League It was apparent during the summer of 1983 at a coaching course at
Lilleshall that manager
Ritchie Barker was converted to the
long ball game. In truth it was used by several sides with great success in 1983–84, but not with Stoke. Another youth team product
Paul Bracewell was sold to
Sunderland for £250,000 and that money was spent on
Paul Dyson and
Robbie James. Stoke used their new style of play in their pre-season friendlies which drew some interesting results but was quite clear that the players were unhappy at the change and once the season started they struggled desperately out on the pitch. In their first 24 matches they managed just three wins and in deep relegation trouble and it was no surprise to see Barker sacked by the board.
Bill Asprey was put in charge of the team and his task was to get Stoke out of trouble and his first move was to bring back
Alan Hudson and sell
Mickey Thomas. Hudson inspired a great recovery and Stoke's latter season performances were of a high standard yet the threat of relegation was still there but Stoke's fine efforts saw them take the relegation battle all the way to the final day of the season. Stoke came up against already relegated
Wolverhampton Wanderers. It turned out to be an easy game for Stoke as they won 4–0 with
Paul Magurie scoring all the goals leaving Stoke safe in 18th place with 50 points two more than
Birmingham City.
FA Cup No progress was made in the FA Cup, Stoke losing 2–0 at home to
Everton who would go on to lift the cup.
League Cup Stoke beat
Peterborough United and
Huddersfield Town before losing to
Sheffield Wednesday in the fourth round. ==Final league table==