1925–26 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale
1925–26 season
Chairman Sampson Walker
Manager Joe Schofield
Stadium The Old Recreation Ground
Football League Second Division 8th (44 Points)
FA Cup Third Round
Top goalscorer League: Wilf Kirkham (35)
All: Wilf Kirkham (35)
Highest home attendance 19,997 vs. Stoke City (31 August 1925)
Lowest home attendance 5,207 vs. Nottingham Forest (12 April 1926)
Average home league attendance 10,739
Home colours

The 1925–26 season was Port Vale's seventh consecutive season of football (20th overall) in the Football League.[1] They improved on their previous season's success by two points. They finished in a higher league position than rivals Stoke City for only the second time in their history, and with Stoke relegated in 21st place, they guaranteed playing in a higher league than Stoke for the first time in their history. With seven games left to play, April 1926 would be arguably the club's best ever chance at reaching the top flight, however they tallied just two points from their remaining games to finish in eighth place. Despite all of this, the Vale board proposed a merger with Stoke City, and were forced to resign en-masse when the scheme failed.

A tale of two teams, their home record was the fourth strongest in the division; however away from home they recorded just four victories. The key performer was Wilf Kirkham by quite some distance, who racked up a club record 35 Football League goal tally that only he himself would better.

Billy Briscoe was injured for some time after discovering he had played a whole match whilst suffering from appendicitis.[1]
Frank Huntbach returned as chairman after Sampson Walker led a failed bid to amalgamate with Stoke City.
Veteran Billy Tempest had his final season as a professional.
Right-back Jack Maddock put away five penalties in his thirty games.

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season was quiet, with all the club satisfied with the staff and players of the previous campaign.[1] The game itself was changed by the offside rule being modified so that two defenders, rather than three, had to be between the attackers and the goal in order to spring the offside trap – this would have significant beneficial consequences for young forward Wilf Kirkham.[1]

The season started with two wins, the second being a 3–0 home win over cross-town rivals Stoke.[1] This was followed by a demolition job by Chelsea, who adapted to the new offside rule with a new 'W formation' – to devastating effects.[1] The "Valiants" recovered quickly with another 3–0 win over Stoke – Kirkham scoring five of the six derby goals over the two matches.[1] Following a poor display against Hull City, the Vale changed their defensive formation to better combat the new tactics used to exploit the new offside rule.[1] They also dropped their short-passing attacking game in favour of a long ball system that utilized the wings, this resulted in a 6–1 rout of Darlington.[1] Offers came in for a number of Vale's talent, all of which were rejected.[1]

During the mid-season Vale suffered indifferent form, winning at home but losing away. The cold weather was blamed for the low crowds, and the selling of players was considered.[1] Kirkham's form also suffered, as Vale found difficulty in finding the net.[1] In January the club celebrated its Golden Jubilee,[1] this established 1876 as their founding date despite some doubts over the exact year of the club's founding. On the pitch, the club went down 4–0 at Darlington. This defeat was followed by a sequence of seven wins in eight games, including a 5–0 win over Blackpool thanks to four goals from Alfred Strange.[1] The team also picked up two rare away wins, including a 2–0 victory at eventual champions The Wednesday.[1] However in March, young right-back Tom Cooper was sold to eventual promotion-winners Derby County for £2,500.[1] Cooper would later play for Liverpool and England.[1]

In fourth position, four points from the promotion zone, on a tremendous run of form, hopes were high for the club's first ever promotion to the top-flight.[1] This hope was crushed with two points from their final seven games, their 1–0 defeat at home Fulham would have significant consequences for neighbours Stoke, who would have avoided relegation if the Vale had recorded a draw.[1]

All positive thoughts were totally extinguished on 16 April 1926, when the Port Vale directors announced that they had agreed in principle to an amalgamation with Stoke City.[1] Chairman Walker stated that low attendances and high wages meant Port Vale had probably reached their zenith,[1] and a merger with City would allow one Stoke-on-Trent club to perform better than Port Vale ever could. Vale fans did not share his view, and organized themselves in Hanley and Burslem to deliver a message that they would not support the proposed new club.[1] On 19 May the Stoke directors backed out of the discussions, leaving the Vale directors and chairman to resign in failure.[1]

Finances

New chairman Frank Huntbach took over in May 1926 at a time of relative financial stability.[1] He discovered a £1,950 profit had been made on the season, though may have been concerned that gate receipts had fallen £1,302 despite a campaign that took the club close to promotion.[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale were handed a home tie in the Third Round against First Division Manchester United. A hard fought contest, Vale lost 3–2 in front of a disappointing crowd of 14,841, raising £1,150 in gate receipts.[1] United would go on to the semi-finals, where they would lose 3–0 to derby rivals, and eventual runners-up, Manchester City.

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GA GD Pts
1The Wednesday4219026117867273188481.833+ 4060
2Derby County4217225717858202577421.833+ 3557
3Chelsea4210744222975342776491.551+ 2752
4Wolverhampton Wanderers42154255156312294584601.400+ 2449
5Swansea Town42136250166510274177571.351+ 2049
6Blackpool42126341165511355376691.101+ 745
7Oldham Athletic42144352244413223874621.194+ 1244
8Port Vale42153353184314265179691.145+ 1044
9South Shields42116450297212243674651.138+ 944
10Middlesbrough42141656287113214077681.132+ 944
11Portsmouth42124548275610314779741.068+ 544
12Preston North End42172254281515175671840.845– 1343
13Hull City42114640195511234263611.033+ 241
14Southampton42112839254611243863631.000± 038
15Darlington4295751315511214672770.935– 538
16Bradford City4295728264512194047660.712– 1936
17Nottingham Forest42114638253414134851730.699– 2236
18Barnsley42107438222514206258840.690– 2636
19Fulham4286732293612144846770.597– 3134
20Clapton Orient4286730214314204450650.769– 1533
21Stoke City4285832234314225454770.701– 2332
22Stockport County4287634280219176951970.526– 4625

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against;
GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss
Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142
GroundAHHAAHHAHAAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHA
Result W W L W L W W D D L L W L W L W L W D W L L L W L W L W W W D W W W W L L D D L L L
Position 6 3 7 5 6 5 3 5 5 7 10 7 9 9 10 6 8 7 8 6 7 9 9 9 10 9 9 8 7 8 8 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 7 8

Sourced from Statto.[2]

Football League Second Division

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
29 August 1925 Clapton OrientA2–116,854Kirkham (2)
31 August 1925 Stoke CityH3–019,997Kirkham (2 [1 pen]), Strange
5 September 1925 ChelseaH0–612,801
7 September 1925 Stoke CityA3–021,869Kirkham (3)
12 September 1925 Hull CityA0–312,523
14 September 1925 BarnsleyH3–07,277Strange, Kirkham (pen), Briscoe
19 September 1925 DarlingtonH6–15,841Kirkham (4), Strange, Briscoe
26 September 1925 BlackpoolA2–29,502Briscoe, Maddock (pen)
3 October 1925 SouthamptonH1–112,589Kirkham
10 October 1925 Nottingham ForestA0–210,642
17 October 1925 Oldham AthleticA2–37,924Page, Kirkham
24 October 1925 Stockport CountyH2–09,954Maddock (pen), Kirkham
31 October 1925 Swansea TownA0–115,612
7 November 1925 The WednesdayH4–36,862Kirkham (2), Strange, Lowe
14 November 1925 Preston North EndA0–417,681
21 November 1925 MiddlesbroughH4–09,336Kirkham (3), Strange
28 November 1925 PortsmouthA2–312,198Tempest (2)
5 December 1925 Wolverhampton WanderersH3–08,364Kirkham (2), Page
12 December 1925 FulhamA3–311,452Connelly, Page, Strange
19 December 1925 South ShieldsH2–08,794Strange, Maddock (pen)
25 December 1925 Derby CountyH0–115,355
26 December 1925 Derby CountyA0–223,784
1 January 1926 BarnsleyA0–36,804
2 January 1926 Clapton OrientH4–28,070Strange (3), Maddock (pen)
16 January 1926 ChelseaA1–315,568Page
23 January 1926 Hull CityH3–17,579Lowe, Connelly, Kirkham
30 January 1926 DarlingtonA0–48,791
6 February 1926 BlackpoolH5–09,027Strange (4), Page
13 February 1926 SouthamptonA3–210,865Page, Strange, Kirkham
27 February 1926 Oldham AthleticH3–011,719Kirkham (2), Page
6 March 1926 Stockport CountyA2–27,889Page, Kirkham
13 March 1926 Swansea TownH3–019,030Kirkham, Page, Strange
20 March 1926 The WednesdayA2–024,965Strange, Kirkham
27 March 1926 Preston North EndH3–013,531Kirkham (3)
2 April 1926 Bradford CityH2–015,984Kirkham, Lowe
3 April 1926 MiddlesbroughA1–310,231Lowe
5 April 1926 Bradford CityA0–29,281
10 April 1926 PortsmouthH1–18,932Kirkham
12 April 1926 Nottingham ForestH1–15,207Lowe
17 April 1926 Wolverhampton WanderersA1–310,549Briscoe
24 April 1926 FulhamH0–19,262
1 May 1926 South ShieldsA2–53,027Kirkham, Oakes

FA Cup

Main article: 1925–26 FA Cup
RoundDateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceGoalscorers
R39 January 1926 Manchester UnitedH2–314,841Maddock (pen), Page

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos. Name Football League FA Cup Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GKEngland Sidney Brown 400040
GKEngland Tom Fern 38010390
DFEngland Jimmy Oakes 41110421
DFEngland Jack Maddock 29411305
DFEngland Tom Cooper 11000110
DFEngland Billy Wootton 300030
MFEngland Ernest Collinge 13010140
MFScotland Bob Connelly 38210392
MFEngland Roger Jones 800080
MFEngland Jack Lowe 42510435
MFEngland Arden Maddison 30000300
MFEngland Alfred Strange 4117104217
MFEngland Billy Tempest 16200162
MFEngland Sidney Blunt 25010260
MFEngland Herbert Smith 800080
MFEngland Fred Smith 200020
MF Harold Salt 501060
FWEngland Tom Page 369113710
FWScotland Tom Reid 100010
FWEngland Wilf Kirkham 4035104135
FWEngland Billy Briscoe 26400264
FWEngland Joe Pointon 400040
FWEngland Arthur Ecclestone 100010

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer Goals
England Wilf Kirkham 35
England Alfred Strange 17
England Tom Page 10
England Jack Maddock 5
England Jack Lowe
England Billy Briscoe 4
Scotland Bob Connelly 2
England Billy Tempest
England Jimmy Oakes 1

League

Scorer Goals
England Wilf Kirkham 35
England Alfred Strange 17
England Tom Page 9
England Jack Lowe 5
England Jack Maddock 4
England Billy Briscoe
Scotland Bob Connelly 2
England Billy Tempest
England Jimmy Oakes 1

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Kent, Jeff (1990). "Keeping in Good Company (1919-1929)". The Valiants' Years The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 98–123. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
  2. Port Vale 1925–1926 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
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