4 February 1937 - Stanley And Steele Strike For Stoke

On 4 February 1937, Stoke City recorded their record victory, beating West Brom by the score of 10-3. It is also West Brom's record loss.

The teams met at Stoke's Victoria Ground separated by six spots in the table, with Stoke in fourteenth and West Brom sitting in twenty-first, only one place above the bottom. Their previous match ended as a 2-2 draw, so few people expected what happened next.

Powered by their star forward Stanley Matthews (pictured, left), Stoke took the lead in the 10th minute (scored by Freddie Steele (pictured, right) from a Matthews cross), but West Brom equalized one minute later. They scored again in the 20th minute and never looked back. Steele converted a 32nd-minute penalty to extend the lead to 3-1, then scored again to push the lead to 4-1 by the break.

In the second half, Stoke continued to surge and were up 5-1 before West Brom got their second goal. But Steele continued to torment the Baggies, scoring twice more to push the score to 7-2 en route to the final score of 10-3.

Steele went on to score a club record 33 league goals that season, part of his career total of 140 in 224 league appearances.

6 February 1965 - He Brought A Lot Of Experience To The Team

On 6 February 1965, Sir Stanley Matthews made the last of his 704 English league appearances. He was 50 years old.

A talented outside right forward known equally for his sportsmanship and dedication to fitness, Matthews played in England for an incredible 30 seasons. He spent the first 11 of them with Stoke City, joining the Potters in 1931 when they were in the Second Division and helping lead them to promotion in 1933. In 1947, at the age of 32, he moved to Blackpool for a fee of £11,500.

There, partnered with center forward Stan Mortensen, he advanced to the 1948 FA Cup Final, but lost. After finishing as runners-up again in 1951, they finally claimed the Cup in 1953 with a dramatic 4-3 win over Bolton in a match that has been dubbed "the Matthews Final" (even though Mortensen scored three of Blackpool's goals).

In 1961, the then-46 year old Matthews returned to Stoke, who had fallen back into the Second Division in his absence. He again helped them earn promotion in 1963, making 31 appearances that year. But age began to take its toll at last and he was reduced to 9 appearances in 1963-64 and had not played at all in the 1964-65 season until called upon for the match against Fulham on 6 February.

He took the field at 50 years old--the oldest player to appear in the English top flight--and lifted Stoke to a 3-1 victory. It was his only appearance of the season, after which he became the manager of Maltese side Hibernians.

15 August 2009 - But He's Still Young At Heart

On 15 August 2009, 37-year old Burnley defensive midfielder Graham Alexander became the oldest debutant in Premier League history when he started against Stoke City on the season's opening day.

Oddly enough, Alexander was starting his fourteenth season as a professional, having spent all of that time in England. In 1991, he signed his first professional contract with his youth club, Scunthorpe United, then in the Fourth Division. After three seasons there, he moved to Luton Town (1995-99), then Preston North End (1999-2007), before moving to Burnley in 2007. Burnley's promotion for the 2009-10 season, however, gave him his first chance to play in the English top flight.

His Premier League debut was inauspicious - Burnley lost 0-2 to Stoke City and were eventually relegated - but Alexander made 33 appearances and scored seven goals. He had captained the side against Stoke that day in place of injured skipper Steven Caldwell and was named the full-time captain for the 2010-11 season.

17 January 1948 - Even Oasis Never Drew That Large A Crowd There

On 17 January 1948, a League-record 83,260 people watched Manchester United draw 1-1 with Arsenal. Although it was considered a home match for United, it was held at Manchester City's Maine Road ground (right), because Old Trafford was undergoing repairs for damage caused during World War II.

At the time, United were in fourth place in the First Division table, nine points behind league leaders Arsenal (who had won the season's prior contest at Highbury, 2-1). The Gunners would go on to win the league, while United would claim that season's FA Cup, as well as their second consecutive second-place league finish.

While the 17 January 1948 attendance set the highest total for a league match, it is second to the overall English record of 84,569, reached at Maine Road for a 6th round FA Cup match between Manchester City and Stoke City on 3 March 1934.

At the end of the 2002-03 season, Manchester City moved out of Maine Road to the new City of Manchester Stadium. By that time, Maine Road had been converted to an all-seater, eliminating the terraces and reducuing its capacity to 35,150.