In their lengthy history, Stoke City has produced numerous amazing strikers, but occasionally it has been a duo leading from the front that has won over everyone’s hearts.
On this day in 1995, Mike Sheron made his Stoke City debut, beginning a journey that would go down in club history as one of their most astute ever transfer transactions.
Lou Macari made the trade of Keith Scott to bring in Sheron from Norwich City, who would propel Stoke to the brink of the Premier League. It was a wonderful deal, and Sheron—who was already quite successful on his own—would later form one of Stoke’s most beloved striking duos with Simon Sturridge.
We’ve been contemplating the other great double acts in the hopes of perhaps imitating them at some point, as this day on the calendar draws near. Seven have been selected by us.
Mark Stein and Wayne Biggins, aka Steino and Bertie.
On the first day of the 1989–1990 season, Wayne Biggins scored his first goal for Stoke in a 1–1 draw against the heavily favoured West Ham. With 35 league games played, he finished his rookie season with 10 goals, an impressive total given that Stoke was at the bottom of the standings by the middle of May.
The season after, he turned in a similar performance under Macari (12 goals in 36 games), and the next season, 1991–1992, marked the beginning of his illustrious striking combination with Mark Stein.
Although they weren’t precisely Little and Large, they operated similarly and had comparable objectives. Together with Stein’s 16 goals in 36 games, Biggins scored 22 goals in the league in 41 appearances, for a total of 38 goals in 77 games, setting the squad up for the unstoppable 1992–1993 promotion push.
After moving to Barnsley, Biggins would only play eight times in the league that championship season, but only Macari could take greater responsibility for setting up Stein for his relentless goal-scoring contribution to promotion.
A few years later, Biggins said of their deadly double act, “I don’t know why our collaboration was so successful. With Mark, I never really socialised outside of the field. Though at the time I was friendlier with other players at the club, I still talk to him every couple of months. In training, we would practise various ball skills together. As selfless players, we would never dispute or become angry with one another.
“His skill as a player was always going to be high. He was an excellent finisher, and I believe that on the pitch, we just complimented one another.
When Mama Sidibe and Ricardo Fuller were put together for the first time, in a 2-0 loss against Wolves in September 2006, nobody knew what the future contained. However, the two forged an enduring alliance that helped Stoke ascend from the Championship’s lower reaches to the Premier League’s pinnacles.
While it’s true that Fuller stole the show, he was almost always glad to point out that Sidibe’s hard efforts in what will always be remembered as “the Mama role” allowed him to do what he achieved. On days like the one when Fuller scored a hat-trick against West Bromwich Albion in December of the promotion season, the duo act was at its finest.
“The dour Albion boss Tony Mowbray added his name to the list of whiny visiting managers,” Simon Lowe wrote at the time, “with the hilarious comment that they’ve got a hot striker who is in form and gave us a few problems today in Ricardo Fuller.”
“You mean, Tony, you were so thoroughly destroyed that you had to concede your centre defenders were not the best—even though it was much too late to salvage your squad.
“Mowbray appeared to have understood he had been outplayed strategically by a manager who seemingly only understands one style of play—lumping the ball long to a big man—as he strode out at full time, arms crossed and shoulders bent.
“Well, when Sidibe, the large man, is
Even by our own distorted understanding, My Greenhoff and Alan Hudson couldn’t truly be considered a striking alliance despite their telepathic bond.
However, Greenhoff and Ritchie were also rather exceptional.
After Ritchie’s 1967 sale to Sheffield Wednesday, where he scored a respectable 37 goals in 77 games, he returned to Stoke in 1969 because the club was unable to find a suitable replacement to cap off the brilliance of George Eastham and Peter Dobing. However, Ritchie did not fit into the plans of new manager Danny Williams.
Ritchie subsequently said, “We were on our annual summer holiday in Bournemouth.” “A hotel waiter hurried onto the beach and informed me that the hotel manager was in need of
For a cost of £25,000, Ritchie made the connection between himself and new £100,000 boy Greenhoff, who had moved from Birmingham. During a period when they also lost to Arsenal in two FA Cup semi-final replays, Stoke went on to win the League Cup against Chelsea at Wembley in 1972 thanks to Greenhoff’s speed.
Ritchie subsequently said to Andrew Hine for The Long Hard Road To Wembley, “I was always there during that League Cup run, but most of our supporters didn’t realise that I played the whole first half of the run with a fractured toe. I think I was unfortunate since I was able to score four goals, so it didn’t seem to hold me back too much.
“George (Eastham) pounced and thumped it into the back of the net and, if I remember correctly, it was also the first time he got into the box that day!”
Lou Macari made a number of shrewd moves, the greatest of which was trading Mike Sheron, who was struggling in the Norwich City reserves, for misfiring Keith Scott.
Sheron fit right in with Simon Sturridge, who helped Stoke go to the play-offs and within striking distance of the Premier League with 14 goals at the end of the 1995–96 campaign. He scored three goals at Southend, his first three goals away from home since Lee Chapman scored three goals at Elland Road in a 3-1 victory over Leeds in 1981.
And Sheron started a run that no player wearing a Stoke shirt has ever equaled before. On Wednesday, April 17, at home against Charlton, by the time he found the net to win, he
One of those objectives was to pull off a thrilling late comeback to defeat Luton 2-1 at Kenilworth Road. When combined with a thrilling 3-2 victory against Millwall, Stoke easily made it into the top six. Sheron made 28 appearances that season and ended with 15 goals.
*At one point in time, John Ritchie scored in nine straight competitive games—three of them were cup ties.
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