
DF	Wayne Ebanks	10	0	0	0	2	0	12	0
DF	Chris Hemming	14(2)	1	0	0	1	0	15(2)	1
DF	Robbie James	8	0	0	0	2	0	10	0
DF	Tony Spearing	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
MF	Carl Beeston	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	George Berry	31(1)	1	0	0	0	0	31(1)	1
MF	Alan Hudson	16(1)	0	2	0	1	0	19(1)	0
MF	Chris Maskery	34	0	2	0	1	0	37	0
MF	Sammy McIlroy	34	2	2	0	0	0	36	2
MF	Steve Parkin	8(5)	1	2	0	1	0	11(5)	1
MF	Terry Williams	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW	Keith Bertschin	24(1)	2	2	0	0	0	26(1)	2
FW	Mark Chamberlain	27(1)	1	2	1	2	0	31(1)	2
FW	Phil Heath	34(2)	2	0	0	0(1)	0	34(3)	2
FW	Brendan O'Callaghan	20	0	2	0	2	0	24	0
FW	Ian Painter	38	6	2	2	2	1	42	9
FW	Carl Saunders	17(6)	2	0(2)	0	2	1	19(8)	3

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.
^ "Think Stoke City are struggling now? You want to hear about their 1984-85 season". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

[table_note_NOR0.57740897991574-3] Norwich City would have qualified for the UEFA Cup as League Cup winners.

[The_Encyclopaedia_of_Stoke_City-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Matthews, Tony (1994). The Encyclopaedia of Stoke City. Lion Press. ISBN 0-9524151-0-0.

[2] "Think Stoke City are struggling now? You want to hear about their 1984-85 season". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 September 2017.

[1]

[2]

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