2001–02 Stoke City F.C. season

Stoke City
2001–02 season
Chairman Gunnar Gíslason
Manager Gudjon Thordarson
Stadium Britannia Stadium
Football League Second Division 5th (80 Points)
FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round
League Trophy First Round
Top goalscorer League: Chris Iwelumo (10)
All: Chris Iwelumo (12)
Highest home attendance 23,019 vs Port Vale (10 February 2002)
Lowest home attendance 9,515 vs Colchester United (26 September 2001)
Average home league attendance 13,996
Home colours

The 2001–02 season was Stoke City's 95th season in the Football League and the eighth in the third tier.

After two failed attempts to gain promotion via the play-offs the pressure was now on Gudjon Thordarson to achieve automatic promotion. Graham Kavanagh was sold for £1 million as well as fan favourite Peter Thorne to Cardiff City and with the money raised Stoke went out and brought some useful additions. After a slow start City went on a 10 match unbeaten run which was brought to a halt by Wigan in November. In January Stoke lost their form and fell away from automatic promotion places and it became clear that it would be the play-offs again for Stoke. And it was Cardiff who were Stoke's opponents with the first leg ending in a 2–1 win for the "Bluebirds" and it seemed that in the second leg Cardiff would hold on for a goalless draw but two very late goals gave Stoke a famous victory and they went to secure promotion by beating Brentford 2–0 in the final. It was not enough however for Gudjon Thordarson to be offered a new contract.[1]

Season review

League

The pressure was now on manager Gudjon Thordarson to finally end Stoke's spell in the Second Division with the owners wanting the club to start progressing though to the Premiership.[1] First task Gudjon did was to sell key midfielder Graham Kavanagh to big spending Cardiff City for £1 million and with that money he brought in six new players, defender Peter Handyside from Grimsby Town who was made captain, goalkeeper Neil Cutler, Belarusian defender Sergei Shtanyuk, Belgian midfielder Jurgen Vandeurzen, David Rowson from Aberdeen and most impressively former Dutch international Peter Hoekstra.[1] The season didn't get off the best of starts with Stoke losing 1–0 away at Queens Park Rangers but two wins over Northampton and Cambridge kick started Stoke's season.[1] Stoke then drew 1–1 at home to Huddersfield Town with Peter Thorne scoring a 90th-minute equaliser, it proved to be his last act in a Stoke shirt as he left to join Kavanagh at Cardiff.[1] With Stoke's main goal threat sold supporters questioned where the goals would come from, thankfully for Stoke they would be spread across the side.

After the departure of Thorne Stoke went on a fine run of results going 10 matches unbeaten putting them firmly in the hunt for automatic promotion but the run was ended by a thumping 6–1 defeat at Wigan Athletic.[1] Stoke recovered well beating Wycombe Wanderers 5–1 but just three wins in 14 saw Stoke's grip on the top two loosen.[1] Matters were not helped when Souleymane Oulare brought into replace Thorne suffered a life-threatening blood clot after just one appearance.[1] With automatic promotion looking unlikely due to the form of Brighton & Hove Albion and Reading, Stoke concentrated on cementing their position in the play-offs and that's what they managed finishing the season in 5th position.[1]

Their opponents in the play-offs were Cardiff City and the first leg at the Britannia Stadium didn't go well for Stoke with Leo Fortune-West and Robert Earnshaw putting Cardiff 2–0 up, but on loan striker Deon Burton pulled one back for Stoke late on.[1] So Stoke went into the second leg at the notoriously hostile Ninian Park 2–1 down and with both sides missing chances the match was 0–0 after 90 minutes and in the final minute of injury time James O'Connor scored to send the match into extra time.[1] And Stoke scored again via an O'Connor shot which deflected in of Souleymane Oulare to give Stoke the most dramatic victory.[1] The final against Brentford was not as dramatic as Stoke won comfortably 2–0 thanks to goals from Deon Burton and an own goal from Ben Burgess.[1] So with Stoke celebrating a return to the second tier after a longer than hoped spell in the third tier the feeling around the club was good with hopes that it could be the start of a return to the top flight.[1] However, despite finally achieving promotion via the play-offs at the third attempt manager Gudjon Thordarson's contract was not renewed.[2]

FA Cup

After avoiding potential upsets against non-league Lewes and Third Division Halifax Town Stoke were handed a third round tie against Everton. The "Toffees" won a close match 1–0 thanks to an Alan Stubbs free-kick in front of a capacity crowd of 28,218.[1]

League Cup

Stoke lost to Oldham Athletic in the first round via a penalty shoot-out.[1]

League Trophy

With priorities on gaining promotion Gudjon decided to play a second string side against Blackpool giving debuts to some of the club's best academy players most notably Andy Wilkinson. They gave a decent account of themselves losing 3–2.[1]

Final league table

PosClubPWDLFAGDPts
1 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 25 15 6 66 42 +24 90
2 Reading 46 23 15 8 70 43 +27 84
3 Brentford 46 24 11 11 77 43 +34 83
4 Cardiff City 46 23 14 9 75 50 +25 83
5 Stoke City 46 23 11 12 67 40 +27 80
6 Huddersfield Town 46 21 15 10 65 47 +18 78
7 Bristol City 46 21 10 15 68 53 +15 73
8 Queens Park Rangers 46 19 14 13 60 49 +11 71
9 Oldham Athletic 46 18 16 12 77 65 +12 70
10 Wigan Athletic 46 16 16 14 66 51 +15 64
11 Wycombe Wanderers 46 17 13 16 58 64 –6 64
12 Tranmere Rovers 46 16 15 15 63 60 +3 63
13 Swindon Town 46 15 14 17 46 56 –10 59
14 Port Vale 46 16 10 20 51 62 –11 58
15 Colchester United 46 15 12 19 65 76 –11 57
16 Blackpool 46 14 14 18 66 69 –3 56
17 Peterborough United 46 15 10 21 64 59 +5 55
18 Chesterfield 46 13 13 20 53 65 –12 52
19 Notts County 46 13 11 22 59 71 –12 50
20 Northampton Town 46 14 7 25 54 79 –25 49
21 Bournemouth 46 10 14 22 56 71 –15 44
22 Bury 46 11 11 24 43 75 –32 44
23 Wrexham 46 11 10 25 56 89 –33 43
24 Cambridge United 46 7 13 26 47 93 –46 34

Key: P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Stoke's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Pre-Season Friendlies

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
115 July 2001Newcastle TownA3–02,160Thorne 10' Cooke 39' Bullock 72'
218 July 2001MacclesfieldA1–0Guðjónsson 44'
321 July 2001Wacker BurghausenA3–1Guðjónsson, Hoekstra, Gunnarsson
424 July 2001FC GratkornA0–0
524 July 2001GençlerbirliğiA0–1
627 July 2001SV GmundenA3–0Þórðarson, Iwelumo, Cooke
731 July 2001Leicester CityH1–2Cooke
84 August 2001Derby CountyH0–0
97 August 2001Racing Club WarwickA4–2Lewis Neal, Marc Goodfellow, Iwelumo (2)

Football League Second Division

MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
1 11 August 2001 Queens Park RangersA0–114,357Report
2 18 August 2001 Northampton TownH2–012,845Cooke 52', Thorne 54'Report
3 25 August 2001 Cambridge UnitedA2–03,336Thorne 48', Cooke 51'Report
4 27 August 2001 Tranmere RoversH1–212,031Thorne (pen) 90'
5 8 September 2001 Huddersfield TownH1–113,319Thorne 90'Report
6 15 September 2001 ReadingH2–011,752Guðjónsson 25', Cooke 30'Report
7 18 September 2001 Brighton & Hove AlbionA0–16,627Report
8 22 September 2001 BuryA1–04,727Vandeurzen 32'Report
9 26 September 2001 Colchester UnitedH3–09,515Vandeurzen 45', Þórðarson (2) 57', 90'Report
10 29 September 2001 BournemouthH2–014,803Maher (o.g.) 11', Thomas 47'Report
11 13 October 2001 Notts CountyH1–013,220Hoekstra 47' (pen)Report
12 21 October 2001 Port ValeA1–110,344Iwelumo 78'Report
13 23 October 2001 ChesterfieldA2–15,141Hoekstra (2) 67', 90' (1 pen)Report
14 27 October 2001 Bristol CityH1–016,828Gunnarsson 88'Report
15 3 November 2001 Swindon TownA3–07,981Gunnarsson 28', Iwelumo 65', O'Connor 86'Report
16 6 November 2001 BlackpoolA2–24,921Iwelumo (2) 63', 64'Report
17 10 November 2001 BrentfordH3–217,953Gunnarsson 32' Iwelumo 49', Shtanyuk 80'Report
18 13 November 2001 Wigan AthleticA1–67,047Vandeurzen 9'Report
19 21 November 2001 Oldham AthleticH0–011,031Report
20 24 November 2001 WrexhamA1–05,477Cooke 67'Report
21 15 December 2001 Wycombe WanderersH5–112,911Gunnarsson (2) 19', 44', Iwelumo 30', Cooke 58', Goodfellow 85'Report
22 19 December 2001 Cardiff CityH1–114,331Gabbidon 81' (o.g.)Report
23 26 December 2001 Tranmere RoversA2–212,201Cooke 19', Daðason 90' (pen)Report
24 29 December 2001 Huddersfield TownA0–016,041Report
25 1 January 2002 BlackpoolH2–016,615Shtanyuk 13', O'Connor 82'Report
26 13 January 2002 Northampton TownA1–15,635Goodfellow 36'Report
27 19 January 2002 Queens Park RangersH0–116,725Report
28 22 January 2002 Cardiff CityA0–211,771Report
29 26 January 2002 Wigan AthleticH2–213,361Goodfellow 37', Daðason 67' (pen)Report
30 29 January 2002 Peterborough UnitedA2–15,173Daðason 21', Goodfellow 90'Report
31 2 February 2002 BournemouthA1–36,027Daðason 63' (pen)Report
32 6 February 2002 Cambridge UnitedH5–09,570Cooke 22', O'Connor 27', Þórðarson 61', Tann 71' (o.g.), Goodfellow 89'Report
33 10 February 2002 Port ValeH0–123,019Report
34 16 February 2002 Notts CountyA0–07,501Report
35 23 February 2002 ReadingA0–121,023Report
36 26 February 2002 BuryH4–09,635Iwelumo (2) 45', 56', Vandeurzen 73', Þórðarson 84'Report
37 1 March 2002 Brighton & Hove AlbionH3–116,092Iwelumo 29', Gunnlaugsson 58' (pen), Clarke 86'Report
38 5 March 2002 Colchester UnitedA3–13,866Guðjónsson 42', Burton (2) 45', 80'Report
39 9 March 2002 Wycombe WanderersA0–17,344Report
40 16 March 2002 Peterborough UnitedH1–012,983Gunnlaugsson 10'Report
41 23 March 2002 ChesterfieldH1–014,841Gunnlaugsson 23'Report
42 30 March 2002 BrentfordA0–18,837Report
43 1 April 2002 Swindon TownH2–013,530Thomas 60', Iwelumo 68'Report
44 6 April 2002 Oldham AthleticA1–26,548Holden 63' (o.g.)Report
45 13 April 2002 WrexhamH1–014,298Cooke 30'Report
46 20 April 2002 Bristol CityA1–111,277Cooke 16'Report

Second Division play-offs

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
Semi-final 1st Leg 28 April 2002 Cardiff CityH1–221,245Burton 85'Report
Semi-final 2nd Leg 1 May 2002 Cardiff CityA2–0 (aet)19,367O'Connor 90+3', Oulare 114'Report
Final 11 May 2002 BrentfordN2–042,523Burton 10', Burgess 44' (o.g.)Report

FA Cup

Main article: 2001–02 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
R118 November 2001 LewesH2–07,081Handyside 19', Gunnarsson 57'Report
R2 8 December 2001 Halifax TownA1–13,335Cooke 27'Report
R2 Replay 12 November 2001 Halifax TownH3–04,356Guðjónsson 22', Iwelumo 27', Gunnarsson 47'Report
R3 5 January 2002 EvertonH0–128,218Report

League Cup

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
R122 August 2001 Oldham AthleticH0–0 (5–6 pens)5,635Report

League Trophy

RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport
R116 October 2001 BlackpoolA2–33,561Iwelumo 72', Neal 83' (pen)Report

Squad statistics

No. Pos. Name League FA Cup League Cup League Trophy Play-offs Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
1GKEngland Gavin Ward 10010001000120
2DFSweden Mikael Hansson 000000000000
3DFRepublic of Ireland Clive Clarke 42(1)1300(1)0103049(2)1
4DFScotland Peter Handyside 34031100030411
5DFBelarus Sergei Shtanyuk 40240100030482
6MFIceland Brynjar Gunnarsson 21(2)53200100025(2)7
7MFIceland Bjarni Guðjónsson 46341100030544
8FWEngland Andy Cooke 26(9)92(2)10(1)0002(1)030(13)10
9FWEngland Peter Thorne 540000000054
9FWGuinea Souleymane Oulare 0(1)00000000(1)10(2)1
10FWIceland Ríkharður Daðason 6(5)40(2)000000(1)06(8)4
11MFNetherlands Peter Hoekstra 20(4)32(1)010000023(5)3
12DFEngland Wayne Thomas 40230101030482
14GKEngland Neil Cutler 36030100030430
15FWScotland Chris Iwelumo 22(16)103(1)10(1)0113029(18)12
16FWIceland Stefán Þórðarson 3(18)4001000004(18)4
17MFRepublic of Ireland James O'Connor 43240000031503
18MFEngland Lewis Neal 6(5)01(2)00(1)011008(8)1
19FWEngland Marc Goodfellow 11(12)51(2)010101015(14)5
20DFScotland David Rowson 8(5)01(3)010100011(8)0
21MFIceland Pétur Marteinsson 2(1)0000000002(1)0
22MFIceland Arnar Gunnlaugsson 9300000020113
23MFEngland Karl Henry 9(15)02(1)010100013(16)0
24MFScotland Kris Commons 000000100010
25DFWales Gareth Owen 000000000000
26FWNorway Ole Albrigtsen 000000000000
27MFBelgium Jurgen Vandeurzen 37(3)44010000(3)042(6)4
27MFEngland Brian Wilson 0(1)00(1)00010001(2)0
28DFEngland Andy Wilkinson 0000000(1)0000(1)0
29GKIceland Birkir Kristinsson 000000000000
29MFEngland Tony Dinning 500000003080
30GKEngland Scott Bevan 000000000000
31GKWales Boaz Myhill 000000000000
31FWEngland Laurence Hall 0000000(1)0000(1)0
32FWScotland Allan Smart 0(2)0000000000(2)0
32GKEngland Danny Alcock 000000000000
33GKNorthern Ireland Michael Ingham 000000000000
33GKFinland Jani Viander 000000000000
34DFEngland Mike Flynn 11(2)00000000011(2)0
35FWJamaica Deon Burton 11(1)20000002(1)213(2)4
36DFEngland Ian Brightwell 3(1)00000000(1)03(2)0
38MFEngland John Miles 0(1)0000000000(1)0
Own goals 400015

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 "Stoke City season review 2001-02 third time lucky for Stoke". The Sentinel. 31 May 2002.
  2. "Stoke sack Thordarson". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
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