Stoke is about half the size of Tees Valley and nearer bigger cities than we are. (Manc/Liv/Brum). There are also bigger clubs than Hartlepool and Darlo locally.
But there are big similarities.
1. 6 towns no real centre.
2. They have no serious rival that has an equal hatred. (They hate Wolves, who don't care that much about them by comparison to West Brom)
3. Huge under-achievement given they are one of the oldest clubs. Just one LC and one losing FA Final. A couple of European seasons.
4. Local family owners, albeit light years more wealthy.
5. Both came down with big debts to owner, spent beyond their means, made awful decisions around managers and recruitment.
6. Both Clubs show they have lost about a quarter of a billion pounds in trading as shown on their 2022 Balance Sheets
7. Both Clubs owed their parent Group massive sums into 2022. Stoke owed £212m where we owed a mere £142m.
8. Both clubs are basket cases. MFC had a nett negative shareholder value of -£132m, Stoke were -£195m.
Without being biased they have good support but not quite our level, as my Stokie mate would agree.
There are however big differences.
1. Stoke's owners have got away with murder re FFP, as opposed to ours. A huge part of their debt was created by them writing off player values and huge amortisation of bad buys that caused unbelievable losses which they concentrated around Covid and appear to have got away with it.
2. Their owner then waived £120m of Group loans in 2022, turning them at a stroke into a far healthier looking basket case. When you have their family business and wealth behind you I guess you can do that. Well they did.