Stoke City

Stoke play their home fixtures at the Britannia Stadium, a 28,000 all-seater stadium. The stadium was opened in 1997; prior to this date Stoke had played at the Victoria Ground, which had been their home ground since 1878 (a record of 119 years currently shared with Wolverhampton Wanderers). The club's nickname is The Potters (after the pottery industry in Stoke-on-Trent) and their home kit is a red-and-white vertically striped shirt with white shorts and white socks.

Prior to their 2008 promotion, Stoke had not participated in top flight football since the 1984-85 season, in which they were relegated with a total of 17 points, a record low total for twenty-one years. Stoke's first major trophy was won in the 1972 League Cup Final, when they beat Chelsea 2-1. The club have won the Football League Trophy on two occasions, firstly in 1992 and most recently in 2000.

STOKE CITY HISTORY

It is claimed that the history of Stoke City F.C., an English association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, began when Stoke Ramblers were formed in 1863. However, as the Official Site states, "In 1863 the story goes that former pupils of the Charterhouse School formed a football club while apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway works in Stoke. But little evidence exists of any matches taking place." The first actual reference to Stoke Ramblers is made five years later. To quote the Official Site again, "Five years later a report in The Field magazine of September 1868 made things much clearer. It stated a new Association Football club had been formed in Stoke-on-Trent...and its founder member was ex-Charterhouse School pupil Henry Almond. So it's possible that soccer had been played in the area during the previous five years, although in terms of official records the first game played by Almond's team, known as Stoke Ramblers and consisting largely of railway employees, was in October 1868." There appears to be no good reason to link this team to the hypothetical earlier club. In 1878, the club moved to the Victoria Ground, their home for the next 119 years, and merged with Stoke Victoria Cricket Club to become Stoke Football Club. The club joined the Football League upon its formation in 1888, and it is claimed that they are the second oldest club in the Football League. However, it should be noted that documented history begins in 1868 and Nottingham Forest Football Club were founded in 1865. In 1928, the club's name was changed for the final time to Stoke City Football Club when Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status. The club then moved in 1997 to the Britannia Stadium, a 28,383 all-seater stadium; the Victoria Ground was demolished later that year.

In the 2007–08 season, Stoke won promotion from the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football, and as of 2008–09 are playing in the top flight (currently English Premier League) for the first time since the 1984–85 season, when they were relegated with a total of 17 points, a record low unsurpassed for 21 years. Stoke's only major trophy was the 1972 Football League Cup, won when they beat Chelsea 2–1 in the final at Wembley Stadium before a crowd of 97,852. The club have also won the Associate Members Cup—a competition for clubs in the two lower divisions of The Football League—in 1992 and 2000.

Stoke won promotion to the Premier League after a goalless draw with Leicester City on the last day of the 2007–08 season, putting them in 2nd place of The Championship, thus earning automatic promotion. The promotion earned Stoke £35 million for the 2008–09 season, and a minimum of £60 million over the space of three seasons

Despite poor-runs in both the FA and Carling Cups, the club exceeded expectations in terms of 2008–09 League performance. A defeat to Bolton Wanderers  on the opening day of the season did not bode well, with bookmaker Paddy Power paying out on Stoke to be relegated , but fortunes quickly changed. In Stoke’s first game of the season at the Britannia Stadium, the team managed to pick up all three points against Aston Villa, following a 3-2 win , and notably, on 20 September, held Liverpool to a 0-0 draw at Anfield . Wins also came against Tottenham Hotspur , Arsenal  Sunderland  and West Bromwich Albion , all before the end of November, however on 15 November, league-champions Manchester United gave Stoke their largest defeat of the season, with a full-time score of 5-0

In the following months, Stoke’s quest for silverware came to an end after being knocked out of the Carling Cup by Derby County in the quarter-finals , and the FA Cup by Hartlepool United in the third-round . The New Year brought further points in the league though, with draws against Portsmouth and Aston Villa  and a 2-0 win against Bolton Wanderers . From the 21st March, Stoke scored points in four consecutive games, only dropping points to Newcastle United  in this time. After a 2-1 win at Hull City , Stoke confirmed their place in the Premier League 2009–10, and reached a league high of 11th place after defeating Wigan Athletic, 2-0. A defeat to Arsenal away meant that the Potters finished 12th in their return to the top flight. . Stoke City were the dirtiest team in the premier league finishing bottom of the fair play league

 2009-2010 season

Over the 2009 summer period, City built on their squad, by signing several established Premier League players, most notably; Robert Huth and Tuncay ?anl? from Middlesbrough and Danny Collins and Dean Whitehead from Sunderland.

The new season began with a mixed start. A comfortable win at home to Burnley, was soon followed by a 4-0 defeat to Liverpool just four days later. However, a good run followed; a draw at Birmingham City, a 1-0 win in the Carling Cup at Leyton Orient (with Dave Kitson scoring his first competitive goal for the team), and a 1-0 win at home to Sunderland. Stoke lost their second meeting with a 'big four' team 2-1 at home, with Florent Malouda scoring four-minutes into extra time to clinch the victory for Chelsea. Manchester United also defeated City the following week, 2-0. A surprise win against Tottenham Hotspur at White Hart Lane; Glen Whelan scoring 86 minutes into the match to make the score 1-0.