The 1908–09 season was Stoke's first season in the Birmingham & District League.
With Stoke now out of the Football League they entered the Birmingham & District League for the 1908–09 season. With a new board, chairman, manager and squad, Stoke used the season as a rebuilding one and the crowds began to return to the Victoria Ground. Stoke finished in eighth place with 31 points.
Season review
League Stoke was now playing in the Birmingham & District League, which included the reserve teams of Aston Villa, Birmingham, West Brom and Wolves plus some other useful opposition. With Alfred Barker now the manager, the team itself was made up of a mixture of ex-professionals and amateurs. Those who remained with the club were William Davies, Ernest Mullineux, Fred Rathbone and Sam Baddeley. Barker used 32 players during the season, and eighth place was secured in the final league table.
Crowds were often good and there were turnouts of 7,000+ for a few league matches, which confirmed that the club still had its local support. Wins of 7–0 over Wellington Town 5–0 over Walsall and 5–3 over Villa's second string were among the best performances, while the nadir was an 8–1 defeat by West Brom reserves. Stoke's goalkeeper against Albion was Harry Cotton, who was sacked by Barker after the match.
FA Cup Stoke made a poor exit in the first round, being well beaten 5–0 by The Wednesday.
Final league table
Results
Stoke's score comes first.
Legend WinDrawLoss
Birmingham & District League
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 5 September 1908 Aston Villa ReservesH5–312,000Myatt (2), Owen (2), Davies2 12 September 1908 WalsallA0–34,2003 14 September 1908 StourbridgeA2–22,000Howshall (2)4 19 September 1908 Crewe AlexandraA2–34,000Davies, Pitt5 19 September 1908 Burton UnitedH0–14,0006 26 September 1908 Kidderminster HarriersH3–14,500Greaves (2), Davies7 3 October 1908 Brierley Hill AllianceA4–33,000Greaves (2), Davies, Pitt8 10 October 1908 Wellington TownH7–05,000Millward (3), Horrocks (2), Pitt, Davies9 17 October 1908 Worcester CityA1–52,500Davies10 24 October 1908 Dudley TownH4–05,000Davies, Greaves, Horrocks, Pitt11 31 October 1908 West Bromwich Albion ReservesA1–85,000Davies12 7 November 1908 Birmingham ReservesH0–15,00013 14 November 1908 HalesowenA0–220014 28 November 1908 Shrewsbury TownA1–32,000Gorman15 5 December 1908 StourbridgeH2–05,000McAllister, Cook16 12 December 1908 Stafford RangersA1–13,000Davies (pen)17 19 December 1908 Wolverhampton Wanderers ReservesH3–14,000McAllister, Millward (2)18 26 December 1908 Burton UnitedA1–23,000Davies19 28 December 1908 WrexhamH4–26,000Davies (2), Hargraves (2)20 2 January 1909 Aston Villa ReservesA1–45,000Hargraves21 9 January 1909 WalsallH5–03,000Hargraves, Davies (2), Horrocks, Millward22 23 January 1909 Crewe AlexandraH3–412,000Millward, Gorman (2)23 30 January 1909 Kidderminster HarriersA2–32,500Hargraves, Horrocks24 6 February 1909 Brierley Hill AllianceH2–03,000Millward, McAllister25 13 February 1909 Wellington TownA1–12,000Baddeley26 20 February 1909 Worcester CityH3–05,000Millward, Hargraves, Gorman27 27 February 1909 Dudley TownA2–21,500Hargraves, Gorman28 13 March 1909 Birmingham ReservesA1–03,000Hargraves29 20 March 1909 HalesowenH0–12,50030 27 March 1909 WrexhamA1–23,000Eardley31 3 April 1909 Shrewsbury TownH1–23,000Bullock32 17 April 1909 Stafford RangersH3–34,000Eardley, Hargraves, Gorman33 19 April 1909 West Bromwich Albion ReservesH5–04,000Hargraves (2), Gorman, Millward, Kelly34 26 April 1909 Wolverhampton Wanderers ReservesA0–13,000
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR116 January 1909 The WednesdayA0–58,000
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Jack Benton101020GK Harry Cotton200020GK Bert Miller11000110GK Fred Rathbone18000180GK Fred Wain200020FB Harry Hutsby31010320FB Charles James500050FB Ernest Mullineux29010300FB George Turner15000150FB Jimmy Williams200020HB Sam Baddeley32110331HB Albert Cook11100111HB William Harding500050HB Dick Hawe100010HB Chris Kelly19110201HB Albert Pitt31410324HB Josuah Turner100010FW Albert Bullock410041FW William Davies2014102114FW Francis Eardley320032FW Arthur Fielding300030FW Thomas Greaves10500105FW Edwin Griffiths700070FW James Gorman17700177FW Ade Hamnett900090FW Fred Hargraves1411101511FW Vic Horrocks18610196FW Sam Howshall120012FW Sam McAllister15310163FW Ernie Millward29910309FW Herbert Myatt420042FW Syd Owen420042
References