History of Stoke City F.C.

Stoke's only major trophy was the 1972 Football League Cup, won when they beat Chelsea 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 97,852.

[6] At this time, the only fixtures were friendly matches; this changed in 1877 when the Staffordshire Football Association was formed and created a new competition, the County Cup, which Stoke won in the inaugural season, beating Talke Rangers 1–0 in the final.

Ironically this galvanised local businessmen, the clergy (the Victoria Ground was owned by the Church of England) and supporters to form a new limited company and purchase the old club's assets."

Stoke achieved promotion from the Second Division in the 1932–33 season as champions, but Matthews only featured in 15 games, although he did score his first goal for the club in a 3–1 win against local rivals Port Vale.

After resumption of the FA Cup, 33 fans died and 520 were injured during a sixth round away game against Bolton Wanderers when the crush barriers gave way on the terraces.

[29][30] At this time, the side was predominantly composed of local players who had come through the club's youth system, including Matthews, Sale, Steele and John McCue, all in their prime, as well as the newly discovered Neil Franklin,[30] regarded as the country's best centre-half.

[27] His successor, Frank Taylor, consolidated the club's position in the Second Division but was unable to mount a sustained challenge for promotion, although Stoke came close in the 1954–55 season, missing by two points.

[41] Matthews remained influential, as he helped the club to the Football League Cup final in 1964, although this ended in a 4–3 defeat to Leicester over two legs.

[41] Waddington relied upon experience; Dennis Viollet, Jackie Mudie, Roy Vernon, Maurice Setters and Jimmy McIlroy were players signed in the later stages of their careers.

[52] Waddington was presented with a dilemma as both George Eastham and Peter Dobing retired not long after the club's League Cup win.

[55] The new personnel brought added impetus to Waddington's side, and Stoke were close to winning the League title in 1974–75, but an end of season slump led to a fifth-place finish, four points off the champions, Derby.

The repair bill, in the region of £250,000, put the club in financial trouble, which was eased by the sale of Alan Hudson, Mike Pejic and Jimmy Greenhoff for a combined sum of £440,000.

[59] George Eastham, who had previously been Waddington's assistant, was appointed as manager in March 1977,[60] but the club's slide into the Second Division in 1976–77 season proved unstoppable.

[66][67] He signed Mickey Thomas from Brighton and Hove Albion[68] and Mark Chamberlain from Port Vale,[69] as he set about building a side for the 1982–83 season.

[65] The club's new manager, Bill Asprey,[72] decided to bring back veteran Alan Hudson,[73] and the decision paid off as Stoke improved during the second half of the 1983–84 season and avoided relegation on the final day.

Ball kept his job for the start of this campaign but departed in February 1991 in the midst of an indifferent season that saw Stoke finish in their lowest league position of 14th.

[42] He also clinched a cup for the club; the Football League Trophy was won with a 1–0 victory against Stockport County at Wembley; Mark Stein scored the only goal of the game.

[88] Bates struggled as his side slipped from a play-off place towards the relegation zone, with the club's bad run culminating in a 7–0 home defeat to Birmingham City.

[112] Another significant addition was the signing of Belgium international Carl Hoefkens,[113] who subsequently won the Fans' Player of the Year Award for the 2005–06 season.

[125] The following weekend, the Britannia Stadium hosted its first ever top-flight game, against Aston Villa, with a home win courtesy of Mamady Sidibe's injury-time goal from a Rory Delap throw-in, giving Stoke City their first ever Premier League points.

[127] Pulis signed Robert Huth and Tuncay Şanlı from Middlesbrough for a combined fee in the region of £10 million,[128] in a bid to establish the club in the Premier League prior to the 2009–10 season.

[129] For the second season running Stoke made it to the quarter-final of the FA Cup after overcoming Cardiff City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Hove Albion.

They met West Ham United in the quarters and won 2–1 thus earning a place in the FA Cup Semi-final for only the fourth time in their history.

Stoke finished second in the group and were handed a glamour tie against Spanish giants Valencia in the round of 32, following the draw manager Pulis stated that he is relishing the prospect of taking on one of Europe's top clubs.

[147] Despite breaking their transfer record twice (on Xherdan Shaqiri and then Giannelli Imbula), in 2015–16, Stoke did not make any progression and finished in ninth position for a third season running.

[150] The board appointed Derby County manager Gary Rowett for the 2018–19 season with his task to mount a quick return to the Premier League.

[155] Jones was sacked in November 2019 with the side bottom of the Championship table and he was replaced by Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill.

[159] In 2021–22 Stoke made a positive start to the season but a poor second half of the campaign saw the team fall out of play-off contention and they again finished in 14th.

[160] A slow start to the 2022–23 season marked the end for O'Neill's time in charge and he was dismissed in August 2022, with Sunderland boss Alex Neil replacing him.

[163] Schumacher guided the team to safety in 2023–24 but after three defeats in the first five games of 2024–25 he was surprisingly sacked an replaced by Spanish coach Narcís Pèlach.