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The 2008–09 season was Stoke City's first season in the Premier League and the 53rd in the top tier of English football. After gaining promotion to the Premier League for the first time, Stoke were immediately tipped to go straight back down by the media. Dave Kitson became the first signing and he was followed by Seyi Olofinjana, Thomas Sørensen, Amdy Faye, Abdoulaye Faye and the returning Danny Higginbotham. Stoke started the campaign at Bolton Wanderers and were dealt a harsh reality check losing 3–1. Stoke's first home game in the Premier League produced an exciting 3–2 win over Aston Villa with Mamady Sidibé getting the winner in the 93rd minute. Stoke claimed an valuable point away at title challenges Liverpool in September and earned wins over Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion in October and November with Rory Delap's long throw-ins causing defenses problems. Stoke hit poor form in December failing to win a match and had to deal with an embarrassing on-field clash between team-mates Ricardo Fuller and captain Andy Griffin away at West Ham United. In January Stoke brought in James Beattie and Matthew Etherington who proved to be influential signings. Beattie scored the only goal as Stoke ended a run of nine-matches without a win at the end of January against Man City. Stoke continued to improve and pulled clear of the relegation zone with important victories over Bolton, Middlesbrough and West Brom. Stoke sealed survival with a 2–1 victory away at Hull City in May 2009. Stoke ended their first season in the Premier League in 12th position with 45 points. ==Pre-season== Stoke began their preparations for the 2008–09 season with the traditional opener at Newcastle Town. City won 3–0 with goals coming from Richard Cresswell, Jon Parkin and Adam Rooney. Stoke then travelled to Austria for their pre-season training camp, where they also played two games. The first was against German side Nuremberg in Stainach, Greek forward Angelos Charisteas scored the only goal of the match. The second was against the Bahrain national team, a rare club versus country match. Stoke won 2–1 with the goals coming from Cresswell and Pericard while Ismail Abdul-Latif replied for the Arabic nation. On their return to England Stoke travelled to League Two Notts County and came away with a 2–0 win thanks to a brace from Mamady Sidibé. Stoke kept their winning run going as they visited Shrewsbury Town's new stadium the New Meadow for the first time, Cresswell scoring the winning goal after 68 minutes. Stoke's final away fixture saw them make the long trip down to Southampton. Stoke took the lead through new signing Dave Kitson, David McGoldrick levelled before Pericard scored from distance. Stern John pulled The Saints level again but Stoke were not to be denied as Jamie Hatch scored an own goal. Stoke's final friendly saw them take on Spanish side Osasuna in what was an entertaining 2–2 draw. Delap and Shawcross scored for city while Walter Pandiani and Javad Nekounam scored for Osasuna. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2008–09 Stoke City F.C. season」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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