1988–89 Stoke City F.C. season


The 1988–89 season was Stoke City's 82nd season in the Football League and 29th in the Second Division.
With the sale of both Lee Dixon and Steve Bould to Arsenal manager Mick Mills was able to enter the transfer market where he bought Peter Beagrie and Chris Kamara. The hope now would be that Stoke could mount a serious promotion challenge but again results were far too inconsistent and Stoke ended the season in mid-table for a third straight season.

Season review

League

During the summer of 1988 Phil Heath moved to Oxford United for £80,000 and that, combined with the fee received for Lee Dixon and Steve Bould, allowed manager Mills to bring in some new faces. He brought to the club Peter Beagrie signed from Sheffield United for £215,000 and midfielder Chris Kamara from Swindon Town as well as veteran John Gidman. Stoke started the 1988–89 season with a 1–1 draw at home to Ipswich Town and it took until their seventh match against Walsall to claim their first victory of the season. By this time two defenders Mark Higgins and John Butler had been added to the ranks and with Stoke's back line more secure results started to improve and after a 4–0 win against Hull City in mid-November Stoke lay in 7th position.
However performances dropped and by the new year Stoke had fallen into 13th in the table. And that is where Stoke remained despite a rather worrying end to the season which saw Stoke register just one win in their last 14 matches. This prompted rumours that Mills' contract would not be extended for another year but the board eventually agreed to give him another chance, a decision that they would go on to regret.

FA Cup

Stoke beat Crystal Palace 1–0 thanks to a goal from Graham Shaw and after an entertaining 3–3 with Barnsley, the "Tykes" won the replay 2–1.

League Cup

Fourth Division Leyton Orient knocked Stoke out in the second round via a penalty shoot-out after a 3–3 aggregated draw.

Full Members' Cup

Stoke were well beaten 3–0 by Southampton in the first round at The Dell, Danny Wallace scoring a hat trick.

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

Legend

Football League Second Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
127 August 1988Ipswich TownH1–18,639Kamara 43'
229 August 1988Bradford CityA0–011,918
33 September 1988BarnsleyA0–15,682
410 September 1988Blackburn RoversH0–18,624
517 September 1988Plymouth ArgyleA0–47,823
620 September 1988PortsmouthH2–27,025Stainrod 28', Hackett 90'
724 September 1988WalsallA2–17,795Morgan 40', Stainrod 75'
81 October 1988BournemouthH2–17,485Shaw 33', Beagrie 69'
94 October 1988Shrewsbury TownH0–08,075
108 October 1988Oldham AthleticA2–26,600Kamara 57', Stainrod 85'
1115 October 1988Leicester CityA0–210,312
1222 October 1988WatfordH2–07,878Coton 29', Beagrie 84'
1325 October 1988Birmingham CityA1–06,292Stainrod 73'
1429 October 1988Crystal PalaceH2–19,118Shaw 1', Henry 62'
155 November 1988SunderlandA1–118,023Shaw 7'
1613 November 1988Hull CityH4–010,505Henry 20', Beagrie 48', Hackett 65', Carr 74'
1719 November 1988Swindon TownH2–19,339Berry 50', Shaw 85'
1826 November 1988Leeds UnitedA0–419,993
193 December 1988ChelseaH0–312,758
2010 December 1988Brighton & Hove AlbionA1–17,443Beagrie 26'
2118 December 1988West Bromwich AlbionA0–617,631
2226 December 1988Manchester CityH3–124,056Kamara 48', Bamber 54', Berry 59'
2331 December 1988Oxford UnitedH1–010,552Henry 24'
242 January 1989Blackburn RoversA3–411,654Saunders 20', 22', Atkins 44'
2514 January 1989Bradford CityH2–19,919Hackett 14', Henry 34'
2621 January 1989Ipswich TownA1–514,692Bamber 74'
274 February 1989Shrewsbury TownA2–16,646Moyes 46', Shaw 82'
2811 February 1989Oldham AthleticH0–010,992
2925 February 1989Leicester CityH2–29,666Beagrie 35', Bamber 37'
3028 February 1989Birmingham CityH1–07,904Berry 33'
314 March 1989Hull CityA4–15,915Hackett 13', Morgan 20', Beeston 37', 40'
3211 March 1989SunderlandH2–012,489Hackett 30', Beagrie 86'
3318 March 1989PortsmouthA0–07,624
3425 March 1989BarnsleyH1–110,209Berry 32'
3527 March 1989Manchester CityA1–228,303Butler 65'
361 April 1989Plymouth ArgyleH2–28,363Bamber 25', Henry 44'
374 April 1989West Bromwich AlbionH0–011,151
388 April 1989Oxford UnitedA2–35,297Bamber 37', Henry 73'
3911 April 1989WatfordA2–39,086Morgan 30', 87'
4015 April 1989BournemouthA1–06,834Ware 67'
4122 April 1989WalsallH0–38,132
4229 April 1989Leeds UnitedH2–39,061Bamber 22', 33'
431 May 1989ChelseaA1–214,948Higgins 12'
446 May 1989Swindon TownA0–39,543
459 May 1989Crystal PalaceA0–112,159
4613 May 1989Brighton & Hove AlbionH2–25,841Morgan 30', Beagrie 53'

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R37 January 1989Crystal PalaceH1–012,294Shaw 74'
R428 January 1989BarnsleyH3–318,540Bamber 29', Berry 77', Beagrie 83'
R4 Replay31 January 1989BarnsleyA1–221,136Bamber 64'

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R2 1st Leg27 September 1988Leyton OrientA2–13,154Morgan 48', Kamara 73'
R2 2nd Leg11 October 1988Leyton OrientH1–2 5,756Stainrod 86'

Full Members' Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
R18 November 1988SouthamptonA0–34,627

Friendlies

Squad statistics