 Stoke were awful throughout the season and went on a ten match losing streak stretching from 19 October 1889 to 4 January 1890.In a tough home fixture against Burnley just before Christmas, Bob McCormick, the Stoke inside-right, badly injured his collar bone in a challenge with the Burnley full-back and at the end of the match some supporters invaded the pitch and confronted the "Clarets" defender.Stoke won the match 2–1 but Burnley lodged an appeal claiming their players had been intimidated.