The 2012–13 season was Stoke City's fifth season in the Premier League and the 57th in the top tier of English football. It was also the club's 150th year in existence and to mark the occasion the club had a special crest and the away kit was the same colours that Stoke Ramblers wore back in 1863, navy and cardinal Stoke also had a new shirt sponsor Bet365 taking over from Britannia.
The summer of 2012 saw the departure of fan favourite Ricardo Fuller whilst in came winger Michael Kightly and USA defender Geoff Cameron, later followed by Charlie Adam and Steven Nzonzi. Stoke began the season with four straight draws and an embarrassing League Cup exit to Swindon Town. Despite recording one victory in their opening ten match they did put in some impressive performances away at Chelsea and Manchester United and at home to champions Manchester City. Stoke then went ten matches undefeated from 10 November to 29 December with a 3–1 victory over Liverpool on boxing day the stand out result.
During that run Stoke conceded just seven goals but at the turn of the year their form and performances dropped off as in the next ten matches Stoke picked up just five points, scored only six goals and conceded 19. Results and performances failed to improve and after an awful defeat at home to Aston Villa, Stoke were in danger of being involved in the relegation battle. Back to back wins against Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City lifted Stoke away from the foot of the table and they recovered to finish in 13th position with 42 points. At the end of the season manager Tony Pulis left the club by mutual consent bringing an end to his seven-year tenure at the club. He was replaced by the former Wales, Blackburn Rovers, Manchester City, Fulham and Queens Park Rangers manager Mark Hughes.
Pre-season There was expectation that several players would leave the club in the summer with a number reaching the end of their contacts and chairman Peter Coates said that Tony Pulis will have to sell if he wants to buy. Pulis released Louis Moult, Tom Soares, Salif Diao and club legend Ricardo Fuller after the end of their contracts and Jonathan Woodgate and Danny Collins left for Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest respectively. On 8 August Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Michael Kightly joined that club for an undisclosed fee.
For the 2012–13 pre-season, Stoke travelled to the United States where they will spend eleven days and play matches against Major League Soccer sides Columbus Crew and Sporting Kansas City as well as affiliated USL Pro club Orlando City. Matches were also arranged against Swiss side FC Sion and German Bundesliga team SpVgg Greuther Fürth.
Stoke began their pre-season in Switzerland and played a match against FC Sion which was won 1–0 thanks to a penalty from Matthew Etherington. City then travelled to The USA and played their first match against the Columbus Crew. Despite taking the lead via Jonathan Walters the Americans were much brighter and scored twice through Aaron Horton and Ben Speas. The next match against affiliated club Orlando City saw Stoke win 1–0 with Walters scoring his second goal of pre-season but it was marred with Glenn Whelan being sent off after a harmless altercation with former Stoke midfielder James O'Connor. Stoke's final match in USA against Sporting Kansas City saw Stoke miss a number of chances but did eventually take the lead with six minutes left when Michael Tonge whose only contribution to the club is in pre-season was fouled in the area and he scored the spot kick. Stoke however conceded a comical equaliser as Asmir Begović's clearance went straight to Kyle Miller who had the easy task of heading the ball into an empty net.
On their return to England they played two matches against Football League opposition, Torquay United and Yeovil Town. Both matches ended 1–1 and they had a Polish international trialist Sebastian Boenisch playing at left back. The final match of pre-season saw Stoke take on German side SpVgg Greuther Fürth in Bavaria. New signing Michael Kightly made a perfect start to his Stoke career scoring with his first touch. Matthew Upson gave away a penalty and Bernd Nehrig scored from the spot and for the four time in pre-season that match finished 1–1. Afterwards Tony Pulis revealed that Stoke had agreed to take Macedonian left back Goran Popov on loan from Dynamo Kyiv until the end of the season. However the move collapsed as he failed to gain a work permit.
MatchDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorersReport118 July 2012SionA1–0200Etherington 38' (pen)Report224 July 2012Columbus CrewA1–28,976Walters 23'Report328 July 2012Orlando CityA1–010,441Walters 45'Report41 August 2012Sporting Kansas CityA1–116,197Tonge 84' (pen)Report56 August 2012Torquay UnitedA1–12,155Downes 43' (o.g.)Report67 August 2012Yeovil TownA1–12,106Jones 57'Report710 August 2012SpVgg Greuther FürthA1–13,750Kightly 3'Report
Premier League
August
Stoke's first league match of the 2012–13 season saw them come up against newly promoted Reading at the Madejski Stadium. New signing Michael Kightly made his league debut and marked it with scoring the opening goal albeit thanks to an error from "Royals" goalkeeper Adam Federici. The home side were not posing much of a threat to Stoke's goal but they were gifted the chance to equalise in the final minute of the match as Dean Whitehead brought down Garath McCleary in the area and conceded a penalty, and to make matters worse for Whitehead he was shown a second yellow. Adam Le Fondre made no mistake from the spot and it was a case of two points dropped for Stoke.
The first home match of the season was against old adversaries Arsenal with the match being broadcast live on TV. Geoff Cameron made his first appearance in a red and white shirt and produced a good performance in a match which surprisingly failed to live up to the buildup. There were few moments of excitement with Jonathan Walters having Stoke's best effort, hitting the back of the net but it was ruled out for offside. The "Gunners" struggled to make Asmir Begović work in the City goal and the match finished in a rather tame goalless draw. On transfer deadline day Stoke completed the signings of midfielders Charlie Adam, Maurice Edu and Steven Nzonzi.
September Charlie Adam and Maurice Edu were both on the bench for the match at 'bogey' side Wigan Athletic. Stoke made a terrible start to the match conceding a penalty after just four minutes after Robert Huth handled in the area and Shaun Maloney made no mistake from the spot. The away support were beginning to vent their frustration towards Pulis but after half an hour he brought on Adam for his debut. He impressed instantly with his passing ability and Stoke were awarded a penalty of their own just before half time, Jonathan Walters scoring for Stoke. But poor defending at the start of the second half gifted Franco Di Santo a goal and Stoke were again chasing the match. Peter Crouch scored his first league goal of the season and Stoke could have won it but for a wonder save from Ali Al-Habsi denying Adam a debut goal.
On 4 September Stoke announced the signing of former Real Madrid and England striker Michael Owen on a one-year contract. Nzonzi and Adam made their home debuts against Premier League title holders Manchester City as Stoke lined up in a new look formation which included three centre midfielders. And it was Stoke who took the lead via Peter Crouch, although TV replays showed that he handled in the buildup. Stoke then had to as expected weather a lot of pressure from Man City but they leveled from a set play, Javi García being left unmarked. Michael Owen came off the bench for the final few moments as Begović and Shawcross prevented Manchester City winning the match late on. It was Stoke's fourth draw in a row and all from the start of a season, a club record. After the match Andy Wilkinson was handed a three match ban after an off the ball altercation with Mario Balotelli.
Stoke then played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, and were the better side for most of the 90 minutes. They had chances to take the points with Walters hitting the crossbar and Kightly and Crouch guilty of missed opportunities and Chelsea took full advantage with Ashley Cole scoring with five minutes left handing Stoke an undeserved defeat.
Stoke went into their next match at home to Swansea looking for their first win of the season and that's what they got after a simple enough victory. Michael Laudrup's Swansea as expected enjoyed a large amount of possession but they never threatened to trouble Stoke's defence and Peter Crouch scored twice before half time to settle the contest.
October
Prior to the League match against Liverpool Stoke were handed a boost when captain Ryan Shawcross earned a call up to the England team. The match against Liverpool saw both sides cancel each other out in a bad tempered 0–0 draw.
After the international break Stoke completed their tough set of opening fixtures away at Manchester United. Stoke made a great start and took the lead through an own goal by Wayne Rooney and Stoke could have added to their goal tally with Adam and Walters going close. But poor defending cost Stoke dearly as Rooney, Robin van Persie and Danny Welbeck saw the "Red Devils" turn the match in their favour. Kightly pulled one back but Rooney scored his second goal to make it 4–2.
The next match saw Stoke and Sunderland play out an uneventful and lifeless goalless draw at the Britannia but it proved to be a costly one for Stoke as left back Marc Wilson broke his fibula.
November
Stoke then put in a poor performance away at Norwich City going down by a solitary goal from Bradley Johnson.
Stoke went into their next match then against bottom of the table Queens Park Rangers looking for a much needed win. It was a scrappy encounter with Rangers' Adel Taarabt causing City's defence problems with his skill but were also thankful for his poor decision making which left him squandering QPR's best chances. Charlie Adam scored his first goal for Stoke just after half time and that proved to be the winning goal.
Stoke's next match was against in form West Ham United moved to a Monday night for live TV coverage. Stoke began the match brightly and scored through Walters after 13 minutes via a well worked corner routine. City continued to dominate the first half and almost scored again but Nzonzi's powerful shot cannoned off the woodwork. However it was role reversal in the second half at the "Hammers" took control of the game and soon levelled through Joey O'Brien but Stoke fought off West Ham's revival and earned a decent point.
Stoke then began a three-game week with a home match against Fulham and for the second match at the Britannia the match was settled by a single goal from Charlie Adam. Stoke had several chances to win by a bigger margin but were guilty of poor finishing.
The mid-week match against an out of form Newcastle United side saw Stoke come from behind to claim a late victory. Papiss Cissé put the "Magpies" in front just after half time capitalising on an error from Glenn Whelan. Substitutes Kenwyne Jones and Cameron Jerome then came off the bench to spark Stoke's turnaround. Firstly, Jerome provided an assist for Jonathan Walters and then scored the winning goal after being set up by Jones.
December
Stoke's then played high-flying West Bromwich Albion who at the time were in the top four. Stoke produced a disciplined defensive performance nullifying Albion's attack and grabbed a 1–0 win thanks to a rare goal from Dean Whitehead.
Stoke again played away at Midlands opponents this time Aston Villa and both sides cancelled each other out in a drab goalless draw. Stoke had Ryan Shotton sent off for two bookable offences.