The 1934–35 season was Stoke City's 35th season in the Football League and the 21st in the First Division.

Stoke had an unprecedented amount of funds available as the chairman announced that they had recorded a £13,422 profit. The results on the pitch were similar to last season this time in reverse order with Stoke having a good first half but a poor second half to the campaign. Stoke finished in 10th position with 42 points.

Season review

League Chairman Sherwin went on record in the summer of 1934 by saying never before in its history has the club been in such a good position financially, Stoke had just made a profit of £13,422. There was a considerable talk of more ground improvements to be made to the Victoria Ground, but some fans wanted the money to be spent on the development of younger players.

Stoke started the 1934–35 season by losing 4–1 at Sheffield Wednesday but then quickly made amends by beating Leeds United 8–1 in their opening home match with Stanley Matthews scoring four goals which earned him his first England call up. Another local star to emerge from the youth team was forward Freddie Steele who used to work for Downings Tileries before becoming a professional footballer. Stoke started the campaign well and for one week in October they sat top of the table. They remained in the top five until February but a disappointing run of results towards the end of the season saw them finish in mid-table position of 10th.

FA Cup Stoke were embarrassed in this season's FA Cup losing, 4–1, away at Swansea Town.

Final league table

Results Stoke's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 25 August 1934 Sheffield WednesdayA1–418,000Liddle2 27 August 1934 Leeds UnitedH8–124,555Matthews (4), Johnson (2), Sale (2)3 1 September 1934 BirminghamH2–029,642Sale, Tutin4 3 September 1934 Leeds UnitedA2–420,000Sale, Liddle5 8 September 1934 Derby CountyA2–018,220Sale, Turner6 15 September 1934 Manchester CityA1–360,000Johnson7 22 September 1934 MiddlesbroughH2–019,768Matthews (2)8 29 September 1934 Blackburn RoversA1–010,127Davies9 6 October 1934 ArsenalH2–245,349Sale (2)10 13 October 1934 PortsmouthA1–018,000Sale11 20 October 1934 Aston VillaH4–133,744Sale, Johnson, Liddle (2)12 27 October 1934 ChelseaA2–025,000Sale (2)13 3 November 1934 SunderlandH0–327,73714 10 November 1934 Leicester CityA3–025,000Sale (2), Matthews15 17 November 1934 EvertonH3–229,127Liddle, Johnson (2)16 24 November 1934 Grimsby TownA1–312,125Turner (pen)17 1 December 1934 Preston North EndH3–121,455Sale (2), Johnson18 8 December 1934 Tottenham HotspurA2–330,000Matthews, Davies19 15 December 1934 Wolverhampton WanderersH1–218,000Sale20 22 December 1934 Huddersfield TownA4–14,037Sale (2), Davies, Liddle21 25 December 1934 West Bromwich AlbionA0–338,53122 26 December 1934 West Bromwich AlbionH3–018,219Liddle, Johnson, Steele23 29 December 1934 Sheffield WednesdayH1–119,387Liddle24 5 January 1935 BirminghamA0–030,00025 19 January 1935 Derby CountyH1–125,006Liddle26 26 January 1935 Manchester CityH2–024,453Ware, Johnson27 2 February 1935 MiddlesbroughA0–212,00028 9 February 1935 Blackburn RoversH3–120,646Davies, Sale (2)29 20 February 1935 ArsenalA0–230,52930 23 February 1935 PortsmouthH1–215,014Johnson31 2 March 1935 Aston VillaA1–425,000Johnson32 9 March 1935 ChelseaH0–113,18633 16 March 1935 SunderlandA1–430,000Ware34 23 March 1935 Leicester CityH3–015,000Matthews (2), Turner (pen)35 30 March 1935 EvertonA0–520,34636 6 April 1935 Grimsby TownH0–013,43937 13 April 1935 Preston North EndA2–513,000Robson (2)38 19 April 1935 LiverpoolA0–520,00039 20 April 1935 Tottenham HotspurH4–111,653Sale (3), Liddle40 22 April 1935 LiverpoolH1–120,305Sale41 27 April 1935 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–217,489Almond42 4 May 1935 Huddersfield TownH2–09,965Davies, Turner (pen)

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR31 January 1935 Swansea TownA1–420,200Matthews

Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Freddie Houldsworth200020GK Norman Lewis36010370GK Ken Scattergood400040DF John Bamber300030DF Joe Buller100010DF Bob McGrory42010430DF John Oliver000000DF Charlie Scrimshaw100010DF Billy Spencer41010420DF Bill Wright000000MF Jack Lewis200020MF Peter McArdle100010MF Wilf Mayer100010MF Harry Sellars40010410MF Arthur Turner39410404MF Arthur Tutin41110421FW John Almond110011FW Harry Davies35510365FW Joe Johnson3811103911FW Bobby Liddle3810103910FW Stanley Matthews3610113711FW Charlie Middleton000000FW Billy Robson320032FW Tommy Sale3524103624FW Frank Soo900090FW Freddie Steele910091FW Harry Ware420042

References