Adieu les Championship - More Memries of Stoke

[grafikhaus]

So we bid farewell to The Championship - after just two exciting seasons - at the bet 365 Stadium.

I’ve let these ‘Memries of…’ posts slide a bit as they get a bit repetitive when, after covering recent-ish meetings, there’s only the last match between us to recount (next season will be different…). However, Stoke is different.

Our last meeting was a 1-1 draw at Bramall Lane on October 23, 2018. Our usual rumbustious display saw us lead 1-0 (Leon Clarke) before a lapse in concentration saw Joe Allen equalise with a late free kick:

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Despite the disappointment, we were in third place in the table.

Incredibly, it had been nearly eleven years before that since we last met The Potters in a competitive match – a 0-3 home defeat in The Championship on Tuesday evening, 4th December 2007 in front of 23,378. This was our first season since relegation from The Premiership and Stoke would finish this season in second place and so go up into the top flight, where they would remain until relegation last season. (We had won the corresponding fixture with a 1-0 win at Stoke less than a month previously on 10th November 2007 with our winner coming from…Gary Cahill.)

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There were some very interesting names in both line-ups that night.



On 31st March 1990 and with United closing in on promotion back to the top flight, Dave Bassett’s Blades won 1-0 at Stoke in a match featured in the ‘United’ documentary series. Tony Agana crossed for Brian Deane to head the only goal of the game:

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This (1989/90) season was the one where we ended the season with a promotion-securing 5-2 win at Leicester and Stoke finished the season rock-bottom of Division Two, a poor season for the Potters reflected in the 14,908 crowd for this Blades game (including at least 2k Blades fans).

On 18th October 1975 in the top flight, Stoke won 0-2 at Bramall Lane. Ken Furphy had recently been replaced by Cec. Coldwell in an acting-manager rôle and United would finish this season rock-bottom with just 22 points from 42 games (two points for a win back then). By the time we were relegated, Jimmy Sirrel – who failed to get a win in his first 18 games in charge - was our ‘manager’. In the Stoke line-up for this game were Jimmy Greenhoff, Alan Hudson and Geoff Salmons.

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Recent-ish meetings between the clubs



Full Sheffield United v Stoke City record

To date, our League results against Stoke City read:

Home: P: 50 W: 24 D: 15 L: 11 F: 76 A: 54

Away: P: 49 W: 15 D: 13 L: 21 F: 62 A: 89

Championship Table:

Indifferent form all season leaves Stoke in 16th place…



Full Championship Table

Form Guide:

While we are second in the table - based on last six games - with 14 points out of the last 18 (Villa are top with 16 out of 18), Stoke languish in eighteenth place with just six out of the last18 points.



Full Championship Form Guide (last 6 league games)

Top scorers:



Current top scorer is Benik Afobe, a journeyman who – among many others – had a brief spell at Wednesday. His career took off in 2014-15 when his parent club Arsenal loaned him to MK Dons. Ten goals in 22 appearances (alongside Dele Alli) alerted Wolves who paid £2m for him. A subsequent move to Bournemouth for a reported £10m saw him score 10 goals in 63 appearances.

On 12 June 2018, Afobe joined Stoke City on a six-month loan but with an obligation to purchase him for a reported fee of £12 million in January 2019

Manager:

Nathan Jones joined Stoke as manager on 9th January 2019 after impressing during his three-year stint as manager of Luton Town.

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Jones has found the transition from the lower leagues tough. Relegated from the Premier League in 2017-18, Stoke still have two seasons of parachute payments left - I believe £25m next season and £20m in 2020-21.

 

[tyke1889]

Somebody had to do it.

 

[YorkBlade]

Great preview piece, really got me ready for this one. Loved re-watching the 'United' documentary. I have to wonder how the editors managed to cut anything together less than 120 hours with how much Dave Bassett used to talk!

 

[Jim Chimmerney]

I remember going there for a cup game in the 80s, England's Mark Chamberlain played for them and we had the 'blue and white' TC playing for us. A cold January night and we lost 3-2 with, if memory serves, the aforementioned TC playing well but missing a sitter near the end.

 

[sitwell]

The Victoria ground was probably the worst ground for trouble we have had ,On the pitch only thing I can really remember is Curran having a blinder in a 3-2 defeat ,off the pitch lowlight was getting the minibus just about turned over while we were still in it ,and regular running battles in the cemetery. Hate Stoke with a passion.

 

[bornablade]

Remember going to the Victoria ground probably 1972 or 1973. As we arrived we heard TC was injured. I think Mick Speight took his place and we won 3-2(?).

As Sitters says there was always trouble. Probably the next couple of generations have moved over to Port Vale.

Went again about 1996 or 1997. We were 4 up all with headers. I was living in Cornwall and this was one of the few games I was able to get too in that Kendall / Spackman / Bruce era.

Went to the Britannia in 2003. Michael Brown 'engineered' a booking so that his suspension didn't rule him out of the playoffs.

 

[cooperblade]

Always remember Alan Ball on the radio as the coach drove away from Stoke in 1990. He said (squeaked) the ball hit Deane on the ear, bounced off his shoulder and went in!

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

made several trips to the old Victoria Ground, as has been said it always seemed to kick off there.

Abiding memory is the Deane goal and jumping up and down like an idiot and hugging the Blade next to me and then proceeding to dance around like a pair of idiots. It was only when things calmed down that I realised the other Blade was Paul Heaton.

 

[Beans]

Thanks for doing these through the season grafikhaus - always enjoy these threads!

 

[Captain]

4-0 up by half time, Stoke were well and truly
Vonked(Michael, Dutch hard man ex Citeh).Happy days at the Victoria Ground.

 

[Silent Blade]

My only visit to the new ground was the 2-2 draw in November 2003. Kris Commons was flying and gave us problems as Stoke led 2-0 at half time (Akinbiyi scored the second) Kozluk pulled a goal back when his "cross" fooled everyone in the penalty box . Pulis surprisingly subbed Commons and then we were more in control after that and the equaliser came from a penalty by Lester.

I have visited the Victoria ground on 5 occasions.

March 1972 Stoke 2 Blades 2 (Smith og, Scullion). I saw Stoke play at Wembley the previous week. They beat Chelsea 2-1 in the League Cup final. The team paraded the League Cup to the crowd before the kick off. Was surprised to see John Farmer instead of Gordon Banks to play in goal against us. Dont know if Banks was carrying an injury at Wembley or got injured near the end of the final.

August 1972 Stoke 2 Blades 2 (Reece 2). Strange to see Geoff Hurst playing for Stoke! He scored one of their goals. It was Gil Reece's last time he scored for us. He played three more games for us before moving to Cardiff. He had stormed out of a meeting at a hotel before the League Cup match at Workington because he wasnt happy at being named the sub.

October 1973 Stoke 1 (Colquhoun og) Blades 2 (Woodward, Scullion). It wasnt funny at the time but looking back I chuckle when I think of Colquhoun's comical own goal. A cross from the right had hit McAlister's leg but it rebounded off Colquhoun's head (he was running back towards the goal and couldnt get out of the way) and it cannoned towards the net. We equalised with a Woody free kick that pierced through the defensive wall giving the keeper no chance. The winner was a piledriver from the right by Scullion (he went back to Watford a few weeks later)

November 1975 Stoke 2 (Salmons 2) Blades 1 (Woodward). Jimmy Johnstone's debut for us. Ex Blade Salmons score both goals for Stoke before Woody pulled one back late in the game. After the game I needed a dump and my dad drove for miles trying to find a public toilet. He eventually found one that had lights smashed and the toilet seat was broken. I had to "stand up" to do the dump and used newspapers as toilet papers!

October 1978 Stoke 2 Blades 1 (Anderson). We out played Stoke. They scored first (Brendan O'Callaghan) against the run of the play. Peter Anderson equalised heading in a superb passing move but a poor decision by the ref awarded a penalty by Stoke which proved to be the winner. After the game there were running battles between fans of both teams at the graveyard near the ground.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

I always remember a match at Bramall Lane where Stoke were hell bent on conning the ref and got away with it all game. Kris Commons rolled around everytime someone touched him.

The worst example was when Mamady Sidibe got tackled, went down like a sack of spuds, received so called treatment on the pitch, before he then limped off to the sidelines slowly. As soon as the referee whistled him on he limped back on the pitch. Stoke were hitting us on the counter at that moment and miracle of miracles, his injury instantly disappeared and he sprinted to join the attack.

I've always hated Stoke since that game.

 

[United Aren't Back.]

Bumped.

 

[pommpey]

Just reading Curries autobiography at the moment and that game we lost with Greenhoff's brace kinda epitomises the collapse in spirit in the club around that time. It was redolent of two seasons ago when the arse literally fell out of the club.

pommpey