It would appear that our team this coming year could be one of our strongest and if you would like to participate please contact 
Further details will appear here nearer the date of the first meeting.

The fixtures for the coming season will be 

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At each of the league fixtures there will be a varied mixture of most track and field events which are rotated through the various age groups which are:-     
               35+, 40+, 50+,60+

Latest Masters News (please email me with any results to be included)

With the season ended I have decided that I will be unable to manage the team next year; partially due to work commitments along with other issues. However subject to a few pieces falling into place Mike Warrilow has indicated he will be willing to take up the role. Hopefully we can get next season off to a winning start as there may well further new faces swelling our ranks.

After the league had finished the first two teams went forward to compete in the Midlands Cup Final at Worcester on Sunday 4th September. Again, unfortunately due to holidays, injuries and other commitments a number of our key team members were unable to turnout making the possibility of a team win remote. At one stage it had been questionable whether we could send a team at all but with a few late recruits the nine who competed managed to fill all but three of the events. However this did mean some people filling many slots to "pick up the points" and the result of that was the occasional performance falling short of what would be a norm. Having said that there were still some great results in individual events with Morris and Paul recording wins. Most events had a full complement of 8 athletes and so despite everyone doing more than their expected share it was always going to be an uphill battle. In the end sixth place overall was a very worthy result but if we could have had a full turnout the title would not have been beyond us.  

The final league match of the season came to a climax with Stoke and C&S level on match points going into it; winner was to take all. In a very closely contested battle there were a number of excellent results for Stoke but unfortunately our inability to fill every spot proved decisive on the night and C&S wont the fixture by 7pts and therefore the league. 

The saga continued with the latest match at Northwood on Wednesday. We fielded a greatly revamped team that was missing various stalwarts and contained a number of semi-crocks following recent injuries. However individuals proved that sometimes when you are part of a team its more important to take part than it is to win if that helps the greater cause: with that sort of attitude everybody benefits.

Despite people doing events they had never even attempted before or going to the start line struggling to jog we scored points in every instance and by the end that was the key factor as we ran out winners by 12 points from our main rivals, Cannock & Stafford. 

In the league this leaves us level with them on match points going into the final and decisive fixture at Sutton Coldfield on Wednesday 3rd August (please note your diaries). 

In this latest match we had 8 firsts including Morris Fox (discus), Geoff Ward (shot), Rob Huntbach (Pole vault), Tony Leigh (100m & 400m), Paul Williams (400m), Steve Bazell (1500m) and to finish the evening a Rousing Relay. 

All present contributed significantly and the stage is set for a tense climax, though we do have a couple of surprise packages lined up for the final meeting!!

Thanks to all concerned who helped with officiating, supporting, scoring, announcing, first aiding, ground staffing and most of all competing. The finalised score sheets are now viewable via a link on the home page and make very pleasing reading. However on closer inspection there were 16 separate instances where ourselves and C&S were placed next to each other showing potential for a point swing on each occasion. 

We will not be able to rest on our laurels as the last match is sure to be another closely contested affair. CARPE DIEM.   

The second fixture of the season was held on Thursday evening at Burton and Stoke were able to field one of the strongest vets teams we have ever had. Competitors in every event and, in general, each event was covered by an athlete who specialises in  that discipline. That said there was some very strong competition, particularly from Cannock & Staffs and the standard of performance in events seems to be on the up.

Wins in individual events were achieved by Richard Barrington, Geoff Ward, Morris Fox, Jeremy Wyatt, Peter Wainwright, Brian Eggleton and Paul Williams.

The results are now available and subject to scrutiny it turned out to be honours shared between ourselves and Cannock & Staffs on the night. I have emailed the results to all who I have email addresses for and there should shortly be a link established to them from the home page. The importance of gaining every single available point has been exemplified by this result. Both teams had athletes in every event and both had specialists in many events.

The 2011 season has got off to a promising start with the first fixture at Telford. A team of 12 athletes represented Stoke covering 20 events between them. There were a number of winning performances and all events had an entry which is crucial to doing well in these meetings. It was very encouraging to see some great performances from some newcomers to the team (Jeremy and Darren in the 1500m) and from the return of some faces from the very recent past (Alan in the 400m, Tony Leigh in the 100m and Peter in the Shot and Javelin). This was in addition to the continued presence of the core of last season and still to come are a few more faces who will hopefully be available for the next meeting in Buxton.

The results from the first meeting are now available via a link on our home page. So near and yet so far!! Personally, I have been involved with 3 Stoke AC teams this week and each has finished second by a very narrow margin. Our Vets team performance in this first meeting was excellent, particularly bearing in mind there were a number of people missing and some people were covering events that were not necessarily their favourites.

Victories on the day went to Tony Leigh, Paul Williams and Mike Warrilow in the 100m, Jeremy Wyatt debuting in the 1500m, Geoff Ward in the High Jump and Peter Wainwright in the Javelin. Again the secret of team success in these matches is to cover every event which we succeeded in and barring a rather harsh decision in one of the events we would have "walked" away with victory on the night.

From earlier this season
Geoff Ward competed in the British Masters championships over the weekend and came third in the M55 Long Jump with a leap of 4.97m. Geoff also won the discus for his age group with a 34.60m throw. 
At the latest Sportcity open meeting Tony Leigh again performed in the 60metres marginally improving his season's best with a 7.56.
At the veterans indoor open meeting at Sheffield on Saturday 5th January two Stoke athletes notched up their first results for the 2011 season. Tony Leigh (M45) saw a return to action after a long injury-enforced break clocking 7.59secs for 60metres and Geoff Ward (M55) doubled up with 1.50m in the high jump and 10.46m in the shot. A great start to the new season for both.

2010 Midland Masters League Summary
Over the four fixtures Stoke won the North Division of the Midland League although Cannock & Stafford pushed us all the way to the line. Having qualified for the final we had athletes competing in every event although a number were unavailable. However we were strong enough to finish 3rd in the Midlands although our league rivals C&S put out a very strong team to win the final. 

The most pleasing aspect of the season was the re-appearance of a number of former athletes who greatly enhanced our quality and strength in depth together with the potential interest shown by a number of our distance athletes during the winter in joining our growing squad.    

2008 Midland Master League Fixtures:
Wednesday May 7th - Telford - full results - Stoke AC team win - how do they do it!
Thursday June 19th - Stafford
Wednesday July 9th - Stoke
Wednesday August 13th - Sutton Coldfield
Sunday September 14th - Alexander Stadium Birmingham - full results

2007 Midland Master League Results:
Thursday May 3rd - Burton - results - Stoke AC team win!
Wednesday June 13th - Stoke - results - Stoke AC team win!
Thursday July 5th - Wolverhampton - results - Stoke do it again...
Sunday August 5th - Sutton Coldfield - results - a 4th league title
1 September 2007 - Midland League Final - full report and some photos...
Yet again Stoke AC were 2nd overall in the Midland League final - Tony Leigh was named Midlands North athlete of the year...

2006 Midlands League results:
9 August 2006 - Sutton Coldfield - 4th win and the title for the 3rd year in a row!
11 July 2006 - Wolverhampton - 3rd win on the trot
Thursday May 3rd - Burton - results - Stoke AC team win!
Wednesday June 13th - Stoke - results - Stoke AC team win!
Thursday July 5th - Wolverhampton - results - Stoke do it again...
Sunday August 5th - Sutton Coldfield - results - a 4th league title
1 September 2007 - Midland League Final - full report and some photos...
Yet again Stoke AC were 2nd overall in the Midland League final - Tony Leigh was named Midlands North athlete of the year...

2006 Midlands League results:
9 August 2006 - Sutton Coldfield - 4th win and the title for the 3rd year in a row!
11 July 2006 - Wolverhampton - 3rd win on the trot
7 June 2006 - Stoke - Another win...
11 May 2006 - Telford - A winning start to the season!
Midland League Final - 3 September 2006 - full report and results and some photos...

Stoke AC Masters were also  2nd overall in Midland Masters League 2006. Paul Williams was named Midlands League North athlete of the year...
Check out the wins in 2005 at Telford, Stoke, Stafford & Sutton Coldfield! & 5th place in the Midland League final at Worcester