1948–49 Stoke City F.C. season

The 1948–49 season was Stoke City's 42nd season in the Football League and the 28th in the First Division.

It proved to be another disappointing season for Stoke City, as several players began to express their dissatisfaction with manager Bob McGrory's stringent discipline. This discontent led to multiple players submitting transfer requests, which in turn began to impact the club's performance. The team's results on the field were inconsistent, culminating in a mid-table finish at 11th place.

Season review

League A strange feeling of disharmony set in at the Victoria Ground prior to the start of the 1948–49 season and Stoke received a number of transfer requests from players on the slightest whim. The previous season's main signings Jimmy McAlinden and Tommy Kiernan both departed after just a year with the club losing around £2,000 on the pair. The only other player whose wish to leave was accepted was Bert Mitchell. The 4 December 1948 was Stoke's red letter day as they fielded a team against Blackpool that cost a mere £10 and with all of them from the Stoke-on-Trent area. The only blotch on the claim however is that Frank Mountford was born in Doncaster but he moved to Stoke when he was about three years old.

A mid table position of 11th was all that Stoke could have expected from an inconsistent season with 16 wins and 17 defeats. One key point during the season was manager Bob McGrory's decision to employ Frank Bowyer as an out-and-out centre forward and he scored 21 goals. Surprisingly, when the campaign ended Bowyer asked for a transfer which was accepted but he soon had a change of heart and would remain at the club until 1960.

FA Cup Stoke beat Swindon Town 3–1 in the third round before being drawn against Stanley Matthews' Blackpool. Stoke overcame the "Tangerines" 1–0 in a replay. Around 46,738 fans assembled to watch Stoke take on Third Division Hull City but much to the shock of the Stoke supporters, Hull won 2–0 on an awful Victoria Ground pitch.

Final league table

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend WinDrawLoss

Football League First Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 21 August 1948 Charlton AthleticH2–229,975Kiernan, F Mountford2 25 August 1948 ArsenalA0–347,0003 28 August 1948 Manchester CityA0–047,4504 30 August 1948 ArsenalH1–039,595Steele5 4 September 1948 PortsmouthH0–130,0366 8 September 1948 EvertonA1–242,818Bowyer7 11 September 1948 Newcastle UnitedA2–259,262Bowyer, Steele8 13 September 1948 EvertonH1–025,404Steele9 18 September 1948 MiddlesbroughH3–028,854Steele, Bowyer (2)10 25 September 1948 Birmingham CityA1–249,800Bowyer11 2 October 1948 ChelseaH4–330,934Bowyer, Steele (2), Baker12 9 October 1948 Huddersfield TownA3–119,381Bowyer, Baker, G Mountford13 16 October 1948 Manchester UnitedH2–145,830G Mountford, Steele14 23 October 1948 Sheffield UnitedA2–229,374G Mountford, Bowyer15 30 October 1948 Aston VillaH4–237,200G Mountford, Bowyer, Peppitt, Ashton (o.g.)16 6 November 1948 SunderlandA1–141,871Bowyer17 13 November 1948 Wolverhampton WanderersH2–137,111Bowyer (2)18 20 November 1948 Bolton WanderersA1–240,000Steele19 27 November 1948 LiverpoolH3–029,607Steele, F Mountford, Bowyer20 4 December 1948 BlackpoolA1–230,000Steele21 11 December 1948 Derby CountyH4–238,802Steele (2), F Mountford (pen), Ormston22 18 December 1948 Charlton AthleticA1–432,000Bowyer23 25 December 1948 BurnleyA3–139,000Bowyer (3)24 27 December 1948 BurnleyH2–139,533Steele (2)25 1 January 1949 Manchester CityH2–327,379Steele, Bowyer26 15 January 1949 PortsmouthA0–134,00027 22 January 1949 Newcastle UnitedH1–139,377Bowyer28 19 February 1949 Birmingham CityH2–125,892Steele, Sellars29 26 February 1949 ChelseaA2–239,652Caton, G Mountford30 5 March 1949 Huddersfield TownH1–315,595Bowyer31 12 March 1949 Manchester UnitedA0–355,94932 19 March 1949 Bolton WanderersH4–024,269G Mountford (2), F Mountford, Hamlett (o.g.)33 26 March 1949 LiverpoolA0–430,79734 2 April 1949 SunderlandH0–021,98935 9 April 1949 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–335,000Steele36 15 April 1949 Preston North EndA1–237,000Bowyer37 16 April 1949 Sheffield UnitedH0–122,55638 18 April 1949 Preston North EndH2–022,185Steele, Peppitt39 23 April 1949 Aston VillaA1–240,000Ormston40 27 April 1949 MiddlesbroughA1–140,226Peppitt41 30 April 1949 BlackpoolH3–218,705Peppitt, G Mountford, F Mountford (pen)42 7 May 1949 Derby CountyA1–428,616Peppitt

FA Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR38 January 1949 Swindon TownA3–126,335Steele, G Mountford (2)R429 January 1948 BlackpoolH1–145,000F MountfordR4 Replay5 February 1949 BlackpoolA1–030,000G MountfordR512 February 1949 Hull CityH0–246,738

Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Dennis Herod41040450GK Norman Wilkinson100010DF Neil Franklin36040400DF Eric Hampson100010DF Roy Jones500050DF John Kirkby100010DF John McCue39010400DF Harry Meakin203050DF Billy Mould25000250DF Cyril Watkin16030190MF Roy Brown200020MF Jock Kirton101020MF Frank Mountford40541446MF John Sellars42140461MF Edward Wordley100010FW Frank Baker17200172FW Frank Bowyer3121403521FW Bill Caton10100101FW Tommy Kiernan410041FW Jimmy McAlinden200020FW John Malkin600060FW George Mountford398434311FW Alexander Ormston42240462FW Syd Peppitt20540245FW Freddie Steele3818414219–Own goals–2–0–2

References