2020–21 Stoke City F.C. season

The 2020–21 season is Stoke City's 104th season in the Football League, the 44th in the second tier and seventh in the Championship.[1]

Stoke City

2020–21 season
Chairman	Peter Coates
Manager	Michael O'Neill
Stadium	bet365 Stadium
Home colours Away colours

Pre-season

Stoke announced their retained list in July 2020, leaving the club were goalkeeper Adam Federici from the first team, and Jake Dunwoody, James Jennings, Ash Kigbu, Cameron McJannet, Tre Pemberton, Abdul Sankoh, Ollie Shenton and Scott Wara from the under-23 squad.[2] Also leaving were the two players who agreed to temporary contract extensions to cover the final nine games of the 2019–20 season, Mame Biram Diouf and Stephen Ward.[3] O'Neill made his first signing of the summer bringing in former Sheffield Wednesday left-back Morgan Fox.[4] Centre-back James Chester re-joined the club having spent the second-half of last season on loan from Aston Villa.[5] Stoke brought in former Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher on 14 August.[6] Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel joined the club on 17 August 2020 having left Trabzonspor in March.[7]

The squad returned to Clayton Wood on 7 August and the following week travelled to Belfast for a training camp and a behind closed doors friendly against NIFL Premiership champions Linfield at Windsor Park.[8] Stoke won 1–0 with a first half strike from Josh Tymon.[9]

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Scorers	Report
15 August 2020	Linfield	A	1–0	Tymon 35'	Report

Championship

Main article: 2020–21 EFL Championship

September

Because the 2019–20 season was extended into the summer of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020–21 season will start at a later date of 12 September 2020.[10] The summer transfer window will be open from 27 July to 5 October.[11]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
17	Queens Park Rangers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
18	Reading	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	Rotherham United	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	Stoke City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
21	Swansea City	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	Watford	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Relegation to EFL League One
23	Wycombe Wanderers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

First match(es) will be played on 12 September 2020. Source: EFL Official Website
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head results; 5) Wins; 6) Away goals; 7) Penalty points (sec 9.5); 8) 12-point sending off offences[12]

FA Cup

Main article: 2020–21 FA Cup

EFL Cup

Main article: 2020–21 EFL Cup

Squad statistics

No.	Pos.	Name	Championship		FA Cup		League Cup		Total		Discipline
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1	GK	Jack Butland	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2	DF	Tom Edwards	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
3	DF	Morgan Fox	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
4	MF	Joe Allen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
5	DF	Liam Lindsay	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
6	MF	Danny Batth	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
7	MF	Tom Ince	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
8	MF	Peter Etebo	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
9	FW	Sam Vokes	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
10	FW	Benik Afobe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
11	MF	James McClean	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	DF	Tommy Smith	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
15	DF	Bruno Martins Indi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
16	GK	Adam Davies	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
17	DF	Ryan Shawcross (c)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
19	FW	Lee Gregory	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
20	MF	Tashan Oakley-Boothe	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
22	MF	Sam Clucas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	MF	Thibaud Verlinden	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
24	MF	Jordan Cousins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	MF	Nick Powell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	FW	Tyrese Campbell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
27	MF	Badou Ndiaye	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	MF	Lasse Sørensen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	MF	Jordan Thompson	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
35	DF	Josh Tymon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
37	DF	Nathan Collins	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
—	DF	James Chester	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
—	MF	John Obi Mikel	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
—	FW	Steven Fletcher	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Own goals			—	0	—	0	—	0	—	0	—

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
7 August 2020	DF	Morgan Fox	Sheffield Wednesday	Free	[13]
10 August 2020	DF	James Chester	Aston Villa	Free	[14]
14 August 2020	FW	Steven Fletcher	Sheffield Wednesday	Free	[15]
17 August 2020	MF	John Obi Mikel	Trabzonspor	Free	[16]

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
30 June 2020	MF	Ibrahim Doucoure	—	Released	[2]
30 June 2020	MF	Jake Dunwoody	Derry City	Free	[17]
30 June 2020	GK	Adam Federici	Macarthur	Free	[18]
30 June 2020	FW	James Jennings	—	Released	[2]
30 June 2020	MF	Reece Jones	—	Released	[2]
30 June 2020	DF	Ash Kigbu	—	Released	[2]
30 June 2020	DF	Cameron McJannet	—	Released	[2]
30 June 2020	MF	Tre Pemberton	—	Released	[2]
30 June 2020	FW	Abdul Sankoh	—	Released	[2]
30 June 2020	MF	Ollie Shenton	Chorley	Free	[19]
30 June 2020	DF	Scott Wara	—	Released	[2]
17 July 2020	DF	Stephen Ward	Ipswich Town	Released	[20][21]
20 July 2020	FW	Mame Biram Diouf	—	Released	[22]
8 August 2020	FW	Julien Ngoy	KAS Eupen	Undisclosed	[23]

Loans out

Date from	Pos.	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
27 July 2020	MF	Ryan Woods	Millwall	30 June 2021	[24]

References

1. "Stoke City football club complete match record". 11v11.
2. "The players offered deals and those released as Stoke City issue retained list". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
3. "'Always be welcome' - Stoke City striker Mame Diouf bows out". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
4. "'Great asset' - Stoke City seal three-year deal for Morgan Fox". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
5. "Stoke City complete signing of former Aston Villa defender James Chester". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
6. "Breaking: Stoke City sign ex-Sheffield Wednesday striker Steven Fletcher". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
7. "Confirmed: Stoke City sign Champions League-winning midfielder in free transfer coup". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
8. "Michael O'Neill's Stoke City to play Linfield in pre-season friendly". Belfast Live. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
9. "'We need to see them' - Michael O'Neill on Josh Tymon and young XI as Stoke City start pre-season with win at Linfield". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
10. "Premier League and EFL 2020-21 seasons to start on 12 September". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
11. "Dates for 2020 summer transfer window confirmed". English Football league. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
12. "EFL Regulations Section 3 – The League; subsection 9 – Method of Determining League Positions". EFL. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
13. "Morgan Fox: Stoke City sign full-back after Sheffield Wednesday departure". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
14. "James Chester: Wales defender joins Stoke from Villa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2020.
15. "Steven Fletcher: Stoke City sign Scotland striker after Sheffield Wednesday exit". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
16. "John Mikel Obi: Stoke City sign former Chelsea midfielder". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
17. "Ibrahim Meite & Jake Dunwoody Join The Ranks". Derry City. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
18. "Adam Federici signs with Macarthur FC in Hyundai A-League". Australia national soccer team. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
19. "SHENTON JOINS THE RANKS". Chorley FC. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
20. "Veteran Stoke City defender Stephen Ward leaves club". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
21. "Town Land Trio". Ipswich Town F.C. 17 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
22. "Mame Diouf: Stoke City's Senegal forward leaves Championship club". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
23. "Stoke City forward Julien Ngoy makes permanent exit". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
24. "Stoke City midfielder Ryan Woods makes fourth senior exit of the summer". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 27 July 2020.