Robert Exley
As shown by this footage from Arsenal Fan TV, in the years since Stoke City returned to the Premiership in 2008, such a degree of intensity has developed between Arsenal and Stoke that a neutral observer with no pre-conceptions might have mistaken this for a local derby, with Stoke hailing from Stoke Newington, instead of Stoke-on-Trent. The fact that the latter has very little in common with the recently gentrified area of London N16 however, probably goes some way to sustaining Stoke’s animosity with all things Arsenal and its perceived embodiment of bourgeois metropolitan sensibilities.
The last census showed a total of 24.2% of non-pensioner households in Stoke-on-Trent were recorded as having no working adults and with this in mind, it's tempting to portray Stoke as some sort of cultural dark hole. However, as hard as it is to believe from a modern day perspective, Stoke-on-Trent (as well as other Northern outposts such as Wigan) were during the 1970s a cultural epicentre due to its famed Golden Torch night club and its role within the Northern Soul scene of 'all-nighters', which was effectively the birth of British club culture as we know it and revolved around lesser known obscure Motown and Soul tracks such as these.
In contrast to the rise in profile of its football side in recent years, Stoke-on-Trent is a city that in recent decades has had to come to terms with the loss of its three major industries: Coal mining, the production of Steel and - the industry from which its football club derives its nickname – pottery manufacturing. The man who made Stoke-on-Trent such a force within the Pottery industry during the eighteenth century is Josiah Wedgwood – founder of the Wedgwood pottery company, as well as a prominent slavery abolitionist and distant relative to old Labour firebrand Anthony Wedgwood-Benn (aka Tony Benn) who famously renounced his birth right of a hereditary peerage to remain in the House of Commons. Josiah was also the grandfather of Charles Darwin, which makes it kind of ironic that the man who brought you the theory evolution would have a familial link to the City where the under-evolved Ryan Shawcross and Charlie Adam would later ply their trade.
To get back to the football side of things, Stoke City - far from being Wimbledon-style Johnny come-lately upstarts to the Football world actually have quite a long and illustrious history, being as they are the world's second oldest professional football side behind Notts County, founded in 1863. Another unfathomable fact about Stoke City, given their meat pie and Bovril image, is that they were founded as Stoke Ramblers FC by a group of apprentices at the North Staffordshire Railway company who were former public schoolboys from Charterhouse (based in Godalming in Surrey) carrying on the past-time of their school days.
For the record, the former Charterhouse alumni include former Prime Ministers such as the Second Earl of Liverpool, creator of the Boy Scouts Lord Baden Powell, creator of the modern welfare state Lord Beveridge, former editor of The Times and vice chairman of the BBC Lord Rees Mogg, the Dimbleby Brothers, the founder members of prog-rockers Genesis and the man who discovered them, disgraced pop impresario Jonathan King. In contrast, despite the fact that the Arsenal board have had many old Etonians, the founding fathers of Arsenal were humble Woolwich migrant factory workers from Scotland and the north of England.
Another irony, given Arsene Wenger's tagging of Stoke City as a 'Rugby' team, is that the Charterhouse School of their founding fathers were instrumental in the development of the rules of association football moving further away from the Rugby code during the 1860s. Charterhouse representatives (along with Westminster School) had pushed for a passing game instead of the rough and tumble rules which had been developed in schools such as Rugby, due to the fact that being based in London meant they were more restricted with the space of their playing field. In 1867, the FA further ruled in favour of the Charterhouse way of Football by adapting the offside rule to include forward passing.
By 1871, such was the estrangement of schools such as Rugby and Blackheath that they founded the Rugby Union to pursue a game closer to that of their preferred code. Also, the old boy side of Charterhouse - Old Carthusians - would win the 1881 FA Cup Final at Kennington Oval, which would be the last to be contested between two amateur sides, beating Old Etonians 3-0. Meanwhile, Charterhouse's northern offshoot, Stoke Ramblers, had merged with the Stoke Victory Cricket club in 1878 and hence became known as Stoke FC (the 'City' part of their moniker added when the town were granted city status in 1928) who played their home fixtures at the Victoria Ground, turning professional in 1885 and becoming founder members of the Football League in 1888.
The history of Arsenal fixtures against Stoke dates back to 1904, however a fifteen year gap between fixtures occurred between 1907 and 1922 as Stoke went bankrupt and drifted into non-league football, returning back into the league fold after the First World War. The earliest available footage of an Arsenal fixture at home to Stoke City comes from a 1956/57 FA Cup 3rd Round tie in which Arsenal ran out 4-2 winners, with goals from Joe Haverty, Derek Tapscott and two for David Herd. Stoke City have never won the League title, however their halcyon age came with appointment of Tony Waddington as manager in 1960, returning to the top flight in 1963/64 and there exists footage here of Arsenal’s opening league fixture of the 1965/66 season against Stoke City, which Arsenal won 2-1 with two goals for Joe Baker (this game is of historical reference due to the fact that it was the first Arsenal fixture where substitutes were permitted and the first time Arsenal played without white sleeves since 1933, although they were to return two seasons later).
One notable game for Stoke during the 1960s that was caught for posterity by the TV cameras came against a West Ham side with three World Cup winners at the Boleyn Ground in October 1967, where the Potters pulled back a three goal deficit to win 4-3. On Stoke's return to the top flight, Arsenal overwhelmingly held the balance of power with just one Stoke City victory prior to the turn of the decade, a 1-4 defeat for Arsenal at the Victoria Ground in December 1964. In Arsenal’s double season of 1970/71, the Gunners were rocked by a 0-5 away defeat at Stoke’s Victoria Ground in September, followed by the FA Cup Semi-final in late March at Hillsborough which saw Arsenal 0-2 down through gifting two soft goals to Stoke by half time. Arsenal however staged second half fight back, with two goals for Peter Storey, the first a volley and the second a last minute penalty. Stoke were to feel aggrieved as they felt the four minutes added on for stoppages were unwarranted as there had been no second half injuries whatsoever.
Arsenal comprehensively won the replay 2-0 with a bullet header from George Graham and a second from Ray Kennedy. Before the FA Cup final would be one more fixture against Stoke City on the final Saturday of the season on May 1st with a 1-0 win at Highbury secured with an Eddie Kelly winner, captured here by an ITN bulletin (the newscaster, if I'm not mistaken is a young Martin Bell, who later stood as a white suited independent candidate in the Tatton constituency in the 1997 General election to humiliate the sitting Conservative Neil Hamilton). This victory came 48 hours before Arsenal headed up the Seven Sisters Road on Mayday bank holiday to secure the league title, followed by the FA Cup the following Saturday.
Stoke City however were not downhearted and returned the following season, defeating Arsenal at Highbury 0-1 the following August. Stoke were to finally bag their first major trophy with the League Cup in 1971/72, facing West Ham in the Semi-Final which went to a replay after Gordon Banks had saved from fellow 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst at Upton Park. In the replay at Old Trafford, after West Ham goalkeeper Ferguson went off injured, substitute goalkeeper Bobby Moore nearly pulled off an audacious penalty save, however Stoke went through 3-2 after a winner from Terry Conroy. Stoke were also to prevail in the final against Chelsea with a 2-1 victory secured with a winner from Arsenal old boy, 36 year old George Eastham. Stoke were also in the running for a then unprecedented League Cup and FA Cup double, again meeting Arsenal in the Semi Final at Hillsborough.
As with the League Cup Semi, Stoke were boosted by an injury to the opposition goalkeeper, with ITN footage showing an injury to Arsenal keeper Bob Wilson, which was to keep him out for the rest of the season. Arsenal held on for a 1-1 draw with John Radford covering in goal. The replay took place at Goodison Park four days later, with Stoke taking the lead with a penalty from Jimmy Greenhoff. Charlie George equalised from the penalty spot and John Radford carried on his heroics of a few days earlier by popping up with the winner, as Arsenal went on to a 2-1 win. Stoke would feel aggrieved again as an allegedly offside Radford had only been considered by the linesman to be onside as he mistook a programme seller in the crowd for a Stoke defender.
In 1972, Stoke would boost their side by signing 1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst from West Ham. There would also be a further trophy win for this Stoke City side, however they would have to make do with the Watney Cup in 1973. In 1973/74, Stoke had ended a twenty nine match unbeaten run by Leeds United with a 3-2 win over Don Revie’s side (a record number of unbeaten games from the start of the season which would last another thirty years until surpassed by Arsenal’s Invincibles in 2003/04). In the opening league fixture of 1974/75 Stoke would be the undoing of reigning League Champions Leeds again, by pulling off a 3-0 win which aided the early exit of Brian Clough from Elland Road after just forty four days, as well as nearly pulling off a result against the formidable Ajax side of the early to mid-1970s. After holding Ajax to a 1-1 draw at the Victoria Ground, Stoke dominated the second leg but failed to find the net and went out on away goals.
During the middle part of the 1970s Stoke City would boost their push for the big time by spending big in the transfer market, capturing Alan Hudson from Chelsea for a club record of £240,000, followed by Peter Shilton from Stoke for £325,000, which was then a world record fee for a goalkeeper in December 1974. Tony Waddington's Stoke City however would have to wait until August 1975 before finally getting their own back on Arsenal for the two semi-final defeats, with a 0-1 defeat inflicted by a goal from future Gunner Alan Hudson. As will be seen tomorrow however - an act of God later that season would lead to a decline in fortune for Tony Waddington and Stoke City’s great side of the early to mid-1970s.
Part two follows tomorrow
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