Stoke fan here in peace...

[the sleeping giant]

1. Generally how do you see Stoke City the club – a rival? Non-entity? Certain type of club? Disdain? Admiration? Pity?! As a fixture – is it of general appeal? I'd say I have a begrudging respect for you. Never a game I would look forward to as you know it's (usually) going to be tough and uncompromising. There's probably loads in common between the cities as well as the football clubs. As a kid growing up I resented the fact you wore 'our' beautiful red & white stripes but the fact you had white shorts and socks made you somehow lesser in my young eyes. I liked the fact that as a club you seemed to get up the nose of the London teams - Arsenal in particular. For a midlands club your attitude has always come across to me as more 'northern' (that's a compliment by the way).
2. Are there any Stoke players/ teams that have made an impression on you over the years? I always wanted to see Kenwynne Jones do well so I guess I was a bit more 'on your side' while he was there. I remember seeing both Steve Bould & Lee Dixon playing for you in the 80's but wouldn't have guessed they'd go onto be half of one the most infamous of back fours in the last 50 years. Hated Charlie Adam generally but that goal he scored at Chelsea was superb. I'm surprised Butland is still with you. I know he's had an indifferent season but I always rated him and thought he'd be back in the Prem by now.
3. Are there matches between your team and Stoke you recall hating/ loving? Only a couple of I can remember looking forward to - in 98 when you had Chris Kamara as your manager and we were formidable at home. As referenced elsewhere, you had Neville Southall in goal and I think we had a comfortable 3-0 win. I can remember quite a few draws, such as a terrible 0-0 draw in 96 when our promotion had been confirmed the day before and what was supposed to be a party turned into a borefest. Also recall a 2-2 when we had Mick McCarthy in charge. Midweek game and we expected a home win but, as usual, Stoke were no walkover.
4. In home / away matches, what have you made of the Stoke support? Any particular memories? That bloody Delilah song is annoying but to be fair you sing it with gusto. There's usually a bit of needle and even if you don't bring large numbers you usually make a decent amount of noise so, on that score, I'm happier playing Stoke rather than some nondescript club from the South or a nonentity like Wigan or Hull.
5. The Victoria Ground/ The New One – what did/ do you make our of our home ground(s)’ the grounds? Any particular experiences or impressions? Haven't been to the new one. I recall a decent atmosphere at the Victoria ground. I liked the fact the away end had terracing at the front and seats behind. A proper old ground.

 

[Mr B]

1 Tend to think of Stoke in the same manner as the likes of Barnsley, Huddersfield, etc...
2 Must be a few, but none spring to mind.
3 Always expect a dull 0-0 when playing Stoke.
4 Went to the Victoria Ground in the 70’s and remember being pelted with stones when leaving. Apart from that, can’t recall anything memorable about Stoke fans.
5 The Victoria Ground was a dump and the new ground is just a poor copy of Boro’s ground, fairly uninspiring.

 

[Daffy]

Cmon Stowk
Decent club - good set of fans
annoying , Aey but they’re a passionate bunch & you never get an easy game there

 

[Bladecat]

Always bother when Stoke played Sheff United, and their fans went in the home end at Blackburn when they played there late 70s.(Garth Crooks and Viv Busby played for Stoke)

Never particularly liked the team other than in the early 70s as a kid when they played good football.

Quite liked the Victoria Ground..not a fan of the current ground or it's setting. Fans not that welcoming.

Away support at SoL has usually been poor.

Despite those views @OakeyStokie and @Scorefrom a throw in seem good lads, and the 3 Stoke fans I've known were canny lads, very down to earth and good to go for a pint with.

Oatcakes are average and the accent is different !

 

[Daffy]

Always bother when Stoke played Sheff United, and their fans went in the home end at Blackburn when they played there late 70s.(Garth Crooks and Viv Busby played for Stoke)

Never particularly liked the team other than in the early 70s as a kid when they played good football.

Quite liked the Victoria Ground..not a fan of the current ground or it's setting. Fans not that welcoming.

Away support at SoL has usually been poor.

Despite those views @OakeyStokie and @Scorefrom a throw in seem good lads, and the 3 Stoke fans I've known were canny lads, very down to earth and good to go for a pint with.

Oatcakes are average and the accent is different !

Accent is very pronounced & having family in Stoke I can usually spot a Stokie
Has the OP been back on his thread ?

 

[Silly Point]

One more thing. The Stanley Matthews and Gordon Banks statues are a nice addition especially for the likes of my dad who enjoyed the photo opportunities

 

[Bladecat]

Accent is very pronounced & having family in Stoke I can usually spot a Stokie
Has the OP been back on his thread ?

I didn't realise how many people from the North East had moved there. Talked to some Stoke fans in the Harbour one season and 2 of them were Sunderland fans who had grown up there.

Another of those places that seems to be a shithole that has very nice surroundings.

The 5 towns thing in 1 city is weird too ... they fight each other in the absence of anyone from elsewhere

 

[GlasgowMackem88]

“All our sh!t players......”

 

[gatopreto]

My impressions of stoke... Good, old fashioned club, working class place, one of the oldest teams, since 1863. Vocal fans. Similar to us but smaller and definitely better ran.
I'm in my mid 30s so for me your most notable player for me is Ricardo Fuller. Someone who was unplayable on his day and probably underachieved in his career considering his vast ability.

 

[Silly Point]

Always bother when Stoke played Sheff United, and their fans went in the home end at Blackburn when they played there late 70s.(Garth Crooks and Viv Busby played for Stoke)

Never particularly liked the team other than in the early 70s as a kid when they played good football.

Quite liked the Victoria Ground..not a fan of the current ground or it's setting. Fans not that welcoming.

Away support at SoL has usually been poor.

Despite those views @OakeyStokie and @Scorefrom a throw in seem good lads, and the 3 Stoke fans I've known were canny lads, very down to earth and good to go for a pint with.

Oatcakes are average and the accent is different !

Lived with a Stokie at uni and he wouldn't stop banging on about bloody oatcakes! He kept a stash in the kitchen to impress any lass he brought home with bacon and cheese filled oat cakes in a morning

 

[Bladecat]

Lived with a Stokie at uni and he wouldn't stop banging on about bloody oatcakes! He kept a stash in the kitchen to impress any lass he brought home with bacon and cheese filled oat cakes in a morning

Went to The Brickmakers in Hull where a journalist was talking to the bouncers about local delicacies...he wanted to know about Hull Patties and mentioned Butter Pies from Preston too.

Butter Pie was shite and Oat cakes nowt special. Hull Patties were ok though.

@Boinger and his cheap as chips curries takes the prize though

 

[Burlesque]

Hello folks – Stoke fan here in peace.

I work on the ‘Duck’ fanzine and I’m planning a different type of article for our next issue – out whenever something approaching normal matchdays return to our lives once more.

I aim to ask supporters of several clubs 5 questions about their perceptions of Stoke City in order a to create a big feature article“Us and Them.” For the following questions, feel free to answer in varied depth/ brevity but a couple of sentences at least for each is ideal:

1. Generally how do you see Stoke City the club – a rival? Non-entity? Certain type of club? Disdain? Admiration? Pity?! As a fixture – is it of general appeal?
2. Are there any Stoke players/ teams that have made an impression on you over the years?
3. Are there matches between your team and Stoke you recall hating/ loving?
4. In home / away matches, what have you made of the Stoke support? Any particular memories?
5. The Victoria Ground/ The New One – what did/ do you make our of our home ground(s)’ the grounds? Any particular experiences or impressions?

Given our reputation over the years, this could be a risk but then again, it would be great if I could glean a diverse range of honest/diverse/ cutting/ funny/ serious or even complimentary views.

If you can be arsed, thanks for your time.

Take care of yourselves,
Lee Hawthorne @ORFYDUCKMAG

Taking our recent past out of the equationI put Stoke in a group of clubs with us, Boro,Sheff Utd and maybe one or two more.
Unfashionable,not massive but with potential and a support that always seems to have a sizeable “element” shall we say.
Both Midlands but a lot of clubs in between us to dilute any rivalry other than on the day.
1974 time Stoke were a proper team . We had a good team aswell at that time , Weller, Worthington etc but Shiltonfollowed in Banks’ footsteps in 74 and that was the beginning of the end of that team whereas Stole were looking good ( especially in that Admiral kit). They never kicked on though.
My first ever away match was March 76 at Molineux and what a baptism , spent this afternoon shitting it in that huge old South Bank, and it was huge. Too big for Leicester to congregate. A couple of weeks later my second away at the Victoria Ground. This time a few coaches arrived together and the open end at Stoke was about half the size as the South Bank so happy days we thought.
Wrong! All it meant was that there was only half as much terracing to try and hide after we got scattered. I think it was Mthe game that Tony Wadfington got sacked and it was bedlam trying to get back to the buses which were now parked behind the Boothen.
Usually trouble with Stoke in the 80s/90s.
We won there on the last ever game at the old ground ( Play off semi 96 and as you can imagine that went down well!)
Been to the Brittania once to see us get relegated to the 3rd tier as they celebrated getting promoted to the Premier League.
Oh how they enjoyed that .
Their young lads are lairy as you like , bumped into them in Nanchester a couple of years ago.

 

[rey mysterio]

Hello folks – Stoke fan here in peace.

I work on the ‘Duck’ fanzine and I’m planning a different type of article for our next issue – out whenever something approaching normal matchdays return to our lives once more.

I aim to ask supporters of several clubs 5 questions about their perceptions of Stoke City in order a to create a big feature article“Us and Them.” For the following questions, feel free to answer in varied depth/ brevity but a couple of sentences at least for each is ideal:

1. Generally how do you see Stoke City the club – a rival? Non-entity? Certain type of club? Disdain? Admiration? Pity?! As a fixture – is it of general appeal?
2. Are there any Stoke players/ teams that have made an impression on you over the years?
3. Are there matches between your team and Stoke you recall hating/ loving?
4. In home / away matches, what have you made of the Stoke support? Any particular memories?
5. The Victoria Ground/ The New One – what did/ do you make our of our home ground(s)’ the grounds? Any particular experiences or impressions?

Given our reputation over the years, this could be a risk but then again, it would be great if I could glean a diverse range of honest/diverse/ cutting/ funny/ serious or even complimentary views.

If you can be arsed, thanks for your time.

Take care of yourselves,
Lee Hawthorne @ORFYDUCKMAG

1) Up until you were promoted to the premier league rather indifferent. Just seemed like we used to always beat you at home and you used to always beat us at your place. But then a weird rivalry developed. Games were usually terrible other than when we beat you 4-0 up here and the 3-2 at your place. Well run club, crap flat pack ground copied off the Riverside with a good atmosphere to be fair.
2) Quite a few considering you bought all our shit players - Mark Hughes was a whinging prick however. Seem to remember Delaps throws that he kept hidden from us when he was here, James McLean being a shithouse, Charlie Adam and Dean Whiteheads gigantic heads, Danny Higginbotham snapping one of our players and going full on heel turn, Liam Lawrence, Danny Collins, Kenwyne etc
3) The one in the snow when your groundsman cleared one penalty area at half time. We won and faced a monumental trek to get home. Many people stuck on the M6, I navigated the Rocket up many country roads and we got back to Sunderland at 1am.
4) Home support quite good though you have no chance to actually mingle with them before the game as there’s no pubs within 36 miles of the ground. Away support in terms of numbers I’d say rather poor compared to home crowds. Although the seven fans that came for last seasons EFL trophy game deserve a special mention.
5) new ground is very basic and in a crap location. The police are also completely OTT there for some reason and it’s always freezing whenever I’ve been

 

[Silly Point]

Went to The Brickmakers in Hull where a journalist was talking to the bouncers about local delicacies...he wanted to know about Hull Patties and mentioned Butter Pies from Preston too.

Butter Pie was shite and Oat cakes nowt special. Hull Patties were ok though.

@Boinger and his cheap as chips curries takes the prize though

Aye guess it's what you're brought up on. Patties to me are fantastic but the last girl I dated (Leeds lass) just didn't get it.

My argument with my housemate on oat cakes was always that it wasn't the actual oat cake that made it decent it was the filling. An oat cake on its own would be dull as fuck

 

[HuffyDuffy]

Hello folks – Stoke fan here in peace.

I work on the ‘Duck’ fanzine and I’m planning a different type of article for our next issue – out whenever something approaching normal matchdays return to our lives once more.

I aim to ask supporters of several clubs 5 questions about their perceptions of Stoke City in order a to create a big feature article“Us and Them.” For the following questions, feel free to answer in varied depth/ brevity but a couple of sentences at least for each is ideal:

1. Generally how do you see Stoke City the club – a rival? Non-entity? Certain type of club? Disdain? Admiration? Pity?! As a fixture – is it of general appeal?
2. Are there any Stoke players/ teams that have made an impression on you over the years?
3. Are there matches between your team and Stoke you recall hating/ loving?
4. In home / away matches, what have you made of the Stoke support? Any particular memories?
5. The Victoria Ground/ The New One – what did/ do you make our of our home ground(s)’ the grounds? Any particular experiences or impressions?

Given our reputation over the years, this could be a risk but then again, it would be great if I could glean a diverse range of honest/diverse/ cutting/ funny/ serious or even complimentary views.

If you can be arsed, thanks for your time.

Take care of yourselves,
Lee Hawthorne @ORFYDUCKMAG

Good club is stoke well apart from James the IRA member

 

[Biffo The Bear]

Hello folks – Stoke fan here in peace.

I work on the ‘Duck’ fanzine and I’m planning a different type of article for our next issue – out whenever something approaching normal matchdays return to our lives once more.

I aim to ask supporters of several clubs 5 questions about their perceptions of Stoke City in order a to create a big feature article“Us and Them.” For the following questions, feel free to answer in varied depth/ brevity but a couple of sentences at least for each is ideal:

1. Generally how do you see Stoke City the club – a rival? Non-entity? Certain type of club? Disdain? Admiration? Pity?! As a fixture – is it of general appeal?
2. Are there any Stoke players/ teams that have made an impression on you over the years?
3. Are there matches between your team and Stoke you recall hating/ loving?
4. In home / away matches, what have you made of the Stoke support? Any particular memories?
5. The Victoria Ground/ The New One – what did/ do you make our of our home ground(s)’ the grounds? Any particular experiences or impressions?

Given our reputation over the years, this could be a risk but then again, it would be great if I could glean a diverse range of honest/diverse/ cutting/ funny/ serious or even complimentary views.

If you can be arsed, thanks for your time.

Take care of yourselves,
Lee Hawthorne @ORFYDUCKMAG

1. Decent Championship Club.
2. Shaquiri. Always liked Crouch. McClean behaving like a tit.
3. League Cup game in 1995. Home fans attacking anyone before the game. Trouble all over the Town. My own experience involved home fans in the bar outside the station in the middle of the afternoon (midweek night match).
4. The afore mentioned home fans running away / hiding behind the police outside the station after the match. Defending their actions of the afternoon with a tale of Newcastle fans stabbing a young local earlier in the day.
5. Preferred Victoria Ground. Like traditional stadia although not many left.

 

[Daffy]

1. Decent Championship Club.
2. Shaquiri. Always liked Crouch. McClean behaving like a tit.
3. League Cup game in 1995. Home fans attacking anyone before the game. Trouble all over the Town. My own experience involved home fans in the bar outside the station in the middle of the afternoon (midweek night match).
4. The afore mentioned home fans running away / hiding behind the police outside the station after the match. Defending their actions of the afternoon with a tale of Newcastle fans stabbing a young local earlier in the day.
5. Preferred Victoria Ground. Like traditional stadia although not many left.

Absolute bollocks
Newcastle took a good hiding at Stoke that day
You are one bullshitter

 

[offmenut]

Hello folks – Stoke fan here in peace.

I work on the ‘Duck’ fanzine and I’m planning a different type of article for our next issue – out whenever something approaching normal matchdays return to our lives once more.

I aim to ask supporters of several clubs 5 questions about their perceptions of Stoke City in order a to create a big feature article“Us and Them.” For the following questions, feel free to answer in varied depth/ brevity but a couple of sentences at least for each is ideal:

1. Generally how do you see Stoke City the club – a rival? Non-entity? Certain type of club? Disdain? Admiration? Pity?! As a fixture – is it of general appeal?
2. Are there any Stoke players/ teams that have made an impression on you over the years?
3. Are there matches between your team and Stoke you recall hating/ loving?
4. In home / away matches, what have you made of the Stoke support? Any particular memories?
5. The Victoria Ground/ The New One – what did/ do you make our of our home ground(s)’ the grounds? Any particular experiences or impressions?

Given our reputation over the years, this could be a risk but then again, it would be great if I could glean a diverse range of honest/diverse/ cutting/ funny/ serious or even complimentary views.

If you can be arsed, thanks for your time.

Take care of yourselves,
Lee Hawthorne @ORFYDUCKMAG

1. Stoke are a average size championship club. Nowt wrong with that . It's what were aiming for atm!
2 Rory delap. That was Stoke for yrs. f***ing dreadful. Ball boys towels to dry the balls. 2 mins for every throw in.
3. When huth got a red card against meyler, and pulis made a massive deal over it.
I didnt mind the fact he wanted to stop cheating and diving, and was vocal about it, but he picked the wrong time. That was a clear red. If meyler hasn't jumped out of the way he'd have had his leg broke, and he'd only been back a short time from his 2nd cruciate leg injury
Pulis was totally in the wrong, embarrassed himself, lost the appeal and lost any credibility in his campaign against cheating /diving in that one instance.
4. I hate that delilah song. It's awful. When I feel miserable I think about it and it cheers me up that we don't sing it.
5. Had a big fight nr the graveyards at your old ground, 25vyr ago.
There were 15 of us, all 17-20 Yr old, not looking for any bother, and id say about 50-60 old blokes aged 30-50 came at us.
We fought for a bit, ran for a bit and then another group of stoke men with kids and I think lasses decided that 50 on to 15 wasn't enough, so they kicked a few of us on the floor.

 

[Biffo The Bear]

Absolute bollocks
Newcastle took a good hiding at Stoke that day
You are one bullshitter

Before the game yes you are correct. Afterwards nope.
I was there sir... where you?

 

[Frosty Kempes]

Remember telling Bobby Robson outside Roker Park in 1982 to pick Mark Chamberlain for England after he shone for Stoke.