This page is my little world of info on Stoke City Football Club. I have lived through their worst period in their entire history along with some of their best times. I am not old enough to have seen Sir Stanley Matthews play, although I did meet him and will treasure the memory. I am however old enough to have seen Gordon Banks, Geoff Hurst, Peter Shilton and Jimmy Greenhoff play and I will long remember some stunning games at the Victoria Ground. Stoke City - Formed 1863 Stoke Football Club is the second oldest league club in existence, formed in 1863 by former pupils of the Charterhouse School. In the early days Stoke played a number of friendly games against local sides, and it was in one of these matches they recorded a 26-0 victory over local side Mow Cop. However, unlike some sides who net a few goals against teams such as the Dagenham Girl Pipers, this is not recorded as their biggest victory. That honour goes to West Bromwich Albion who were defeated 10-3. Stoke turned professional in 1885 and three years later in 1888 they were invited to be one of the 12 clubs that were to form the inaugural 'Football League'.  My support for the Potters started before I was Born. Although all my family originate from the Potteries, my father was an 'egg chaser'. Although he vaguely follows the fortunes of Stoke City he is more at home watching the rugger. My mother, on the other hand is a true Stokie. When she was still sporting pony tails and hadn't the misfortune of meeting my father, she would spend all her time watching the boys in red & white and then meeting them round the back of the 'Vic' for a quick photo. Many Great Players have graced the Victoria Ground including The Greatest of them all, Sir Stanley Matthews CBE. In 1967, Stoke signed the Worlds greatest goalkeeper Gordon Banks. Other great players to play for stoke include: Geoff Hurst – the only man to score a hat trick in a World Cup Final and Freddie Steele who scored 7 goals in a game for England which is still a record. On March 4th 1972 Stoke captured their first major trophy in 109 years, beating hot favourites Chelsea 2-1 at Wembley to clinch the League Cup crown and in 2011 finally reached their first FA Cup Final after recording the largest post war victory in the semi final with a 5-0 win over Bolton Wanderers, sadly losing the final 1-0 to Manchester City. In the 1974-75 season, Stoke missed out on the coveted League title by just four points, during a season which saw four key players all sidelined with broken legs. The 12 original members of the Football League ACCRINGTON ASTON VILLA BLACKBURN ROVERS BOLTON WANDERERS BURNLEY DERBY COUNTY EVERTON NOTTS COUNTY PRESTON NORTH END STOKE WEST BROMWICH ALBION WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS