Stoke City F.C. in European football
Stoke City's European history spans the UEFA Cup and Europa League.
Stoke City Football Club, founded in 1863 and based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, has competed in European football through the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League. The club also participated in the Anglo-Italian Cup and the Texaco Cup.
Quick Facts
- Continent
- Europe
- Club
- Stoke City
- Most capped player
- Robert Huth (10)
- Kenwyne Jones (10)
- Ryan Shotton (10)
- Jonathan Walters (10)
- Dean Whitehead (10)
- Top scorer
- Kenwyne Jones (4)
- Seasons played
- 3
- First entry
- 1972–73 UEFA Cup
- Last entry
- 2011–12 UEFA Europa League
Facts from the source article.
History
Stoke City first qualified for European competition after winning the Football League Cup in 1971–72 under manager Tony Waddington, defeating Chelsea in the final. This earned the club a place in the UEFA Cup alongside Liverpool, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur. In the first round, Stoke faced 1. FC Kaiserslautern.
At the Victoria Ground, Terry Conroy scored Stoke's first goal in major European competition, Geoff Hurst doubled the lead, Idriz Hošić replied for the visitors, and John Ritchie restored a two-goal advantage late on. The away leg proved disastrous: substitute Lothar Huber scored a minute after coming on, Jürgen Friedrich and Hermann Bitz also scored, and Ritchie received a red card shortly after entering the pitch. Hošić added another goal, giving the West Germans a 4–0 win and a 5–3 aggregate victory, eliminating Stoke.
Waddington again secured European football by finishing fifth in the 1973–74 season, earning a UEFA Cup place alongside Derby County, Ipswich Town, and Wolverhampton Wanderers. Stoke drew Ajax, who less than two years earlier had retained the European Champion Clubs' Cup and were making their UEFA Cup debut. The home leg ended 1–1: Ruud Krol opened the scoring in the 27th minute, and Denis Smith equalised. A goalless away leg in Amsterdam saw Stoke eliminated on the away goals rule.
Stoke's fifth-place finish the following season initially earned another UEFA Cup berth, but the scrapping of the one-team-per-city rule in 1975 allowed Everton in fourth to take the place. After defeating Hajduk Split and FC Thun in qualifying, Stoke reached the group stage, drawn in Group E with Dynamo Kyiv, Beşiktaş, and Maccabi Tel Aviv. With three wins, two draws, and one loss, Stoke finished second in the group behind Beşiktaş and advanced to face Valencia, who eliminated the Potters with two 1–0 victories.
Non-UEFA competitions
Stoke entered the inaugural Texaco Cup in 1970–71, facing Motherwell. Motherwell won the first leg 1–0, with goalkeeper Gordon Banks praised as incredible. At home, Stoke won 2–1 to level the aggregate score, but Motherwell won the subsequent penalty shoot-out after extra time produced no winner. Stoke's first Anglo-Italian Cup appearance came in 1971.
In Group 3, they faced Blackpool, Hellas Verona, and A.S. Roma. Each club played the clubs from the other country home and away, and the best English and Italian club overall advanced to the final. Stoke finished third in the English table. In the 1971–72 Texaco Cup, Stoke again met Motherwell in the first round, this time winning home and away to progress to the second round, where Derby County awaited.
Derby won the first leg at the Baseball Ground 3–2, and a 1–1 draw at Stoke gave Derby a 4–3 aggregate win; Derby went on to win the competition. Stoke returned to the Anglo-Italian Cup for the 1972 tournament, part of a six-strong English contingent including Birmingham City, Carlisle United, Leicester City, Sunderland, and reigning champions Blackpool. Stoke beat Catanzaro home and away but lost both matches against Roma, finishing last. The tournament ceased after the 1973 edition due to lack of interest.
In a third Texaco Cup tournament, Stoke were eliminated early by Birmingham City, who won a penalty shoot-out after both legs finished goalless. This was Stoke's last Texaco Cup entry; Texaco withdrew sponsorship after the 1974–75 tournament, and the competition continued as the Anglo-Scottish Cup, which Stoke did not enter. Stoke's first entry to the revived Anglo-Italian Cup came in the 1993–94 season. In the preliminary round, they were placed in Group 5 with Birmingham City and Wolverhampton Wanderers. A 3–3 draw at Wolves and a 2–0 win over Birmingham saw Stoke progress to the group stage.
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