The 1987–88 season was Stoke City's 81st season in the Football League and 28th in the Second Division.
After the previous season's decent performance there was great optimism ahead for Mick Mills' third season in charge. However it turned out to be a frustrating season with Stoke unable to maintain a good run of form and they unsurprisingly finished in mid-table in a season of little progress.
Season review
League Mick Mills now entering into his third season as City boss had the support of the fans following last season's improvement and for the third season running the club played in the Isle of Man Trophy, with Stoke beating Dundee in the final. This created great optimism amongst supporters that they would enjoy a good league campaign. However that quickly vanished on the opening day of the season as Birmingham City scored the first goal after just 45 seconds. This seemed to set the tone for a frustrating season. The team made a poor start winning just three of their first nine matches and it always looked too much for them to recover from. When Stoke did hit a run of form in January injury prevented any meaningful attempt to mount a push for a play-off place and the side made no progress and finished in 11th place.
Lee Dixon was sold to Arsenal in January for £375,000 a good price for a full back in 1988 and with Steve Bould's contract running out he also joined the "Gunners" for a fee of £390,000 which was settled at a tribunal.
FA Cup Stoke drew First Division side Liverpool in the third round and produced two excellent performances. In the first game at Stoke almost 32,000 saw a goalless draw which Stoke should have won but Graham Shaw missed an easy chance. In the replay a battling Stoke lost by a goal to nil.
League Cup In the League Cup Stoke beat Gillingham and Norwich City, but then lost in the next round to Arsenal.
Full Members' Cup Stoke had their best run in the Full Members' Cup beating Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City before losing to eventual runner-up Luton Town in the quarter-final.
Final league table
Results
Legend WinDrawLoss
Football League Second Division
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers1 15 August 1987 Birmingham CityA0–213,1372 18 August 1987 Hull CityH1–19,139Ford 68'3 22 August 1987 MiddlesbroughH1–09,345Berry 60' (pen)4 29 August 1987 Ipswich TownA0–211,1495 31 August 1987 Leicester CityH2–19,948Saunders 4' Heath 45'6 5 September 1987 Sheffield UnitedA0–010,0867 12 September 1987 Bradford CityH1–29,571Berry 50'8 16 September 1987 ReadingA1–05,349Parkin 50'9 19 September 1987 Manchester CityA0–319,32210 26 September 1987 Huddersfield TownH1–18,665Ford 74'11 30 September 1987 Leeds UnitedA0–017,20812 3 October 1987 BournemouthH1–08,104Ford 77'13 10 October 1987 Plymouth ArgyleH1–08,275Heath 10'14 17 October 1987 Blackburn RoversA0–27,28015 20 October 1987 Swindon TownA0–39,16016 24 October 1987 Aston VillaH0–013,49417 31 October 1987 BarnsleyA2–55,908Shaw 62', Ford 75'18 7 November 1987 West Bromwich AlbionH3–09,992Berry 16' (pen), Heath 45', Parkin 77'19 14 November 1987 Crystal PalaceA0–28,30920 21 November 1987 MillwallH1–27,998Heath 36'21 28 November 1987 Shrewsbury TownA3–05,158Dixon 22', Ford 25', Saunders 32'22 8 December 1987 Oldham AthleticH2–26,470Shaw 14', Heath 77'23 12 December 1987 MiddlesbroughA0–212,28924 19 December 1987 ReadingH4–26,968Morgan 52', Talbot 72', Henry 82', Ford 85'25 26 December 1987 Huddersfield TownA3–09,510Morgan 55', Parkin 75', Shaw 84'26 28 December 1987 Manchester CityH1–318,020Berry 82' (pen)27 1 January 1988 Ipswich TownH1–29,976Morgan 8'28 2 January 1988 Bradford CityA4–112,223Morgan 10', Ford 14', Dixon 39', Henry 64'29 16 January 1988 Birmingham CityH3–110,076Talbot 7', Henry (2) 82', 87'30 6 February 1988 Sheffield UnitedH1–09,344Saunders 63'31 13 February 1988 Hull CityA0–06,42432 23 February 1988 Leeds UnitedH2–110,129Heath 35', Berry 90'33 27 February 1988 BournemouthA0–06,87134 5 March 1988 Blackburn RoversH2–114,098Morgan 14', Shaw 76'35 12 March 1988 Plymouth ArgyleA0–38,74936 16 March 1988 Leicester CityA1–110,502Shaw 72'37 19 March 1988 BarnsleyH3–18,029Daly 53', Henry 60', Hemming 78'38 26 March 1988 Aston VillaA1–020,392Heath 71'39 2 April 1988 West Bromwich AlbionA0–212,14440 4 April 1988 Crystal PalaceH1–19,613Shaw 43'41 9 April 1988 Oldham AthleticA1–56,505Heath 23'42 23 April 1988 Swindon TownH1–06,293Stainrod 16'43 30 April 1988 MillwallA0–212,63644 2 May 1988 Shrewsbury TownH1–17,452Stainrod 59'
FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR39 January 1988 LiverpoolH0–031,979R3 Replay12 January 1988 LiverpoolA0–139,147
League Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR2 1st Leg22 September 1987 GillinghamH2–07,189Shaw (2) 18', 65'R2 2nd Leg6 October 1987 GillinghamA1–05,039Morgan 12'R327 October 1987 Norwich CityH2–18,603Daly 14', Talbot 17'R417 November 1987 ArsenalA0–330,059
Full Members' Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersR110 November 1987 PortsmouthA3–03,226Heath 16', Daly 36', Shaw 51'R22 December 1987 Sheffield WednesdayA1–015,228Berry 54'R319 January 1988 Leicester CityA0–0 (5–3 pens)5,161QF1 March 1988 Luton TownA1–44,480Shaw 71'
Isle of Man Trophy
RoundOpponentResultGroup match 1Isle of Man XI3–1Group match 2Wigan Athletic2–0Semi-finalHibernian1–0FinalDundee1–0
Friendlies MatchOpponentVenueResult1Port ValeH2–02Eastwood HanleyA1–13Newcastle TownA0–04Derby CountyH0–05Port ValeA1–16Telford UnitedA3–3
Squad statistics Pos.NameLeagueFA CupLeague CupFull Members' CupTotalAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsGK Scott Barrett270201030330GK Peter Fox170003010210DF Steve Bould300202020360DF Cliff Carr39(2)020304048(2)0DF Lee Dixon292204030382DF Lee Fowler0(1)00000000(1)0DF Chris Hemming20(4)100201023(4)1DF Andy Holmes1(1)00000102(1)0DF Kevin Lewis0(1)00000000(1)0DF Mick Mills1000000010DF Brian Talbot19(3)220112024(3)3MF Ian Allinson6(3)00010007(3)0MF Carl Beeston120000010130MF George Berry35(1)520404145(1)6MF Gerry Daly16(5)100414124(5)3MF Tony Ford447204040547MF Tony Henry225200000245MF Steve Parkin42(1)320302049(1)3MF David Puckett7000000070MF Paul Ware1000000010FW Ian Gibbons0(1)00000000(1)0FW Gary Hackett1000000010FW Phil Heath32(7)800403(1)139(8)9FW Nicky Morgan27(1)520313035(1)6FW Carl Saunders15(2)300102(1)018(3)3FW Graham Shaw30(3)60(2)0422(1)236(6)10FW Simon Stainrod11(1)220002015(1)2
References