Stoke spent over £10 million in the summer of 2010 with the arrivals of Jermaine Pennant, Jonathan Walters, Marc Wilson with £8 million spent on forward Kenwyne Jones. Stoke made a bad start to the campaign losing their first three matches against Wolverhampton Wanderers, Tottenham Hotspur, and Chelsea. This was followed by wins over Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Blackburn Rovers. Stoke, however, hit poor form, losing four in a row in October and were knocked out of the League Cup by West Ham United. The club's inconsistency continued as they went through November with three victories and two draws. Poor defeats against Blackpool and Fulham in December prevented Stoke from pulling away from the bottom half of the table.

Stoke started 2011 in poor form, winning three of ten matches which ended with a 3–0 defeat against West Ham which left Stoke just four points above the relegation zone. The team, however, was doing well in the FA Cup after progressing past Cardiff City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Brighton & Albion, setting up a tie with West Ham United in the quarter-final. A 2–1 victory saw Stoke reached their first FA Cup semi-final since 1972 and also helped them improve their league form. Stoke beat Newcastle United 4–0 and put in good performances against Chelsea and Tottenham before the semi-final against Bolton Wanderers at Wembley. Stoke produced arguably one their greatest ever performances, beating Bolton 5–0 to reach their first FA Cup Final. Stoke played well in the buildup to the final beating Wolves 3–0 and Arsenal 3–1. Stoke's opponents for the 2011 FA Cup Final were Manchester City and they scored the only goal of the contest though Yaya Touré. Stoke ended the season in 13th position with 46 points.

...
Wikipedia