The 1900–01 season was

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

's 12th season of in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

. It was a hard season for Stoke as they were almost relegated to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

but survived after winning their final match of the season 4–2 away at

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

Season review

League

By now Stoke had lost the valuable services of Tom Robertson,

Jack Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...

and Joe Turner while dedicated full-back Jack Eccles made only two appearances and later became club trainer as the team slowly broke up. Only two points were collected from their first eight games and a disjointed Stoke side slipped to the bottom of the table. The situation improved slightly with the arrival of Welsh forward

Mart Watkins Walter Martin Watkins (21 March 1880 – 14 May 1942) was a Welsh footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Stoke and Sunderland. Club career Watkins was born in Caersws and was one of six sons of a Welsh farmer from Llanwn ...

from Oswestry Town but Stoke were involved in a relegation dog-fight until the final day of the season. On

Good Friday Good Friday, also known as Holy Friday, Great Friday, Great and Holy Friday, or Friday of the Passion of the Lord, is a solemn Christian holy day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus and his death at Calvary (Golgotha). It is observed during ...

(5 April 1901) Stoke went to Bury and were denied two blatant penalties and lost 3–2. This defeat left Stoke in 17th position, three points and one place above

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

who had three games in hand, while Preston and

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

were just above them. Stoke's remaining two games were both away - to

and

. Preston ended their season with a home clash with West Brom who were struggling to find any form and looked doomed. Remarkably, Stoke upped their game and won both matches while Preston lost and went down with Albion leaving Stoke safe in 16th place. It had been a tense and difficult season and the club's finances were now in a very precarious state, both manager and chairman recognized this and the club would now look at the local leagues for players. Unfortunately ace marksman William Maxwell bid farewell to Stoke at the end of the season joining

Third Lanark Third Lanark Athletic Club was a Scottish football club based in Glasgow. Founded in 1872 as an offshoot of the 3rd Lanarkshire Rifle Volunteers, the club was a founder member of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) in 1872 and the Scottish ...

for £250 after scoring 85 goals in 173 games for the "Potters" and he would be sorely missed.

FA Cup

The 1900–01 season saw Stoke having to play in the Intermediate Round which was a consequence of their secretary failing to get their entry to the competition to the FA by the required time. Stoke beat Second Division

Glossop Glossop is a market town in the borough of High Peak (borough), High Peak, Derbyshire, England, east of Manchester, north-west of Sheffield and north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock. Near Derbyshire's borders with Cheshire, Greater Mancheste ...

1–0. In the first round Stoke lost 2–1 in a replay to

Small Heath Small Heath is an inner-city area in south-east Birmingham, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England situated on and around the Coventry Road about from the city centre. History Small Heath, which has been settled and used since Roman t ...

after a 1–1 draw at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

Season review

League

FA Cup

Final league table

Results

Legend

Football League First Division

FA Cup

Squad statistics

References