Stoke City FC

A great clip here of simon sturridge netting against forest in the fa cup third round 95/96, it's also a chance to get misty eyed over the victoria ground and in particular the boothen end. The match finished in a draw and we lost the replay at the city ground. My biggest memory of the replay is the cracking atmosphere in the away end that night even though we got beat.

These are 11 quality away games from the time when northy was a regular in the boothen and at away fixtures.

1. Wolves 1-4 Stoke City (October '95)
2. Leicester 2-3 Stoke City (August '95)
3. West Brom 1-2 Stoke City (Jan '93)
4. Nottingham Forest 2-3 Stoke City (Sept '93)
5. Preston NE 3-4 Stoke City (August '98)
6. Brentford 0-4 Stoke City (March '91)
7. Oldham 0-1 Stoke City (April '00)
8. Wycombe 0-4 Stoke City (Nov '99)
9. Mansfield 0-4 Stoke City (Sept '92)
10. Liverpool 2-2 Stoke City (Sept '91)
11. Reading 3-4 Stoke City (March '92)

http://www.catflapfootball.com/Football-Blogs/Stoke-City/2008/09/06/80DownOrIsIt9.aspx

This is the video footage from the previously mentioned massacre

Stoke 0-8 Liverpool Worthington cup rd4 2000-01

This was a memorable match for vastly different reasons, stoke had battled through from the 1st round to land a plum tie in the 4th against the red army from merseyside who, as usual brought with them 5000 fanatical disciples. The game was like shadow boxing with stoke acting out the part of the shadow, getting hit with knockdown blows on a regular basis in the 90 minutes. It could all have been different with the potters an inch away from taking the lead very early on through peter thorne. Ziege and fowler amongst others ripped stoke apart, it was a joy to see in a twisted kind of way. The two most memorable moments of this crazy night were as follows.

1. Stoke fans still singing and loudly at that, even at 8-0 down. The humour of the potters fans that night was classic and deserved respect.
2. The scoreboard reading 9-0, even technology couldn't keep up with the scousers.

Classic top flight encounter from 1982. Stoke city 4-4 Luton town. There was a nine year old lad named northy in the boothen end watching this spectacle unfold. He enjoyed it.

Stoke City vs Manchester United CCC 1993 1st leg

Lets get this straight from the off, there was a time when stoke versus man utd was a regular fixture in the top flight, the two cities are not far apart and if you ask a stokie which game they would be looking forward to the most this season its pretty certain a lot would say man u at home boxing day.  Obviously the younger generation of united fans would not have even given stoke a second thought before we re-entered the big time with promotion in may.  But to the older set of supporters this is a classic fixture with a big rivalry.  Your editor wanted to stir up the memories with a snippet on the coca cola cup 1st leg fixture from 1993 at a rammed victoria ground, the atmosphere that night will live long in the memory for anyone who was there as will the result. Either side of a bullet header from dion dublin were two cracking strikes from the legend that is mark stein, the first a rocket from the right hand side which left schmeichel wondering what day it was then in the second half a mazy run which led to a low firm shot which flew into the net with wet dream style magnificence.  Lou macari's well drilled exciting outfit had other chances to increase the scoreline and eventually lost the second leg 2-0 at old trafford where a young subsitute by the name of ryan giggs was introduced. The victoria ground was a special stadium, that night it was the best place in the world, bar none.

Formed 1863, founder members, went bust, re-emerged. Matthews, Steele, Franklin, Matthews again. Waddington era, promotion, League Cup winners '72. Viollett, Setters, Dobing, Hudson, Ritchie, Greenhoff, Conroy, cracking football, roof blows off stand, downhill slide, 17 points, bye bye top flight. Mills, Ball, the Macari years, Divison Two trophy. Autoglass, play-off despair, Parker, serious aggro, Icelandic years, away cards, Coates and Pulis back in. Investment, PROMOTION. THE FUTURE…