STOKE CITY 2 CITY 1
Nationwide League Division 1
24th August 1996
attendance 21,116
scorers
City Rosler(58)
Stoke Forsyth(27), Sheron(32)
City Immel, Brightwell, Kernaghan, Lomas, Symons, Brown, Summerbee, Clough, Kavelashvili, Rosler, Kinkladze – subs Phillips(45), Dickov(45), Creaney(unused)
Stoke Muggleton, Pickering, Dreyer, Sigurdsson, Cranson, Forsyth, Worthington, Wallace, Sturridge, Sheron, Beeston – subs Gayle(52), Macari(90), Whittle(unused)
PAUL DICKOV MAKES HIS CITY DEBUT
ALAN BALL LOOKS LIKE HE KNOWS HIS TIME IS UP
From UWE ROSLER, KNOCKING DOWN WALLS
… We went to the Victoria Ground and ran out to see 5,000 City fans behind one of the goals, which told you everything you needed to know about them. I scored that day, but we found ourselves 2-1 down in the second half and you could sense something in the air. I believe both sets of fans were calling for Alan Ball to be sacked, the Stoke fans hadn’t enjoyed his stint there as manager, and the City fans had endured enough. We couldn’t find a way back into the game and after the final whistle you could sense something was going to happen. There was a certain amount of inevitability about the fate of the manager and by the start of the following week Ball was sacked. Despite our past differences, it gave me no pleasure to see him relieved of his duties, that may sound a little odd, but it is how I felt.
