The 1928–29 season was Stoke City's 29th season in the Football League and the ninth in the Second Division.
There were no major signings in 1928–29 as the club decided to change a number of policies regarding players' contracts in order to avoid a repeat of the scenes at the end of the 1923–24 season. Mather also brought in a number of players from the club's reserve and youth teams as the squad held a solid defence and with only 51 goals conceded Stoke had the best defensive record in the top two divisions. Stoke finished the season in sixth place which the fans thought they could have done better considering their defensive qualities.
Season review
League The Stoke board acquired the freehold of the Victoria Ground in the summer of 1928, but decided against any major signings for the 1928–29 campaign, as young players were slowly being introduced into the first team and reserve side. After some of the players' actions of 1924, chairman Sherwin along with the board and manager decided to sort out the respective salaries of their professional players in order to avoid any further problems.
Stoke had a solid look to their squad and they started the season in perfect fashion beating Nottingham Forest 5–1 on the opening day of the season at a stunned City Ground. Stoke's good form continued and by the end of October the team was in a good position to mount a promotion challenge. However they won just one match in November and December and although they did pick up in the new year Stoke were unable to challenge for a promotion spot and finished the season in sixth place. Some supporters felt the team should have done better, especially as they had the best defensive record outside the First Division. Fans were also disappointed at the sale of favourite Harry Davies to Huddersfield Town, he would later return to the club in 1931.
FA Cup Arsenal knocked Stoke out of the FA Cup for the second season running this time in the third round.
Final league table
Results Stoke's score comes first
Legend WinDrawLoss
Football League Second Division
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 25 August 1928 Nottingham ForestA5–114,548Wilson (2), Davies, Bussey, Liddle2 27 August 1928 Bristol CityH2–014,067Davies, Armitage (pen)3 1 September 1928 West Bromwich AlbionH4–122,769Davies, Armitage (pen), Wilson, Archibald4 5 September 1928 Bristol CityA1–110,000Davies5 8 September 1928 Clapton OrientA0–16,0006 15 September 1928 Port ValeH2–136,182Davies, Bussey7 22 September 1928 Grimsby TownH1–215,512Wilson8 29 September 1928 Bradford Park AvenueA1–212,000Davies9 6 October 1928 Swansea TownH5–012,671Johnson (2), Williams, Bussey, Armitage10 13 October 1928 BlackpoolA0–28,00011 20 October 1928 Hull CityA3–17,760Davies, Archibald, Bussey12 27 October 1928 Tottenham HotspurH2–015,307Archibald, Williams13 3 November 1928 ReadingA1–16,800Williams14 10 November 1928 MillwallH0–09,18515 17 November 1928 MiddlesbroughA0–110,00016 24 November 1928 Oldham AthleticH1–17,185Davies17 1 December 1928 SouthamptonA0–08,00018 8 December 1928 Wolverhampton WanderersH4–39,012Wilson (2), Williams, Archibald19 15 December 1928 Notts CountyA0–18,00020 22 December 1928 Preston North EndH1–110,263Wilson21 25 December 1928 ChelseaH0–112,03122 26 December 1928 ChelseaA1–340,126Wilson23 29 December 1928 Nottingham ForestH1–18,120Wilson24 5 January 1929 West Bromwich AlbionA3–220,067Shirley, Archibald, Bussey25 19 January 1929 Clapton OrientH3–110,166Cull, Wilson, Williamson26 26 January 1929 Port ValeA2–118,304Shirley (2)27 2 February 1929 Grimsby TownA1–28,000Bussey28 9 February 1929 Bradford Park AvenueH2–011,865Archibald, Davies29 16 February 1929 Swansea TownA3–37,000Davies, Bussey, Mawson30 23 February 1929 BlackpoolH1–112,538Ramsay (o.g.)31 2 March 1929 Hull CityH1–110,925Shirley32 9 March 1929 Tottenham HotspurA0–126,76033 16 March 1929 ReadingH5–09,491Shirley, Williams (2), Wilson (2)34 23 March 1929 MillwallA3–15,500Wilson, Archibald, Williamson35 29 March 1929 BarnsleyA2–46,000Wilson, Bussey36 30 March 1929 MiddlesbroughH3–219,717Wilson (2), Bussey37 1 April 1929 BarnsleyH0–013,12638 6 April 1929 Oldham AthleticA0–15,50039 13 April 1929 SouthamptonH3–08,556Wilson (3)40 20 April 1929 Wolverhampton WanderersA0–412,23541 27 April 1929 Notts CountyH5–08,165Wilson (3), Bussey, Williams42 4 May 1929 Preston North EndA2–26,000Bussey, Williamson
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR312 January 1929 ArsenalA1–230,762Bussey
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Bob Dixon700070GK Ormond Jones000000GK Dick Williams35010360DF Arthur Beachill400040DF Tommy Dawson200020DF Bob McGrory38010390DF Billy Spencer40010410MF Len Armitage39310403MF Thomas Godfrey200020MF Peter Jackson10000100MF Paddy Turley100010MF Harry Sellars40010410MF Tom Williamson33310343FW Bobby Archibald41710427FW Walter Bussey3711113812FW John Cull810081FW Harry Davies3510103610FW Jack Eyres100010FW Tommy Flannigan400040FW Dick Johnson520052FW Bobby Liddle12100121FW Joe Mawson210021FW John Shirley12510135FW Charlie Wilson3122003122FW Joey Williams23710247–Own goals–1–0–1
References