Stoke

Stoke may refer to the following:

Place names

United Kingdom

Originally from the Old English 'stoc' meaning 'place', it came to be used in two special senses, i) a religious place and ii) a secondary settlement (see Adrian Room, Dictionary of Place-Names in the British Isles ISBN 0-7475-0170-X)

It can refer to any of the following places:

Stoke City F.C.

Stoke City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863 the club changed its name to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke-on-Trent was granted city status. They are the second oldest professional football club in the world, after Notts County, and are one of the founding members of the Football League.

Stoke play in the Premier League after winning promotion in 2008; prior to this Stoke had not participated in top-flight football for twenty-three years. Their first, and to date only, major trophy was won in the 1972 Football League Cup Final, when the team beat Chelsea 2–1. The club's highest league finish in the top division is 4th, which was achieved in the 1935–36 and 1946–47 seasons. Stoke have competed in European football in 1972–73, 1974–75; and most recently in 2011–12. Stoke played in the FA Cup Final in 2011, finishing runners-up to Manchester City and have reached three FA Cup semi-finals; in 1899 then consecutively in 1971 and 1972. The club has won the Football League Trophy on two occasions; first in 1992 and most recently in 2000.

Premier League

The Premier League is an English professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Football League. Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify.

The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders. Seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each (playing each team in the league twice, home and away), totalling 380 matches in the season. Most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons; others during weekday evenings. It is currently sponsored by Barclays Bank and thus officially known as the Barclays Premier League and is colloquially known as the Premiership. Outside the UK it is commonly referred to as the English Premier League (EPL).

The competition formed as the FA Premier League on 20 February 1992 following the decision of clubs in the Football League First Division to break away from the Football League, which was originally founded in 1888, and take advantage of a lucrative television rights deal. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB and BT Group securing the domestic rights to broadcast 116 and 38 games respectively. The league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion.

City

A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town in general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.

Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, and transportation. The concentration of development greatly facilitates interaction between people and businesses, benefiting both parties in the process, but it also presents challenges to managing urban growth.

A big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are usually associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas, creating numerous business commuters traveling to urban centers for employment. Once a city expands far enough to reach another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. In terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai.

Origins

There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities. Some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces.

Swansea City A.F.C.

Swansea City Association Football Club (/ˈswɒnzi ˈsɪti/; Welsh: Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Abertawe) are a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, that plays in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Swansea City represent England when playing in European competitions, although they have represented Wales in the past. The club were founded in 1912 as Swansea Town and joined the Football League in 1921. The club changed their name in 1969, when they adopted the name Swansea City to reflect Swansea's new status as a city. Swansea have played their home matches at the Liberty Stadium since 2005, having previously played at the Vetch Field since the club were founded.

In 1981, the club were promoted to the original Football League First Division. It was during the following season they came close to winning the league title, but a decline then set near the season's end before finishing sixth, although a club record. It was from here the club suffered a relegation the season after, returning to the Football League Fourth Division a few seasons later, then narrowly avoided relegation to the Football Conference in 2003. The Swansea City Supporters Society Ltd owns 20% of the club, with their involvement hailed by Supporters Direct as "the most high profile example of the involvement of a supporters' trust in the direct running of a club". The club's subsequent climb from the fourth division of English football to the top division is chronicled in the 2014 film, Jack to a King – The Swansea Story.