 The squad was strengthened by Alfred Barker who brought in a new half back line with the arrival of Jimmy McGillvray, Jock Grieve and George Smart.Stoke made a useful start to the season and held a position in the top half of the table, but four defeats either side of Christmas saw them plunge into the bottom five and prospects for the new year did not look too promising.Yet, things did manage to improve on the pitch.