Stoke's final league position in 1965–66 was 10th, a modest improvement on the previous campaign.

But problems arose in defence as they started to concede a worrying number of goals with West Bromwich Albion hitting six while Burnley, Nottingham Forest, Sheffield Wednesday all put four past a leaky Stoke defence.

[1] At the end of the season both Jimmy McIlroy and Bill Asprey left the club after having a good careers at the Victoria Ground.

[1] Tony Waddington tried to sign Swedish international Sven-Gunnar Larsson early in the season and actually played him in a friendly against Dynamo Moscow, but permission was denied by the FA and Stoke were fined £100.

[1] Stoke went out of this season's League Cup in the fourth round losing 2–1 away at Burnley after knocking out both Norwich City and Chesterfield.