GREATEST GAMES AT THE VICTORIA GROUND
HERE ARE A SERIES OF THE GREATEST EVER GAMES TO TAKE PLACE AT THE VIC OVER THE YEARS. SOME YOU WILL FIND HAVE BEEN SCANNED IN BY ME FROM A SERIES OF OLD SCRAP BOOKS FROM LOCAL OR NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS, OTHERS HOWEVER HAVE BEEN WROTE BY ME, ENJOY!
STOKE CITY VS MANCHESTER UNITED.. LEAGUE
CUP 71
Okay, i wasn't even born when this game took place but it is a match that I have since seen footage of on video so I decided to include it in this great games at the vic section, because obviously it
was a great game.. As it says on the team sheet on the left this was the 2nd replay after the two teams had drawn two weeks earlier 1-1 at Old Trafford and then 0-0 in the first replay.. The game started off with George Best on top form for United, testing Gordon Banks early on with a 25 yard shot that was saved by Banks, but Best got the better of Banks soon after when he beat the off side trap to put his team in front. Then later on Sammy McIIlroy almost scored a second for the visitors and Carlo Sartori had a shot cleared off the line by Denis Smith. George Eastham came on at half time for Stoke to add more depth to the midfield, then in the 70th minute a cross from the left wing by Conroy was turned in to the path of Peter Dobing who fired home an equiliser.
Then with two minutes remaining Jimmy Greenhoff forced a superb tip over save from United keeper Alex Stepney for a Stoke Corner. Eastham took it from the right wing and John Richie met it with a header to win the tie 2-1 for Stoke, seen in front of a crowd of 42,333.
STOKE CITY VS LEEDS UNITED, DIVISION 1 ,1974
Again this is another classic game I couldn't be at but have seen the video many times over. An almost invincible side at the time Leeds United arrived at the Victoria Ground under Don Revie looking to break Burnley's 53 year record of 30 games without defeat in the top flight. Alan Hudson had just signed for Stoke and the Potters were playing the type of football that pulled the crowds in. Leeds United, with 10 Internatinals in their side took the lead after 15 minutes when Billy Bremner was bought down outside the penalty area and he himself got up to curl the ball past Farmer in to the back of the Stoke net. Then two minutes later future Stoke City boss to be Joe Jordon playing up front for Leeds beat the off side trap and set up Allan Clarke to hit home a second goal for Leeds, a come back at this stage looked a million miles away for Stoke, but in the 27 minute Stoke won a free kick which Alan Hudson
played the ball to Mike Pejic who slammed a fierce left footed shot in to the back of united's net from 20 yards. Stoke then went on to level in the 35th minute when a cross into the box was headed on by John Ritchie to Alan Hudson who stepped past Terry Yorath and hit home
an equiliser, his first goal for Stoke. In the second half Hudson took complete control of the
midfield and bossed the game until eventually a 68th minute corner from Stoke's Jimmy
Robertson was headed on by World Cup hero Geoff Hurst for Denis Smith to rise and head in
the winning goal for Stoke to end Leeds' chances of beating Burnley's record...
STOKE CITY VS AJAX UEFA CUP ,1974
The season earlier a Alan Hudson
"Inspired" Stoke City team had guided
Stoke City in to Europe which lead to a
glorious two legged tie against Ajax
Amsterdam, former European Cup winners
and seen by many as one of the greatest
teams in the world. Ajax had recently sold
Johan Cruyff to Barcalona and new boss
Hans Kraay had set about rebuilding the
great Dutch league side And so the match
kicked off and Ajax played the possession
game and did a man marking job on Jimmy
Greenhoff. Eventually Ajax' s class paid off
and they took the lead in the 38th minute
with a goal from thir captin , Krol who fired
a 20 yard bullet past Farmer in the Stoke
goal. In the second half Stoke came out and knew that they had to keep their European hopes
alive and put the Dutch Giants under pressure, eventually Stoke cross from the left by Mike
Pejic was touched on by Greenhoff for Denis Smith to fire home at the far post on 76 minutes,
the game ended 1-1.., In the second leg Stoke went off to Amsterdamn Olympic Stadium two
weeks later for the second leg where they came up against a resolute Ajax defence, despite
pressure from Stoke to grab a winnning goal Ajax stood firm and eventually sneaked through
on away goals..
STOKE CITY VS MANCHESTER UNITED.. LEAGUE
CUP 93
This game here has to be my all time greatest Stoke
game that I have ever attended.. everything about it
was magic.. After Stoke's promotion from the second
division the year earlier under Lou Macari Stoke were
now challenging for promotion to the Premiership and
had been given a glorious home draw against Alex
Ferguson's mighty Manchester United side in the
Coca Cola Cup. In their previous two league games
Stoke had gone to Arysome Park and had totally torn
apart a Middlesbough team that had been playing top
flight football the season before, then on the Sunday
Stoke traveled away again to the promotion favorites
Nottingham Forest (also relegated the season before
under Brian Clough) Stoke were awesome as they
demolished Forest, going 2 0 up at half time and 3 0 up
early in the second half. Forest managed to pull two
late goals back to give themselves a more respectable
scoreline but they had been run ragged by Lou Macari's Stoke team. The following
Wednesday night it got even better as Manchester United arrived at the Vic.. Ferguson
chose to rest Eric Cantona for this leg but kept faith in Premiership stars Peter Schmeichel,
Steve Bruce, Gary Pallister, Mark Hughes and Lee Sharpe who was on fire at the time,
Manchester United Started off by knocking the ball round well and attacking down the flanks
as Stoke were put under pressure early on by the best team in England at the time. As time
wore on though and with Stoke soaking up all the pressure Manchester United had to offer
without any real problems. Suddenly Ukrainian Winger Andri Kanchelskis attempted to play
a through ball in to the path of Mark Hughes half way inside the Stoke City half, this however
was cut out by Stoke's Icelandic midfield star Toddy Orlygsson who then gathered his
composure and charged up field on the attack. Then, out of the corner of his eyes the
Icelander spotted Mark Stein who had peeled away on the right side of Peter Schemichel's
penalty area, Toddy acknowledged the run and fed the ball out wide in to the path of the
Golden One.. With a quick turn of pace Steino cut inside the box, resisting the attempt to go
for the cross he skipped past United's Gary Pallister as if the big England defender wasn't
there before unleashing a rocket of a shot that screamed past Peter Schemichel at blistering
pace and into the roof of United's net right infront the away supporters.. As a cocky Stein
peeled away to celebrate his wonder goal Peter Schemichel just stood there, hands on hips
and completely bewildered as the ball nestled in the back of his net, staring at the
Manchester United supporters behind his goal who were totally shell shocked after seeing
The Golden One completely lacerate their famous defence to shreds before ruthlessly
putting Peter Schmeichel (arguably the worlds greatest Goalkeeper at the time) to the sword
with a typical Steino-esque gem of a goal as the Victoria ground exploded in a Rhapsody of
noise.. .The glory hunters were not singing anymore!.."
And so a Mark Stein wonder goal had just sailed past Peter Schemichel
in the Man United goal to give Stoke a one goal lead against the
Champions and from this point on with the deafening chorus of Delilah
booming around all four Stands of the Victoria Ground Stoke City
always looked likely to go on and increase their lead... The second half
started in much the same vain as Stoke's defence looked relatively
comfortable against anything United had to offer whilst still looking
dangerous themselves when ever they went on the counter attack...
However half way through the second half Manchester United's
England winger Lee Sharpe picked up a ball on the left of the Stoke
City half, advanced forward and put in a cross that Dion Dublin met with
a header to send the ball in to the back of the Stoke City net for the
equalizer when maybe Mark Prudoe in the Stoke goal should of done
better.. This seemed a bitter blow and a goal that United didn't really
deserve as their massed supporters in the Stoke End stand celebrated
and broke out in their first real song of the night "..Your not singing
anymore!. " ...Their song was still echoing around the Victoria ground
the moment Stoke City restarted the game from the centre circle and
immediately went on the attack down the left flank.. Their song was still
echoing round the Victoria ground when the ball was played in from the left wing to the feet of
Mark Stein on the edge of the United penalty area, then suddenly the cocky voices of the
United supporters fell silent as they realized what danger they might now be in as Mark Stein
danced past Gary Pallister and Denis Irwin on the edge of United's area before firing in a low
rasping bullet of a shot that flew past Peter Schemichel into the bottom right corner of the
United net!.. This was absolutly unbelievable!, in less that a minute after Man United had
scored their equalizer Stoke had immediately kicked of and scored another wonder goal to
regain their lead.. The Man United supporters could not believe what was happening and
Peter Schemichel looked even more bewildered than before as he stared at the jubilent,
mighty Boothen End behind his goal and Mark Stein who was once again indulging in
arrogant celebrations with some Stoke supporters who had spilled on to the pitch.. I watched
the video of this match the other night and the commentators words as Steino celebrated
summed it up perfectly.. "This man is magic!.. He scores goals that others can only dream
of!..."
And so on this evening Stoke City had defeated the Champions of England at the Victoria
Ground and two weeks later they ventured off to Old Trafford for the second leg with an army
of around 9,000 supporters from the Potteries... Eventually however Stoke were overcome
despite a brave fight they ended up losing to a Lee Sharpe goal and a last minute winner by
Brian Mclair against a Manchester United side that Alex Ferguson had added Roy Keane
and Ryan Giggs to from the first leg in an attempt to overcome Stoke City. At times during to
two legs Stoke had torn Manchester United's famous team appart and United were very
lucky that this tie was over two legs as in the first game at the Vic they were well and truly a
beaten outfit..
STOKE CITY 2 PORT VALE 0, DIVISION 1, APRIL 1997
For some people the name "Port Vale" popping
up in a section that includes such great teams as
Manchester United, Ajax and Leeds United
seems a pretty strange choice.. but allow me to
explain... Port Vale is not considered to be a
"Big" derby game in the same sense that
Wolverhampton Wanderers , West Bromich
Albion and Birmingham City games are
considered to be... Games against Port Vale are
seen as "Local" derby games, nothing more..
However this paticular game was a little bit
special and this is why it makes it into this
section.. This game had some great ingredients
to it.. For starters it was the last ever Potteries
derby at the Victoria Ground, Port Vale at the
time had one of their best ever teams under John Rudge and they were trying to sneak into
the 1st Division playoffs as the season came to a close. Stoke themselves were having a
pretty poor season but were only a couple of points behind Port Vale, and finally as far as I
was concerned this was THE last match to be played at the Victoria Ground.. by saying that I
mean it was the last serious match to be played. ..
The last game against West Bromich Albion for me was just a big farewell party where we all
got dressed up and said goodbye in what was more like a carnival than a footy match. This
game against Port Vale however was to be serious business as the Stoke team had something
to prove to their fans to make up for such a poor season and they also had the opportunity to
end Port Vale's chances of reaching the playoffs.. This had to be a must win game for Stoke
and to top it all off the game was to be shown live on TV..
Port Vale started to match well with out really threatening the Stoke defence and the only
real danger they caused Stoke was when winger Jon Macarthy broke down the right wing in
the first half and sent in a dangerous cross that was delt with well by the Stoke defence.. At
the other end of the pitch Richard Forsyth tested Paul Musslewhite in the Vale goal with a
shot that the Vale keeper held well...
As the half went on tempers flared and on loan Sean Flynn got in to a bit of an argument with
Vale players Andy Porter and Roger Koordes.. The half looked like it was going to end
goalless, but then out of the blue and right on half time Stoke Striker Mike Sheron picked up
the ball half way inside the Vale half before skipping 
past four Vale challenges and then
firing a powerful shot that looked to be rising into the
top right corner of the Vale net but took a wicked
deflection off of the arse of Vale defender Dean
Glover which changed the direction of the shot
completely as it now trickled past the stranded
Musslewhite into the bottom left hand corner of the
net to put Stoke 1 0 in front right on the break...
The Ball seemed to take an eternity into the final
bottom corner of the goal in front of the mediocre
Vale following in the Stoke End Stand but when it
finally went in you could feel the relief and jubilation
as the Victoria Ground erupted in celebration and
Shezza ran back towards the Boothen End at the
other end of the pitch with the emotion clearly
printed on his face as he broke his baron spell of only
three previous goals to his name since the turn of the
new year to add to the ninteen he netted before
Christmas. Delilah rung around the Vic as the
players left the pitch for half time...
The second half started and Stoke, boosted by their late goal at the end of the first half went
on to boss the second half completely as they moved forward in an attempt to increase their
lead, most notably a Mike Macari overhead kick that clipped against the cross bar when a
goal seemed likely.. After about 70 minutes Vale had their one clear attempt of the half and
probably their best chance of the game when the ball fell to Jon McCarthy in the Stoke box
how unleashed a wicked shot that was brilliantly saved at point blank range by Carl
Muggelton in the Stoke goal before finally being cleared by the Stoke defence.. This sudden
scare woke Stoke up though as they tightened up at the back and in the 85 minute an
attempted clearance in the Port Vale box by Dean Glover was charged down by the
inspirational Carl Beeston in to the path of Mike Sheron who blasted a first time shot without
hesitation into the back of the Port Vale net as the Boothen End behind the goal again
errupted in what had to go down as one of the best mentals of the season..
It was a great feeling.. As the game moved on Sheron came close to a hat trick in the final
minutes but a third headed goal was foiled by Vale defender Neil Aspin.. Then Ray Wallace
burst through from midfield for Stoke for a one on one attempt to add a third only to miss hit
his shot which went just wide of the Vale net. Then another opportunity happened only
seconds later when Stoke sub Neil Macenzie found himself in the Vale box only for his goal
attempt to be closed down by what remained of Vale's shattered defence when really he
should of done better.. The final whistle eventually went and the Victoria Ground celebrated
a memorable game that they really should of won by four or five clear goals but at the end of
the day everyone was happy with a two nil victory as all of the home fans in the ground began
to get their preparations ready for the West Brom game the following week...