Match Day Thread Stoke City v Preston North End Bet 365 Stadium 17/4/2021

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LAST TIME OUT

BIRMINGHAM CITY 2 STOKE CITY 0

FORM GUIDE

STOKE 10 PNE 6

BET 365 STADIUM

The Bet365 Stadium (stylized as bet365 Stadium) is an all-seater football stadium in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England and the home of EFL Championship club Stoke City. The stadium was previously called the Britannia Stadium but was renamed on 1 June 2016 when the club entered into a new stadium-naming-rights agreement with its parent company, Bet365.[4] It has a capacity of 30,089 following the completion of expansion works in 2017.[5][6]

The stadium was built in 1998 at a cost of £14.8 million as a replacement for the Victoria Ground. Former player Sir Stanley Matthews' ashes were buried beneath the centre circle of the pitch following his death in February 2000; he had officially opened the stadium on 30 August 1997.[7] In European competitions it is known as the Stoke Ground due to UEFA regulations on sponsorships.[8][9]

History

Q-railing Stand exterior
The all-seater stadium cost nearly £15 million to build and brought the club up to standards with the Taylor Report of January 1990 to end 115 years at the Victoria Ground. Along with the possibility of converting the Victoria Ground into an all-seater stadium, relocation had was being considered by 1995 and by early 1996 the decision to build a new stadium elsewhere had been confirmed.[10]

Construction of the stadium was underway during the 1996-97 season.[11] In August 1997 it opened its doors for the first time as the Britannia Stadium thanks to a £1 million, 10-year sponsorship deal with the Britannia Building Society which was instrumental in the overall funding of the project. Another £4.5 million was given as a grant by the Football Trust.[11]

The stadium's opening did not go according to plan, as from the outset there was concern about getting there, as the plans covered only one access road from the nearby A50, and as a result, spectators arriving from the city or the motorway had to travel up the A50 for over a mile to a roundabout at Sideway and double-back the other way, which caused huge congestion.[10] The stadium was officially opened by club legend Sir Stanley Matthews, then aged 82. After he died in March 2000, his ashes were buried beneath the stadium's centre circle and a statue showing different stages of his career was put up in his honour outside the ground.[12] On 27 August 1997, Rochdale were the visitors for the historic first-ever competitive match a 1–1 draw in the League Cup watched by 15,439 – and four days later the first-ever league game took place against Swindon Town before a crowd of 23,859.[11] The first season at the new ground was a bad one as Stoke were relegated from the First Division, losing 5–2 at home to Manchester City on the final day of the season, with the visiting side also going down after the relegation-threatened sides above them all won their final games.

The club's supporters protested against chairman Peter Coates, who stood down afterwards, only to return in 2006.[11]

Four seasons of third-tier football followed with Gunnar Gíslason taking control of the club in November 1999.[10] In May 2006 he sold control of the club back to Peter Coates, and soon after the club obtained full ownership of the stadium in a deal worth £6 million following the previous joint-partnership with the Stoke-on-Trent City Council and Stoke-on-Trent Regeneration Ltd.[13] The name of the ground was changed to the Bet365 Stadium in June 2016.[14]


FAMOUS STOKE PERSON

Hanley Stafford (born Alfred John Austin, September 22, 1899 - September 9, 1968), was an actor principally on radio.

He is remembered best for playing Lancelot Higgins on The Baby Snooks Show. Stafford also assumed the role of Mr. Dithers, the boss of Dagwood Bumstead on the Blondie radio program. He is commemorated by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[1]

Early life
Stafford emigrated from England to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1911. He enlisted in the 43rd Battalion of the Canadian Scottish Infantry in 1915, was wounded in the Third Battle of Yprès in 1916 and returned to England in 1918. Until 1924 he toured Canada in drama productions and landed in Los Angeles that year. He played in stock for eight years and then in tent shows.[2] He was appearing on KFWB radio in Los Angeles by April 1932 then went to Phoenix to manage a stock company,[3] the Delmas-Lawless Players, before returning to Los Angeles to resume stage and radio work the following August.[4]

Career
After starring in the New York-originating radio detective series Thatcher Colt from September 1936 to March 1937, Stafford again returned to Los Angeles.[5][6] He began the father role on The Baby Snooks Show on December 23, 1937 and played it until the final broadcast on May 22, 1951, two days before the death of star Fanny Brice.[7]

Between 1950 and 1963, Stafford appeared on various television series, beginning with The Popsicle Parade of Stars and Hollywood Premiere Theatre (1950–51), and concluding with his role as Kenneth Westcott in the episode "Lucy Is a Chaperone" of CBS's The Lucy Show. In between, he was cast on episodes of the ABC/Warner Brothers series Cheyenne, Maverick, Sugarfoot, and 77 Sunset Strip, in the latter as Admiral Thomas Kyle in the 1962 episode "Dress Rehearsal". Stafford guest starred on the CBS sitcoms The Brothers, The Betty Hutton Show, and Angel, in which he portrayed Mr. Corwin in the 1961 episode "The Second Marriage". He was cast in 1957 as Colonel Farnsworth in "The Regina Wainwright Story" of CBS's The Millionaire.[8]

The 1940 U.S. Census records report him as living at 6200 Franklin Avenue in Hollywood, California, with his mother Emily Austin, 60, and his sister Anne Standing, 36, his age was given as 40. He reported his 1939 income to census takers as a minimum $5,000, the equivalent of $86,952.88 in 2016 dollars.[9]

Personal life
Stafford was married to radio actress and singer Veola Vonn on April 12, 1940[10] after his second wife Bernice failed to get a divorce decree granted the previous April set aside.[11] He died of a heart attack at his home in Los Angeles on September 9, 1968.[12] He had one son by his marriage to his first wife, Doris.[13]

 

Frankie Says

“They are great clubs, they have got fantastic history and our task is to try and win that 100th game,” he told the club’s online channel.

The hosts, under Michael O’Neill have flirted with the top six this season and Frankie says they are an experienced group, but he will not be spending too much time thinking about them.

“They are very well organised,” he continued. “He has got experience up front, with Steven Fletcher – a Scottish international; they have good players in the middle of the park with Jon Obi Mikel and Nick Powell and defensively they are pretty strong.

“They are a decent team, so it will be a difficult game, but we will go and do the best we can and try and win it.

“If I think about what they have got though, I won’t get the best out of the boys that we have got in our dressing room and I’d rather focus more on what we’ve got.

“We have got a young, hungry group in there, with a bit of experience that have been in the Championship for a number of years and are desperate to do well in these remaining five games.

“That’s what I am focusing on and hopefully we will get the best out of them on Saturday.”

And he says that the players have given him everything in training this week and even after the reversal against Brentford, they have seen the new week as an opportunity to put things right.

“They have been great. They give us everything in training and when they give their all, you can’t ask any more of that.

“We are hurting from the result last weekend, but time is a healer and we will dust ourselves down and we have a chance on Saturday to go and rectify that and hopefully it is not a chance missed.

“What we try and instil is to try and be the best that you can be on training and on matchdays.

“We are trying to focus more on us, being as comfortable as we can on the ball when we have it, being as structured in trying to get the ball back as quick as we can and trying to be as clinical as we can, creating opportunities and hopefully scoring goals,” he added.

 

Preston North end make their 50th league trip to Stoke this weekend, as the Lilywhites meet Stoke City for the 100th time up and down the EFL’s divisions.

Fellow founder members of the Football League back in 1888, the two sides have been stalwarts of the game since its organised inception and will both be looking to mark the century of fixtures with three points.

The reverse game at Deepdale, back in September, was a controversial encounter, with Tom Barkhuizen sent off after slipping in a tackle, later reduced from three games to a one-match suspension on appeal.

A lot of water under the bridge has passed since that third game of the season, with a new man now in charge of North End, with Frankie looking to build upon four points in his first three games against three of the top four.

Head To Head: PNE wins – 48; Draws – 22; Stoke City - 36

Team News
Interim head coach Frankie McAvoy said at his pre-match press conference that both Greg Cunningham and Sean Maguire has returned to training. Cunningham has been out since Lewis Cook’s tackle against Bournemouth, which ruled the Cherries man out for an extended period, whilst Maguire missed the last two games.

The only doubt is Daniel Johnson, who, if he missed out, will join Declan Rudd, Patrick Bauer and Joe Rafferty on the sidelines. Liam Lindsay must also sit the game out due to the terms of his loan agreement from the Potters.

Irish international James McLean has been ruled out for the season for Michael O’Neill’s Potters, after picking up an Achilles problem on international duty.

Like PNE of late, City have a lengthy injury list, that hasn’t helped their cause, with Morgan Fox, Alfie Doughty, Joe Allen, Nathan Collins, Tyrese Campbell, Jack Clarke and Tashan Oakley-Boothe joining McLean on the sidelines.

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Match Officials
Taking charge of his Saturday’s game is Isle of Wight match official James Linington, his third PNE game of the season, although his first away from Deepdale, having officiated the 2-2 home draw with Wycombe Wanderers at the beginning of December and February’s 3-0 victory over Huddersfield Town.

The referee took charge of just one PNE game last season, the 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers, as well as two PNE games the year before, our August trip to Swansea City and the final game of the season away at Brentford.

He was also the man in charge of the game for our game with Cardiff City in December 2017, when Tom Clarke scored a late winner. James took charge of three PNE games that season in all, the trio all away from home, with the games being the 2-1 win at Hull City back in September, the aforementioned game at the Cardiff City Stadium and the 1-0 win at Sheffield United in our final away game of last season.

Four seasons ago, the referee made his first visit ever to Deepdale for the clash with Wolves back in November and was then the referee in the away game at Derby County back in March.

The season before he was referee of the PNE game at Ashton Gate, when Greg Cunningham scored the winner against his former club and that was his third game in charge of PNE. The other time he refereed North End was another game in the south of England, when the Lilywhites won 1-0 at Gillingham in the League One promotion season, courtesy of Paul Huntington’s goal in his first start of the season.

So far this season he has officiated 27 games, issuing 62 yellow cards and three reds and he
He has refereed the Potters once, in their 1-0 home win over Sheffield Wednesday. He will be assisted by Daniel Leach and Craig Taylor, with Paul Howard acting as the fourth official.

 

Amazing what you learn on this site, thans to Mac.

 

Got o have a bit of fun at times

 

Preston North End had to settle for a point at the bet365 Stadium after a goalless draw against Michael O’Neill’s Stoke City.

The second half saw PNE hit the post and also were denied a winner when Harry Souttar brought down Alan Browne when clean through, the defender seeing red, but they were unable to force a late winner.

Greg Cunningham returned from injury alongside fellow Irishman, skipper Browne, as Frankie McAvoy made two changes to the side from the previous fixture in the sunshine on the Potteries.

The game was slow to get going but after the opening 20 minutes it began to come alive. The hosts had a good spell with a brace of corners and a shot blocked from Josh Tymon from 20 yards out. And from the second corner, an inswinger from Sam Clucas, it eventually fell to Tommy Smith, who fired over from the right edge of penalty area.

Shortly after, Ched Evans had a goal ruled out after going through and battling with Rhys Norrington-Davies, beating him and firing in from 18 yards, but James Linigton pulled it back for a foul by the PNE striker.

Just after the half’s mid-point, the best bit of play of the game came as Andrew Hughes, up from the back, played a one-two with Emil Riis and then into Browne, who curled an effort just over the corner of post and bar from the edge of the penalty area.

Wing back Tymon got in behind down the left, only for Daniel Iversen to stand up really big and make an important save, with the follow-up into the side-netting, before Ryan Ledson drilled wide from 25 yards after good build-up play involving Hughes, Cunningham and Browne, with the ball drilled across to the midfielder to strike.

North End’s on-loan goalkeeper made two more stops before half-time, firstly to deny Nick Powell from a shot from 25 yards, and then a fantastic low stop from his own man, as Ben Whiteman cleared off the feet of Christian Norton.

The green-clad Lilywhites started the second half well and a positive run from Barkhuizen, finding Riis 20 yards out, brought a free-kick and a booking for James Chester, but Ben Whiteman’s goalbound effort was well blocked by the Potters’ wall.

On the hour mark, more good wing back play came from Barkhuizen, as Browne sent him down the right and delivered a great cross for Evans, running in, but his header was just over Adam Davies' cross bar.

At the middle point in the second half, North End were an inch away from going ahead. Clucas handled on the edge of the penalty area and the free kick was laid left for Andrew Hughes to hit and he curled around the wall and against the left-hand post, eventually cleared by the home side.

With 12 minutes left, Barkhuizen almost put North End ahead. A dipping half-volley from 25 yards took a little deflection, causing it to drop on Davies, who did extremely well to get down and hold the effort.

Then with three minutes to go Alan Browne was sent through by substitute Sean Maguire and he was bearing down on goal until Harry Souttar brought him down and saw a straight red card.

It was a free kick and not a penalty right on the edge of the penalty area for the greens. Brown himself drilled the free kick, but it was straight at the wall. It was eventually fed back over by Sepp van den Berg for Browne again, but his first-time shot was wide of the right-hand post from 15 yards to the left of the goal.

In the final second of the game North End broke with Barkhuizen down the right finding Potts and he got in the box and drilled a shot, but it was straight at Davies and both sides had to settle for a point.

Stoke City line-up: Davies, Chester, Obi Mikel (c), Smith, Fletcher (Vokes, 79), Clucas (Thompson, 74), Powell, Tymon (Batth, 89), Souttar, Norton (Brown, 74), Norrington-Davies. Subs not used: Gunn, Batth, Cousins, Coates, Matundo, Taylor.

PNE line-up: Iversen, van den Berg, Storey, Hughes, Barkhuizen, Whiteman, Ledson, Cunningham, Browne, Evans (Potts, 76), Riis (Maguire, 76). Subs not used: Ripley, Bayliss, Molumby, Huntington, Sinclair, Bodin, Gordon.

Referee: Mr J Linington

Stoke manager Michael O'Neill:

"We should have scored and didn't. We didn't get across people enough in the box and we needed to find something to go 1-0 up."Preston made it more difficult for us in the second half. We didn't cause them enough problems with the decisions we made."We lost the ball in bad areas and got picked off more by them. We gave away free-kicks on the edge of the box and gave them hope and belief."I'm disappointed not to see us take more from the game. It's frustrating to be held to a 0-0."Preston North End interim head coach Frankie McAvoy:

"We have four games to go and have to try to win as many of the games left as we can."There are still teams that can catch us if we don't win our games and we have to treat every game on its merit."We will not get sucked into how many points we need. We can't control what other teams do."We have control over the games we play and that is what we need to focus on."