1950–51 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1950–51 season was Stoke City's 44th season in the Football League and the 30th in the First Division.
Stoke were rocked before the start of the season by the news that Neil Franklin and George Mountford had agreed to play for Independiente Santa Fe in Colombia. The transfer caused uproar amongst the FA and the pair were later punished. Stoke were again unimpressive as they finished in a mid table position of 13th.

Season review

League

Stoke were rocked before the start of the season by the news that Neil Franklin and George Mountford had agreed to play for Independiente Santa Fe in Colombia. The South American country at this time was not under the jurisdiction of FIFA and the two players came under heavy criticism, and Franklin was stripped from England international duties. However, despite the pair making a big impression on Colombian football the country was at a state of civil unrest and two months later Franklin returned to England. He never played for Stoke again and ended up with Hull City whilst George Mountford finished the season with Santa Fe and returned to Stoke.
The summer activities were still the gossip as the 1950–51 season opened with only one new signing at the Victoria Ground, goalkeeper Don Clegg who had an unsuccessful career. Jock Kirton was made captain and most fans lacked confidence in the squad now minus to key players. McGrory stated that his team was good enough for First Division football but admitted that he would have liked to bring in more players to the club. With the season five days old McGrory paid £8,000 on Crewe Alexandra forward Albert Mullard however in his first game for Stoke he injured his knee and suffered a lengthy lay-off.
Stoke had a season of mixed fortunes and whilst they were certainly good enough to stay out of relegation trouble they lacked the quality to claim a top half finished and ended up in 13th position which was not as bad as some of the supporters made out.

FA Cup

Stoke drew local rivals Port Vale in the third round and the two sides served up a thrilling cup tie. The initial clash with Vale took place on a heavy Victoria Ground pitch was seen by over 48,000 fans. In an entertaining first half Alan Bennett put Vale into the lead after six minutes and although Stoke pushed hard for an equaliser they couldn't beat Ray King. Then the Vale fans were celebrating again as their side went 2–0 up, Cliff Pinchbeck scoring after 45 seconds into the second half. Stoke were rattled and soon after Albert Mullard pulled one back with a crisp shot from the edge of the area and he then scored again to set up a frantic finale. However, with both teams battling it out in the mud the match finished in a fair draw. With Vale Park waterlogged it was back to the Victoria Ground and was again a tense encounter. Vale were the better team creating the most chances but with just seconds remaining Frank Bowyer who had been kept quite by the "Valiants" defence suddenly found space and headed in a Harry Oscroft cross to end the tie.
Stoke then beat West Ham United before losing 4–2 against Newcastle United in front of 48,500 at the Vic.

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
119 August 1950Newcastle UnitedH1–228,000Bowyer
223 August 1950Huddersfield TownA1–314,075Johnston
326 August 1950West Bromwich AlbionA1–134,000Johnston
428 August 1950Huddersfield TownH0–121,776
52 September 1950Derby CountyH4–128,000Bowyer, Brown, Johnston
64 September 1950Sheffield WednesdayA1–135,700Johnston
79 September 1950EvertonH2–028,000Johnston
811 September 1950Sheffield WednesdayH1–123,272Brown
916 September 1950PortsmouthA1–530,000Bowyer
1023 September 1950ChelseaH2–126,000Johnston, Oscroft
1130 September 1950BurnleyA1–123,776Bowyer
127 October 1950LiverpoolA0–040,239
1314 October 1950FulhamH1–127,000Ormston
1421 October 1950Tottenham HotspurA1–654,124Ormston
1528 October 1950Charlton AthleticH2–025,000Bowyer
164 November 1950Bolton WanderersA1–133,000Ball
1711 November 1950BlackpoolH1–039,994Mountford
1818 November 1950Manchester UnitedA0–030,031
1925 November 1950Wolverhampton WanderersH0–135,000
202 December 1950SunderlandA1–136,137Bowyer
219 December 1950Aston VillaH1–029,998Oscroft
2216 December 1950Newcastle UnitedA1–325,067Brown
2323 December 1950West Bromwich AlbionH1–119,811Bowyer
2425 December 1950ArsenalA3–038,224Bowyer, Johnston, Brown
2526 December 1950ArsenalH1–040,012Bowyer
2630 December 1950Derby CountyA1–125,034Bowyer
2713 January 1951EvertonA3–035,542Bowyer, Johnston, Beckett
2820 January 1951PortsmouthH1–223,455Johnston
293 February 1951ChelseaA1–125,224Bowyer
3017 February 1951BurnleyH0–020,823
3124 February 1951LiverpoolH2–322,216Johnston
323 March 1951FulhamA0–234,768
3310 March 1951Tottenham HotspurH0–024,236
3417 March 1951Charlton AthleticA0–215,091
3523 March 1951MiddlesbroughA0–136,239
3624 March 1951Bolton WanderersH2–120,027Bowyer
3726 March 1951MiddlesbroughH2–019,004Oscroft
3831 March 1951BlackpoolA0–327,122
397 April 1951Manchester UnitedH2–025,690Oscroft, Mullard
4014 April 1951Wolverhampton WanderersA3–230,040Oscroft, Clowes
4121 April 1951SunderlandH2–420,190Mountford, Hedley
425 May 1951Aston VillaA2–624,986Mullard, Bowyer

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R36 January 1951Port ValeH2–248,000Mullard
R3 Replay8 January 1951Port ValeH1–040,903Bowyer
R429 January 1951West Ham UnitedH1–047,929Bowyer
R510 February 1951Newcastle UnitedH2–448,500Bowyer, Mountford

Squad statistics