1929–30 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1929–30 season
Chairman	Frank Huntbach
Manager	Joe Schofield (until September) Tom Morgan (October onwards)
Stadium	The Old Recreation Ground
Football League Third Division North	1st (67 Points)
FA Cup	Second Round
Top goalscorer	League: Sam Jennings (24) All: Sam Jennings (27)
Highest home attendance	15,346 vs. York City (18 April 1930)
Lowest home attendance	4,519 vs. Halifax Town (28 December 1929)
Average home league attendance	9,176
Home colours
← 1928–29 1930–31 →

The 1929–30 season was Port Vale's 11th consecutive season of football (24th overall) in the Football League, and their first in the Third Division North.^[1] They finished as champions and were thus promoted back to the Second Division. With 67 points they broke a division record.^[1] After winning the North Staffordshire & District League in 1909–10 it was their first league title, as well as their first ever promotion in the Football League. They also racked up a still-standing club record Football League wins in a season, winning 30 of their 42 games. They were the most southerly team in the North Division.

Despite all the joys of the season there was some considerable solemnity at the season's start, with manager Joe Schofield dying following an illness, his team top of the table.^[1]

Billy Briscoe played ten games.

Chairman Frank Huntbach.

Right-back Jack Maddock played only a cameo role.

Overview

Third Division North

The pre-season saw the directors spend some of the £2,600 they received in the sale of Wilf Kirkham.^[1] In came Tom Baxter (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Frank Watkin (Stoke City), Sam Jennings (Nottingham Forest), Arthur Brown (Reading), and Bill Cope (Bolton Wanderers).^[1] Jennings was a proven goalscorer, whilst Brown had kept goal for Wales.^[1]

The season started well, continued at a high tempo, and finished in style.^[1] Winning ten of their opening eleven games, Vale marked themselves as promotion favourites early on.^[1] However during this sequence tragedy struck on 29 September with the death of manager Joe Schofield, aged 58, following a short illness.^[1] The Sentinel described him as a man adept at developing young players, who remained close to his players in order to help them realize their full potential.^[1] His funeral took place on 3 October, with Stoke City fans also mourning his death, as he had managed both clubs – the only man ever to do so.^[1] Tom Morgan moved out of the backroom staff to take charge for the remainder of the season.^[1]

In mid-October, the side suffered a mini-slump, drawing three games in a row.^[1] To rectify things Bill Rawlings was signed from Manchester United for a four-figure fee, Ben Davies also arrived from Crewe Alexandra in a straight swap for Arthur Brown.^[1] Five wins on the bounce followed.^[1] Two defeats to Stockport County within two days (Christmas and Boxing day) left the race for the title open despite the "Valiants" excellent start.^[1] Despite having nine players out injured the Vale marched on, winning nine and drawing two of their following eleven games.^[1] This included a 4–0 win over Carlisle United and a 7–1 mauling over Rotherham United – Frank Watkin scoring five in the latter match.^[1]

Just as Vale were looking unbeatable Jack Mandley was sold to Aston Villa for £5,000.^[1] Protestations from the supporters were quelled slightly by the arrival of Harry Marshall from Wolves.^[1] They slumped in March, winning two, losing two and drawing one.^[1] Despite being top of the league a small minority of fans began protesting against the directors.^[1] The final four games were all away, and Stockport were still breathing down the Vale's necks.^[1] However all four games were won, with sixteen goals scored in the final five games of the season.^[1] They took the title at Crewe Alexandra's Gresty Road, with 1,000 supporters cheering them on.^[1]

They finished as champions with 67 points from 42 matches, then a division record.^[1] This put them seventeen points clear of third-placed Darlington, and four points clear of Stockport.^[1] The previous season County had finished one point off champions Bradford City. Vale were one of five teams in the Football League to score a century of league goals (the others Sheffield Wednesday, West Bromwich Albion, Stockport County, and Darlington).^[1] Sam Jennings and Albert Pynegar scored nearly fifty goals combined. They conceded just 37 goals, less than any other team in the four divisions.^[1] At a Burslem Town Hall reception 2,000 supporters congratulated the team on their achievement, amongst them Stoke's Wilf Kirkham.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a profit of £363 was made.^[1] Yet attendances were again a concern, a £725 drop in gate receipts saw an intake of just £13,302 on the gates.^[1] Wages came to £8,079.^[1] The directors again began talk of moving stadia to Cobridge.^[1] Leaving the club were Robert Gillespie, Jack Prince, and Bill Rawlings; they left for Wrexham, Rochdale, and New Milton respectively.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale progressed into the Second Round after beating Gainsborough Trinity 5–0 in a replay.^[1] During the first encounter Bob Connelly made his 122nd consecutive appearance, but was injured during the rough match.^[1] They then came up against league rivals Chesterfield at Saltergate. Chesterfield would win all but three of their home games in the league, and were equally stubborn opposition for the "Valiants", who they defeated 2–0.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GA	GD		Pts
1	Port Vale	42		17	2	2	64	18		13	5	3	39	19		103	37	2.784	+ 63		67
2	Stockport County	42		15	3	3	67	20		13	4	4	39	24		106	44	2.409	+ 62		63
3	Darlington	42		14	2	5	71	29		8	4	9	37	44		108	73	1.479	+ 35		50
4	Chesterfield	42		18	1	2	53	15		4	5	12	23	41		76	56	1.357	+ 20		50
5	Lincoln City	42		12	8	1	54	23		5	6	10	29	38		83	61	1.361	+ 22		48
6	York City	42		11	7	3	43	20		4	9	8	34	44		77	64	1.203	+ 13		46
7	South Shields	42		11	6	4	49	32		7	4	10	28	42		77	74	1.041	+ 3		46
8	Hartlepools United	42		13	4	4	50	24		4	7	10	31	50		81	74	1.095	+ 7		45
9	Southport	42		11	5	5	49	31		4	8	9	32	43		81	74	1.095	+ 7		43
10	Rochdale	42		14	3	4	57	30		4	4	13	32	61		89	91	0.978	– 2		43
11	Crewe Alexandra	42		12	5	4	55	28		5	3	13	27	43		82	71	1.155	+ 11		42
12	Tranmere Rovers	42		12	4	5	57	35		4	5	12	26	51		83	86	0.965	– 3		41
13	New Brighton	42		13	4	4	48	22		3	4	14	21	57		69	79	0.873	– 10		40
14	Doncaster Rovers	42		13	5	3	39	22		2	4	15	23	47		62	69	0.899	– 7		39
15	Carlisle United	42		13	4	4	63	34		3	3	15	27	67		90	101	0.891	– 11		39
16	Accrington Stanley	42		11	4	6	55	30		3	5	13	29	51		84	81	1.037	+ 3		37
17	Wrexham	42		10	5	6	42	28		3	3	15	25	60		67	88	0.761	– 21		34
18	Wigan Borough	42		12	4	5	44	26		1	3	17	16	62		60	88	0.682	– 28		33
19	Nelson	42		9	4	8	31	25		4	3	14	20	55		51	80	0.637	– 29		33
20	Rotherham United	42		9	4	8	46	40		2	4	15	21	73		67	113	0.593	– 46		30
21	Halifax Town	42		7	7	7	27	26		3	1	17	17	53		44	79	0.557	– 35		28
22	Barrow	42		9	4	8	31	28		2	1	18	10	70		41	98	0.418	– 57		27

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

Round	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	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	A
Result	W	W	W	W	W	L	W	W	W	W	W	D	D	D	W	W	W	W	W	L	L	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	W	L	L	W	D	D	W	W	W	W	W
Position	6	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Third Division North

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
31 August 1929	Halifax Town	A	2–1	8,101	Jennings (2)
2 September 1929	New Brighton	A	1–0	4,883	Jennings
7 September 1929	Barrow	H	5–0	9,882	Griffiths (2), Pynegar, Baxter, Anstiss
9 September 1929	New Brighton	H	5–1	8,260	Pynegar (3 [1 pen]), Griffiths, Anstiss
14 September 1929	Wrexham	A	2–0	8,828	Watkin, Baxter
16 September 1929	Lincoln City	A	2–3	5,842	Watkin (2)
21 September 1929	Wigan Borough	H	4–0	7,915	Pynegar (2), Baxter, Jennings
23 September 1929	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–0	10,674	Pynegar (2)
28 September 1929	Carlisle United	A	4–1	8,784	Griffiths (2), Pynegar, Baxter
5 October 1929	Nelson	H	3–1	7,746	Jennings (2), Pynegar
12 October 1929	Southport	A	2–1	4,746	Watkin, Baxter
19 October 1929	Rotherham United	A	2–2	6,583	Fishwick, Pynegar
26 October 1929	Rochdale	H	3–3	8,902	Fishwick, Pynegar (pen), Griffiths
2 November 1929	South Shields	A	0–0	5,984
9 November 1929	Accrington Stanley	H	5–2	11,294	Pynegar (2), Anstiss, Rawlings, Baxter
16 November 1929	Darlington	A	1–0	7,982	Griffiths
23 November 1929	Hartlepools United	H	2–1	7,166	Anstiss, Rawlings
7 December 1929	Chesterfield	H	4–1	5,682	Anstiss, Baxter, Griffiths, Jennings
21 December 1929	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–0	6,852	Anstiss
25 December 1929	Stockport County	H	1–2	14,494	Oakes
26 December 1929	Stockport County	A	2–4	22,668	Stockton, Jennings
28 December 1929	Halifax Town	H	3–0	4,519	Jennings (2), Stockton
4 January 1930	Barrow	A	1–1	5,765	Mandley
18 January 1930	Wrexham	H	3–0	10,519	Stockton (2), Jennings
25 January 1930	Wigan Borough	A	3–0	6,567	Jennings (2), Fishwick
1 February 1930	Carlisle United	H	4–0	9,279	Jennings (2), Anstiss (2)
8 February 1930	Nelson	A	3–2	5,045	Anstiss, Jennings, Pynegar
15 February 1930	Southport	H	1–0	8,338	Baxter
22 February 1930	Rotherham United	H	7–1	7,989	Watkin (5), Jennings, Anstiss
1 March 1930	Rochdale	A	0–0	7,177
8 March 1930	South Shields	H	3–0	9,748	Jennings (3)
15 March 1930	Accrington Stanley	A	2–0	4,431	Anstiss, Marshall
22 March 1930	Darlington	H	0–2	10,543
29 March 1930	Hartlepools United	A	0–2	7,473
5 April 1930	Doncaster Rovers	H	2–1	9,905	Fishwick, Pynegar
12 April 1930	Chesterfield	A	1–1	7,450	Griffiths
18 April 1930	York City	H	1–1	15,346	Anstiss
19 April 1930	Lincoln City	H	5–2	7,649	Jennings (2), Griffiths (2), Pynegar
21 April 1930	York City	A	2–0	9,439	Griffiths (2)
26 April 1930	Tranmere Rovers	A	5–1	3,784	Pynegar (2), Jennings (2), Griffiths
1 May 1930	Doncaster Rovers	A	2–0	5,313	Baxter, Anstiss
3 May 1930	Crewe Alexandra	A	2–0	7,014	Pynegar (2)

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	30 November 1929	Gainsborough Trinity	A	0–0	4,000
R1 Replay	4 December 1929	Gainsborough Trinity	H	5–0	6,253	Jennings (2), Anstiss (2), Pynegar
R2	14 December 1929	Chesterfield	A	0–2	11,740

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK Ben Davies 29 0 3 0 33 0 GK Jack Prince 12 0 0 0 12 0 GK Arthur Brown 1 0 0 0 1 0 DF Jimmy Oakes 33 1 3 0 36 1 DF Jack Maddock 4 0 0 0 4 0 DF Billy Wootton 20 0 0 0 21 0 DF George Shenton 31 0 3 0 35 0 DF William Cope 40 0 3 0 43 0 MF Bob Connelly 25 0 2 0 27 0 MF Roger Jones 38 0 3 0 42 0 MF Jack Simms 3 0 0 0 3 0 MF Phil Griffiths 30 14 0 0 31 14 MF Bert Fishwick 5 4 0 0 5 4 MF Jack Mandley 12 1 3 0 15 1 MF Tom Baxter 39 9 3 0 43 9 MF George Stockton 6 4 0 0 6 4 MF Dennis Izon 4 0 0 0 4 0 MF George Whitcombe 1 0 0 0 1 0 MF Jack Sherlock 5 0 0 0 5 0 FW Billy Briscoe 8 0 1 0 10 0 FW Harry Anstiss 33 13 3 2 37 15 FW Robert Gillespie 1 0 0 0 1 0 FW Albert Pynegar 29 21 3 1 33 22 FW Frank Watkin 13 9 0 0 13 9 FW Bill Rawlings 5 2 1 0 6 2 FW Henry O'Grady 1 0 0 0 2 0 FW Harry Marshall 4 1 0 0 4 1 FW Sam Jennings 30 24 2 2 33 27

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Sam Jennings 27 Albert Pynegar 22 Harry Anstiss 15 Phil Griffiths 14 Tom Baxter 9 Frank Watkin George Stockton 4 Bert Fishwick Bill Rawlings 2 Jimmy Oakes 1 Jack Mandley Harry Marshall League Scorer Goals Sam Jennings 24 Albert Pynegar 21 Phil Griffiths 14 Harry Anstiss 13 Tom Baxter 9 Frank Watkin George Stockton 4 Bert Fishwick Bill Rawlings 2 Jimmy Oakes 1 Jack Mandley Harry Marshall

References

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "From Glory to Despair (1929–1939)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 124–150. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
2. Port Vale 1929–1930 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

• Kent, Jeff (1993). The Port Vale Record 1879-1993. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-9-8.