Brit-10-Years
The Britannia Stadium was ten years old on 27th August 2007.
There were a series of competitions and votes here on stokecityfc.com where the supporters got the chance to choose their all-time Britannia Stadium favourite game, favourite goal and favourite player.
It took 42 weeks for the stadium to be constructed, with the pitch the first thing to be laid after the foundations.
The doors of the Britannia first opened of course for a league cup tie againt Rochdale, before the following Saturday's grand opening against Swindon Town.
Graham Kavanagh would go down in the record books for having scored the last Stoke City league goal at the Victoria Ground and the first goal at the club's new home.
Ten years on and 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.
SUPPORTERS' POLL
The Club have of course been running a series of polls on here on stokecityfc.com to see who YOU the supporters think deserved the titles of "Best Player", "Best Match" and "Best Goal" here at the Britannia Stadium over the past decade.
In third place for the Best Goal vote was Dave Brammer's 30-yard strike against Luton Town in August 2005.
In second place, Andy Griffin's screamer against Coventry City last season, a goal live in front of the Sky TV cameras.
And in first place, Peter Hoekstra's left footed strike against Reading in December 2003. It was the second goal of his wonderful hat-trick that day, in what was a superb performance by the Dutchman.
BEST GOAL VOTE
1st - Peter Hoekstra vs Reading (2nd of 3), Dec 2003 - 28%
2nd - Andy Griffin vs Coventry City, Nov 2006 - 24%
3rd - Dave Brammer vs Luton Town, Aug 2005 - 17%
The Best Game Award was equally close and there was a tie for second and third place.
The tie was between the Norwich 5-0 win last season and the 3-2 win over Ipswich back in 2004 where Ade Akinbiyi's late goal sent the Potters top of the table.
The winner of the best game of the decade though is the aforementioned 3-0 win over Reading. Peter Hoekstra's hat-trick performance was enough for you the supporters to vote the game into the record books.
BEST GAME VOTE
1st - City vs Reading, won 3-0, Dec 2003 - 17%
Joint 2nd - City vs Ipswich, won 3-2, Sep 2004 - 13%
Joint 2nd - City vs Norwich, won 5-0, Oct 2006 - 13%
Finally, the Best Player Award.
In third place was current goalkeeper Steve Simonsen, the former Everton stopper who only this summer signed a contract extension with the Potters.
Voted into second place was Peter Thorne, the fans favourite who bagged 80 goals in his four-year spell with City.
But voted as the Britannia Stadium's Best Player for the decade is none other than Peter Hoekstra!
The former Dutch international was signed by Gudjon Thordarson in the summer of 2001 and went on to make a total of 88 appearances in all competitions, scoring 12 goals.
BEST PLAYER VOTE
1st - Peter Hoekstra - 48%
2nd - Peter Thorne - 17%
3rd - Steve Simonsen - 7%
FACTS & FIGURES
First Manager Of Stoke City At The Britannia Stadium
Chic Bates
First Match At The Britannia Stadium
27th August 1997 (12,768)
League Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg
versus Rochdale - Drew 1-1
First Goalscorer At The Britannia Stadium
Graham Kavanagh
versus Rochdale
27th August 1997
First League Match At The Britannia Stadium
30th August 1997 (23,000)
Division One
versus Swindon Town - Lost 2-1
First League Goalscorer At The Britannia Stadium
Richard Forsyth
versus Swindon Town
30th August 1997
First Win At The Britannia Stadium
13th September 1997
Division One
versus Stockport County - Won 2-1
First League Cup Win At The Britannia Stadium
24th September 1997
2nd Round 2nd Leg
versus Burnley - Won 2-0
First Football League Trophy Match At The Britannia Stadium
7th December 1999
Northern Section 1st Round
versus Darlington - Won 3-2
(won by golden goal in extra-time)
First FA Cup Match At The Britannia Stadium
18th November 2000
1st Round
versus Nuneaton Borough - Drew 0-0 (lost replay 1-0)
First FA Cup Wins At The Britannia Stadium
18th November 2001
1st Round
versus Lewes - Won 2-0
(Lewes drawn at home but tie played at Britannia)
12th December 2001
2nd Round Replay
versus Halifax Town - Won 3-0
First FA Cup Win At The Britannia Stadium
(Drawn at Home)
4th January 2003
3rd Round
versus Wigan Athletic - Won 3-0
THE FIRST GAME
Ten years ago and Stoke City were also drawn against Rochdale in the League Cup.
The competition was a two-legged affair back then with City winning the first leg at Spotland 3-1.
OPENING SALVO!
Determined Stoke win stadium race
Stoke City 1 Rochdale 1 (Stoke win 4-2 on aggregate)
Sheer determination to win the race against time and launch English football's latest new stadium meant Britannia waived the rules at Stoke last night.
There were no showers for the players in the dressing rooms, no pegs on which to hang their well-cut suits, and the tannoy announcer got the biggest laugh of the evening when he muddled up Rochdale with Stockport County.
Not really the done thing. But they were only minor indiscretions compared to what could have gone wrong as City introduced their new £14.7 million, 28,000-seater dream arena to their fans.
Major catastrophe was avoided - an achievement itself, as Derby discovered when the lights went out at Pride Park two weeks ago - and the Britannia Stadium made its bow successfully and somewhat serenely considering the last-minute rush which had preceded its debut.
If ever there were a giant-killing act, it was pulled of by the hundreds of workmen who overcame fearsome odds and achieved the seemingly impossible of getting so much done in so little time in the hours before this historic match took place.
Heaving sighs of relief all round, then, plus the bonus of Chic Bates and his players completing the "other" job in hand - a place in the second round of the Coca-Cola Cup.
In truth, that was always going to be the easier task after the spadework of the 3-1 first leg win at Spotland two weeks ago, though the responsibility of avoiding a bubble-bursting defeat on the Britannia's big night was a responsibility on the players' shoulders.
They did that comfortably enough against a Rochdale side whose first priority was to avoid a heavy defeat - and there was the bonus of a stunning goal fit to grace any opening performance.
That came from Graham Kavanagh, and though it took 85 minutes to arrive, it was well worth the wait.
The Irishman, who went down in history as the last Stoke player to score in a League game at the old Victoria Ground four months ago, went down in the statistics books again with the first at the Britannia.
Kavanagh's sense of occasion was sharply honed as his deadly right foot tested the strength of the nets at the new ground with a 20-yard rocket.
It was a goal the people who were there will remember for its individual brilliance rather than its significance - the tie over the two legs was won and supporters were already wondering which Premiership side might grace the new Britannia in the next round.
Rochdale put a smell dent in the celebrations when Alex Russell pounced a minute from the end to level the score on the night, but no-one was complaining - least of all Chic Bates.
"That's a game we are just pleased to get out of the way", said the City boss.
"It was an achievement just to play it, really. There was so much work going on around the stadium before-hand and there were times when you had to wonder whether it would all come together but it did and that's a credit to an awful lot of people.
"The players just had to concentrate on their job. There were so many distractions and it was all a novelty but they were professional.
"Graham Kavanagh's goal deserved to win any match and I'm disappointed we let it slip at the end, but the object was to get into the next round.
"We've got a game under our belts now and got a feel for the new ground. The players liked the atmosphere down at pitch level. In the second half they enjoyed attacking towards our own fans as much as they used to enjoy attacking the Boothen End at the old ground."
The players were commendably courteous at they queued up to score. There were plenty of chances to grab that first goal and a slice of history but it was persistently a case of "after you" as the opportunities came and went.
Paul Stewart might have had a hat-trick in the first-half alone as he rasped one shot against the underside of the bar and saw two other efforts splendidly saved by Lance Key.
When Key beat out Stewart's shot four minutes before the break and the ball fell to Richard Forsyth inside the six-yard box and the moment of glory seemed his, but he was caught off-balance and, by the time he realised the significance of what was upon him, had stubbed the rebound wide.
Peter Thorne twice went close and Kevin Keen was invited to the do the business when Key's clearance fell at his feet, but the 'keeper recovered face with a save.
All this in an opening half when the visitors, despite their compact formation of just Robbie Painter in attack, could have grabbed a goal with Painter after just three minutes. Russell testing Muggleton, and Mark Stuart's crisp low drive held at the foot of the post.
Stuart fired inches wide two minutes after the interval and then Russell just faded to convert Fensome's chance.
City's response was to launch more attacks and Thorne pulled another chance wide before Keen's diving header was blocked by Key and Stewart whipped another effort wide. The veteran striker was at the heart of most of what Stoke did, and it was apt that his dribble along the edge of the 18-yard box produced the break of the ball which enabled Kavanagh to launch his missile into the top corner.
A fine way to shepherd in the new era. The roar was so loud when he scored, the echoes must have lapped the empty and terraces of the Victoria Ground half a mile away.
CITY: Muggleton, Pickering, Griffin, Sigurdsson, Tweed (Whittle 90), Keen, Forsyth, Wallace (Shreuder 86), Thorne, Stewart, Kavanagh. Sub (Not Used): McMahon.
ROCHDALE: Key, Fensome, Bayliss, Hill, Farrell, Gouck, Bailey (Smith 75), Painter, Leonard (Carter 81), Russell, Stewart. Sub (Not Used): Scott.
Referee: S Mathieson
Attendance: 12,768
(Match report courtesy of The Sentinel)
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
As part of "Brit-10-Years", we took a look back at the first-ever game at the Britannia Stadium with Rochdale.
And despite what you may imagine, there are more players from that first-ever Stoke side still playing football professionally.
Naturally, the first ones that spring to mind are Andy Griffin, Peter Thorne and Graham Kavanagh.
Griffin only this summer turned down a move back to the Club in favour of at-least-a-season in the Premier League with Derby County.
Graham Kavanagh is also a top-flight footballer, having arrived as part of Roy Keane's Irish flavoured revolution at Sunderland last term.
Thorney, meanwhile, was released from Norwich in May and has since signed on at League Two Bradford City.
But there are indeed other veterans from that game who still ply their trade ten years on.
Keeper Carl Muggleton, soon to be 39 years of age, is on the books at Mansfield Town following four years at Chesterfield. The one-time Celtic keeper notched up almost a century and a half league games for the Potters in a seven-year spell.
Steven Tweed is still in the game too; he's already played five games for East Fife this season, and scored the opening goal in their 3-2 win at Elgin City on Saturday. The giant Scottish defender is on loan from Livingston and also enjoyed spells MSV Duisburg and Yokohama FC after leaving the Brit.
The former British Army soldier Justin Whittle is also battling on at Grimsby Town having captained both the Mariners and Hull City in his post-Potters career.
Former Player-of-the-Season Kevin Keen is the first team coach at West Ham United, and briefly held the caretaker-manager role between Alan Pardew and Alan Curbishley's reigns at Upton Park.
The summer's Masters Football tournament saw two other players from the Rochdale game once again pull on a City shirt.
Ally Pickering and Richard Forsyth donned the colours of the Club for our debut in the tournament.
Forsyth retired from the game a couple of years ago after a non-league stint with Northwich whilst Pickering stepped down from the managerial post at Stockport-based Woodley Sports FC this summer.
- Carl Muggleton - Mansfield Town
- Ally Pickering - Vacated manager post of Woodley Sports FC this summer, played Masters Football for the Club this summer
- Andy Griffin - Derby County
- Larus Sigurdsson - Retired at West Brom, returned to Iceland
- Steven Tweed - Livingston (on loan at East Fife)
- Kevin Keen - First Team Coach at West Ham United
- Richard Forsyth - Played Masters Football for the Club this summer
- Ray Wallace - Left City and had stints with Hull, Airdrie, Altrincham & Witton
- Peter Thorne - Bradford City
- Paul Stewart - Played for Workington following his release, now retired
- Graham Kavanagh - Sunderland
Substitutes
- Justin Whittle - Grimsby Town
- Dick Schreuder - Whereabouts unknown
- Gerry McMahon - Sold to St. Johnstone for £85,000
WHEN ENGLAND CAME TO TOWN
During the first ten years of the Britannia Stadium, there have been many non-Stoke City events held at the ground.
The biggest non-Potters football event was when England's Under 21's came to town in April 2002. David Platt's men faced Portugal in an international friendly with the home side going down a goal to nil.
Stephen Wright, currently on loan at Stoke from Sunderland, started at right-back in a side that also featured England's current number one Paul Robinson, Villa captain Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Jermaine Defoe (pictured) and Peter Crouch.
The Portuguese line up would also feature players who would go on to great things with Paulo Ferreira, Tiago and Miguel all starting the game.
TONEL VISION SEES OFF ENGLAND - THEFA.COM
England 0Portugal 1 (Tonel 39)
England's Under-21 side tonight went down to their first ever defeat under the leadership of David Platt when a single goal saw Portugal rule at the Britannia...
Despite a truly rousing final ten minutes in which the chances and the entertainment came thick and fast, it is difficult to say that England deserved anything more from a game which took them so long to find their true form. England skipper David Dunn looked lively whenever on the ball but the Blackburn man was unable to inspire his team-mates to awake from their slumber.
Portugal left-back Tonel scored the game's only goal with a towering 39th minute header from Candido Costa's excellently executed right-wing free-kick.
Agostinho Oliveira's team are a highly gifted group of players and David Platt knows that England will need to cope with their adversaries' pace and skill in more competent fashion when the two teams meet each other again in this summer's European Championship in Switzerland.
ENGLAND: Paul Robinson (Chris Kirkland 46), Stephen Wright (Luke Young 70), Chris Riggott, Gareth Barry, Paul Konchesky, David Dunn (Jermaine Pennant 46), Sean Davis (Jermaine Jenas 55), Michael Carrick, Seth Johnson (Jermaine Defoe 78), Alan Smith (Bobby Zamora 70), Malcolm Christie (Peter Crouch 46). Subs (not used): Zat Knight, David Prutton.
PORTUGAL: Leite, Ferreira, Tonel, Faisca, Ribeiro, Tiago, Ednilson, Miguel, Candido Costa, Paulo Costa, Peixoto. Subs: Marcio Santos, Teixeira, Briguel, Alves, Paulo, Ricardo Costa, Semedo.
SEEING RED AT THE BRIT
Being sent off is not something that a professional footballer looks back on with fondness when they think of their career in the game. And being sent off at home for your Club is even harder to forget!
In ten years of football at the Britannia Stadium, there have been a total of 25 dismissals of Stoke City players in first-team action. Throw in the visitors and the figure goes up to 47 red cards shown at the stadium.
The first name into the Hall of Shame is Tosh McKinlay, a Scottish left back on loan from Celtic. Stoke lost the February '98 fixture with Middlesbrough 2-1 thanks to an 81st minute winner from Jaime Moreno, and McKinlay couldn't have made a worse start for the Potters having been given his marching orders with seven minutes of his club debut remaining!
A week later and the first visiting player was sent off; Ipswich's Argentinean full-back Mauricio Taricco saw red with ten minutes left of the 1-1 draw with City.
The Potters have been reduced to nine men just the once, West Midlands referee Andy Hall sending off both Wayne Thomas and Brynjar Gunnarsson in the 2-1 defeat to Coventry back in 2002.
Other memorable early baths include Ben Petty's straight red for taking out a Walsall player en-route to goal in the Second Division Play-Offs and Gerry Taggart's highly controversial dismissal following an altercation with QPR's Marc Bircham.
Jason Jarrett and Chris Barker are two former Potters who have been sent off against us, while on-loan substitute Allan Smart was sent off against Oldham and soon after went on to sign for the Latics!
Opposition players to have been red-carded who now play their football in the Premier League include Matt Taylor, Jason Roberts, Jason Koumas and Steve Howard.
Stoke's bad boys meanwhile include Brynjar Gunnarsson, Wayne Thomas, Gerry Taggart, Michael Duberry and Ricardo Fuller - all players to receive two red cards a piece. Fuller is of course the last player to be dismissed, a feat that makes him the 25th City player to receive his marching orders in the past decade.
THE FULL LIST OF RED CARDS
1. Tosh McKinlay (83rd minute, 1st February 1998)
Stoke City 1 (Kavanagh 36 pen)
Middlesbrough 2 (Pearson 17, Moreno 81)
2. Mauricio Taricco (80th minute, 7th February 1998)
Stoke City 1 (Holsgrove 15)
Ipswich Town 1 (Holland 78)
3. Justin Whittle (89th minute, 21st March 1998)
Stoke City 2 (Dowie og 21, Crowe 51)
QPR 1 (Barker 90 pen)
4. Graham Kavanagh (55th minute, 19th August 1998)
Stoke City 1 (Thorne 78)
Macclesfield Town 0
League Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg
5. Graham Alexander (71st minute, 7th November 1998)
Stoke City 3 (Oldfield 5, Forsyth 37, Lightbourne 90)
Luton Town 1 (Douglas 81)
6. Phil Robinson (39th minute, 29th January 1999)
Stoke City 0
Manchester City 1 (Wiekens 20)
7. Kyle Lightbourne (77th minute, 9th October 1999)
Stoke City 2 (Mohan 68, Jacobsen 89)
Reading 1 (Forster 52)
8. Anders Jacobsen (70th minute, 7th December 1999)
Stoke City 3 (Lightbourne 25 & 93, Reed 40 og)
Darlington 2 (O'Connor 4 og, Gabbiadini 81)
Football League Trophy 1st Round AET
9. Matt Taylor (44th minute, 8th January 2000)
Stoke City 2 (Connor 24, Lightbourne 87)
Luton Town 1 (Spring 59 pen)
10. Brynjar Gunnarsson (42nd minute, 18th November 2000)
Stoke City 0
Nuneaton Borough 0
FA Cup 1st Round
11. Jason Jarrett (66th minute, 26th December 2000)
Stoke City 2 (Dadason 39, Gunnarsson 84)
Bury 1 (Paul Barnes 19)
12. Darren Sheridan (54th minute, 27th January 2001)
Stoke City 2 (Cooke 18, Thorne 60)
Wigan Athletic 0
13. Ian Gaunt (80th minute, 7th February 2001)
Stoke City 4 (Clarke 3, Goodfellow 59, Petty 67, Thordarson 81 pen)
Walsall 0
Football League Trophy Northern Quarter Final
14. Ben Petty (85th minute, 13th May 2001)
Stoke City 0
Walsall 0
Play-Offs 1st Leg
15. Peter Handyside (102nd minute, 22nd August 2001)
Stoke City 0
Oldham Athletic 0 (Oldham win 6-5 on penalties)
League Cup 1st Round
16. Scott Murray (90th minute, 27th October 2001)
Stoke City 1 (Gunnarsson 88)
Bristol City 0
17. Allan Smart (84th minute, 21st November 2001)
Stoke City 0
Oldham Athletic 0
18. Peter Wright (90th minute, 12th December 2001)
Stoke City 3 (Gudjonsson 22, Iwelumo 27, Gunnarsson 47)
Halifax Town 0
FA Cup 2nd Round Replay
19. Paul Emblen (32nd minute, 15th December 2001)
Stoke City 5 (Gunnarsson 19, Iwelumo 30, Gunnarsson 44, Cooke 58, Goodfellow 85)
Wycombe Wanderers 1 (McSporran 24)
20. Wayne Thomas (72nd minute, 7th December 2002)
21. Brynjar Gunnarsson (87th minute, 7th December 2002)
Stoke City 1 (Hoekstra 35)
Coventry City 2 (Bothroyd 16 & 21)
22. Chris Tardiff (goalkeeper, 45th minute, 26th January 2001)
Stoke City 3 (Iwelumo 45 pen & 51, Hoekstra 84)
Bournemouth 0
FA Cup 4th Round
23. John Mullin (64th minute, 9th April 2003)
Stoke City 2 (Warhurst 21, Cooke 40)
Rotherham United 0
24. Carl Asaba (55th minute, 6th September 2003)
Stoke City 1 (Asaba 53)
Burnley 2 (May 18, Luke Chadwick 27)
25. Sean Thornton (74th minute, 16th September 2003)
Stoke City 3 (Noel-Williams 24, Russell 37 & 39)
Sunderland 1 (Kyle 54)
26. Marcus Hall (65th minute, 23rd September 2003)
Stoke City 0
Gillingham 2 (Saunders 24, King 52)
27. Wayne Thomas (46th minute, 1st November 2003)
Stoke City 2 (Noel-Williams 4, Akinbiyi 18)
Sheffield United (Kozluk 53, Lester 90 pen)
28. Michael Jackson (90th minute, 26th December 2003)
Stoke City 1 (Eustace 90 pen)
Preston North End 1 (Healy 66)
29. Jason Roberts (76th minute, 21st February 2004)
Stoke City 1 (Akinbiyi 45)
Wigan Athletic 1 (Ellington 84)
30. Jason Koumas (88th minute, 4th May 2004)
Stoke City 4 (Russell 45, Commons 62 & 73, Noel-Williams 86)
West Bromwich Albion 1 (Dobie 50)
31. John Halls (82nd minute, 14th September 2004)
Stoke City 3 (Thomas 45 & 75, Akinbiyi 85)
Ipswich Town 2 (De Vos 41, Westlake 62)
32. Gerry Taggart (38th minute, 2nd October 2004)
Stoke City 0
QPR 1 (Gallen 69)
33. Michael Duberry (90th minute, 2nd April 2005)
Stoke City 1 (Noel-Williams 83)
Rotherham United 2 (Butler 23, Noel-Williams 90 og)
34. Gerry Taggart (13th minute, 6th August 2005)
Stoke City 0
Sheffield Wednesday 0
35. Steve Howard (26th minute, 20th August 2005)
Stoke City 2 (Broomes 63, Brammer 90)
Luton Town 1 (Morgan 9)
36. Darren Huckerby (52nd minute, 29th August 2005)
Stoke City 3 (Kolar 9, Harper 45, Sidibe 69)
Norwich City 1 (Ashton 38)
37. Steve Simonsen (70th minute, 10th September 2005)
Stoke City 0
Watford 3 (Devlin 24, Young 67, King 72 pen)
38. Michael Duberry (90th minute, 18th October 2005)
Stoke City 2 (Bangoura 41, Duberry 64)
Crewe Alexandra 0
39. John Halls (51st minute, 3rd December 2005)
Stoke City 1 (Bangoura 26)
QPR 2 (Furlong 2, Langley 52 pen)
40. Darel Russell (55th minute, 4th February 2006)
Stoke City 0
Preston North End 0
41. Craig James (12th minute, 22nd August 2006)
Stoke City 1 (Pericard 29)
Darlington 2 (Logan 45, Joachim 54)
League Cup 1st Round
42. Jamie Ashdown (goalkeeper, 72nd minute, 28th October 2006)
Stoke City 5 (Hendrie 22, Fuller 38, Higginbotham 74 pen, Chadwick 79, Russell 90)
Norwich City 0
43. Ricardo Fuller (63rd minute, 6th November 2006)
Stoke City 1 (Griffin 60)
Coventry City 0
44. Stephen McPhail (85th minute, 28th November 2006)
Stoke City 3 (Fuller 60, Lawrence 63, Sidibe 65)
Cardiff City 0
45. Ricardo Fuller (29th minute, 17th February 2007)
46. Sol Davis (37th minute, 17th February 2007)
Stoke City 0
Luton Town 0
47. Chris Barker (78th minute, 28th April 2007)
Stoke City 3 (Russell 53, Sidibe 57, Higginbotham 62)
Colchester United 1 (Iwelumo 38 pen)
