1930–31 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1930–31 season
Chairman	Frank Huntbach
Manager	Tom Morgan
Stadium	The Old Recreation Ground
Football League Second Division	5th (47 Points)
FA Cup	Fourth Round
Top goalscorer	League: Sam Jennings (16) All: Sam Jennings (17)
Highest home attendance	18,043 vs. West Bromwich Albion (3 April 1931)
Lowest home attendance	5,570 vs. Bradford City (2 May 1931)
Average home league attendance	10,445
Home colours
← 1929–30 1931–32 →

The 1930–31 season was Port Vale's 25th season of football in the Football League, and their 34th in the Second Division following their promotion from the Third Division North the previous season.^[1] They finished fifth with 47 points, making it the most successful season in the club's history in terms of league position. They were seven points short of promotion to the top-flight, and seventeen points clear of relegation.

Long-serving Billy Briscoe was given a free transfer to Congleton Town at the end of the season.^[1]

Chairman Frank Huntbach.

Right-back Jack Maddock joined Crewe Alexandra at the end of the season.

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw the arrival of goalscoring forward Harry Roberts from Lincoln City; big goalkeeper Arthur Slater from Clapton Orient; and young outside-left Clarence Spencer from Birmingham F.C.^[1]

The season started with a stylish 5–2 victory over Barnsley in front of a disappointingly low attendance of under 10,000.^[1] Two defeats followed, and Albert Pynegar put in a transfer request after being dropped from the first team. Bob Connelly picked up an injury and so Jack Round was signed from Bolton Wanderers.^[1] On 20 September they travelled to Goodison Park to triumph over previously undefeated league leaders Everton 3–2 in front of 27,142 spectators.^[1] Two days later they tore Bradford Park Avenue apart 8–2, with a four-goal haul from Sam Jennings.^[1] On 4 October they travelled to Home Park, where they lost 2–1 to Plymouth Argyle; later in the day a horrific tragedy almost killed many of the Vale players – they had hired a speedboat at Devon resort which burst into flames whilst at sea, fortunately the pilot managed to extinguish the flames and returned them safely to harbour.^[1]

Pynegar left the club in October following rumours of a rift with teammate Jennings, he signed with Chesterfield of the Third Division North.^[1] Bert Fishwick was a more than able deputy.^[1] The defensive duo of Jimmy Oakes and Shino Shenton also proved formidable at the back.^[1] On 29 November promotion dreams took a knock at White Hart Lane, Spurs picking up a 5–0 win.^[1] Despite competing at the top end of the table The Old Recreation Ground rarely saw much more than 10,000 spectators.^[1] In December, reserve half-back George Whitcombe was sold to Notts County for 'a substantial amount', the money went towards ground improvements.^[1] The following month £10,000 worth of mortgage debenture bonds were released to the same ends.^[1] The Football Association would reject the club's ground improvement scheme, without giving a reason.^[1]

As the season entered its final stretch top scorer Jennings was dropped from the squad, and no adequate replacement was found until Stewart Littlewood was re-signed from Oldham Athletic, with Fishwick sold to Tranmere Rovers in order to meet Oldham's demands.^[1] In early April the "Valiants" beat high-flying West Bromwich Albion and Tottenham Hotspur, thereby keeping hopes of promotion high.^[1] West Brom won the return leg at The Hawthorns to put daylight between the two clubs.^[1] In late April Vale travelled to the Netherlands for a short tour, beating Dutch Southern XI 5–1 and Zwaluwen 2–0.^[1]

They finished fifth with 47 points, making it the most successful season in the club's history in terms of league position.^[1] They were seven points short of second placed West Bromwich Albion. Only 61 goals were conceded, a record bettered only by West Brom and Spurs. A 67 goals scored tally however was almost half that of champions Everton. Sam Jennings finished with 17 goals, and Phil Griffiths and Harry Roberts were the only other major contributors. The ground improvements paid for were 3,500 seats on the Bryan Street stand, with a covered terrace.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, an £800 loss was made, with the weather blamed for an average gate figure of 10,537. Numerous players were released, including Billy Briscoe, Frank Watkin, and Jack Maddock.^[1] Harry Roberts was also sold to Millwall.^[1] Meanwhile Stewart Littlewood was also selected by the FA for a summer tour of Canada.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale overcame amateur side Corinthians 3–1 in the Third Round, but then found themselves eliminated by First Division Birmingham at St Andrew's in the Fourth Round. The 44,119 attendance raised £2,763 for the club.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld		W	D	L	F	A		W	D	L	F	A		F	A	GA	GD		Pts
1	Everton	42		18	1	2	76	31		10	4	7	45	35		121	66	1.833	+ 55		61
2	West Bromwich Albion	42		14	3	4	40	16		8	7	6	43	33		83	49	1.694	+ 34		54
3	Tottenham Hotspur	42		15	5	1	64	20		7	2	12	24	35		88	55	1.600	+ 33		51
4	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42		15	2	4	56	25		6	3	12	28	42		84	67	1.254	+ 17		47
5	Port Vale	42		15	3	3	39	16		6	2	13	28	45		67	61	1.098	+ 6		47
6	Bradford Park Avenue	42		15	4	2	71	24		3	6	12	26	42		97	66	1.470	+ 31		46
7	Preston North End	42		12	5	4	55	31		5	6	10	28	33		83	64	1.297	+ 19		45
8	Burnley	42		13	5	3	55	30		4	6	11	26	47		81	77	1.052	+ 4		45
9	Southampton	42		13	4	4	46	22		6	2	13	28	40		74	62	1.194	+ 12		44
10	Bradford City	42		12	5	4	39	26		5	5	11	22	37		61	63	0.968	– 2		44
11	Stoke City	42		11	6	4	34	17		6	4	11	30	54		64	71	0.901	– 7		44
12	Oldham Athletic	42		13	5	3	45	28		3	5	13	16	44		61	72	0.847	– 11		42
13	Bury	42		14	3	4	44	20		5	0	16	31	62		75	82	0.915	– 7		41
14	Millwall	42		12	4	5	47	25		4	3	14	24	55		71	80	0.887	– 9		39
15	Charlton Athletic	42		11	4	6	35	33		4	5	12	24	53		59	86	0.686	– 27		39
16	Bristol City	42		11	5	5	29	23		4	3	14	25	59		54	82	0.659	– 28		38
17	Nottingham Forest	42		12	6	3	54	35		2	3	16	26	50		80	85	0.941	– 5		37
18	Plymouth Argyle	42		10	3	8	47	33		4	5	12	29	51		76	84	0.905	– 8		36
19	Barnsley	42		13	3	5	42	23		0	6	15	17	56		59	79	0.747	– 20		35
20	Swansea Town	42		11	5	5	40	29		1	5	15	11	45		51	74	0.689	– 23		34
21	Reading	42		11	2	8	47	33		1	4	16	25	63		72	96	0.750	– 24		30
22	Cardiff City	42		7	6	8	32	31		1	3	17	15	56		47	87	0.540	– 40		25

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	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	W	L	D	L	W	W	W	L	L	W	W	L	D	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	L	L	W	L	L	W	W	L	W	W	L	L	D	W	W	W	L	L	D	W	W
Position	7	10	11	12	10	10	7	9	10	9	6	9	9	7	6	7	7	7	7	7	7	7	10	8	9	10	7	6	6	6	5	6	8	8	7	4	4	4	8	7	6	5

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
30 August 1930	Barnsley	H	5–2	9,853	Pynegar (2), Jennings (2), Griffiths
3 September 1930	Bradford City	A	1–2	16,000	Jennings
6 September 1930	Bristol City	A	1–1	13,206	Jennings
8 September 1930	Bradford Park Avenue	A	1–5	10,296	Anstiss
13 September 1930	Cardiff City	H	2–0	9,693	Griffiths, Baxter
20 September 1930	Everton	A	3–2	27,142	Baxter, Pynegar, Anstiss
22 September 1930	Bradford Park Avenue	H	8–2	8,621	Jennings (4), Anstiss (2), Griffiths, o.g.
27 September 1930	Bury	H	0–1	12,906
4 October 1930	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–2	20,243	Griffiths
11 October 1930	Swansea Town	H	2–0	10,970	Jennings, Griffiths
18 October 1930	Reading	A	3–0	10,927	Anstiss, Spencer, Jones
25 October 1930	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–1	9,578
1 November 1930	Oldham Athletic	A	3–3	11,625	Fishwick, Marshall, Griffiths
8 November 1930	Nottingham Forest	H	3–2	9,753	Jennings, Fishwick, Griffiths
15 November 1930	Burnley	A	2–1	12,277	Fishwick (2)
22 November 1930	Preston North End	H	1–0	10,086	Jennings
29 November 1930	Tottenham Hotspur	A	0–5	23,609
6 December 1930	Southampton	H	1–0	8,828	Jennings
13 December 1930	Stoke City	A	0–1	26,609
20 December 1930	Millwall	H	3–2	8,448	Roberts, Jennings, Round (pen)
25 December 1930	Charlton Athletic	H	1–1	15,827	Roberts
26 December 1930	Charlton Athletic	A	1–3	4,768	Anstiss
27 December 1930	Barnsley	A	2–5	6,469	Jennings, Roberts
3 January 1931	Bristol City	H	1–0	7,411	Griffiths
17 January 1931	Cardiff City	A	1–2	10,455	Roberts
26 January 1931	Everton	H	1–3	9,028	Roberts
31 January 1931	Bury	A	3–0	3,430	Jennings, Roberts, Henshall
7 February 1931	Plymouth Argyle	H	2–1	10,236	Jennings, Roberts
14 February 1931	Swansea Town	A	1–2	8,602	Henshall
21 February 1931	Reading	H	2–1	8,474	Roberts, Chell
7 March 1931	Oldham Athletic	H	2–0	7,720	Marshall, Oakes
11 March 1931	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–3	4,243
14 March 1931	Nottingham Forest	A	0–1	9,281
21 March 1931	Burnley	H	0–0	9,185
28 March 1931	Preston North End	A	3–1	7,696	Griffiths (2), Littlewood
3 April 1931	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–0	18,043	Littlewood
4 April 1931	Tottenham Hotspur	H	3–0	14,290	Griffiths (2), Round (pen)
6 April 1931	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–4	23,879	Griffiths
11 April 1931	Southampton	A	0–2	9,452
18 April 1931	Stoke City	H	0–0	13,403
25 April 1931	Millwall	A	1–0	8,188	Roberts
2 May 1931	Bradford City	H	1–0	5,570	Rowbotham

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	10 January 1931	Corinthians	A	3–1	12,832	Roberts (2), Jennings
R2	24 January 1931	Birmingham	A	0–2	44,119

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK Ben Davies 28 0 2 0 30 0 GK Arthur Slater 14 0 0 0 14 0 DF Jimmy Oakes 39 1 2 0 41 1 DF Jack Maddock 3 0 0 0 3 0 DF Billy Wootton 4 0 0 0 4 0 DF George Shenton 40 0 2 0 42 0 DF William Cope 35 0 2 0 37 0 MF Bob Connelly 1 0 0 0 1 0 MF Roger Jones 40 1 2 0 42 1 MF Jack Simms 1 0 0 0 1 0 MF Phil Griffiths 37 13 2 0 39 13 MF Bert Fishwick 11 4 1 0 12 4 MF Tom Baxter 15 2 1 0 16 2 MF Dennis Izon 1 0 0 0 1 0 MF Clarence Spencer 11 1 1 0 12 1 MF Jack Round 38 2 2 0 40 2 MF James Henshall 18 2 0 0 18 2 MF George Whitcombe 3 0 0 0 3 0 MF Jack Sherlock 7 0 0 0 7 0 FW Harry Anstiss 15 6 2 0 17 6 FW Albert Pynegar 9 3 0 0 9 3 FW Harry Marshall 24 2 0 0 24 2 FW Sam Jennings 31 16 1 1 32 17 FW Harry Roberts 24 9 2 2 26 11 FW Harry Rowbotham 1 1 0 0 1 1 FW Joseph Chell 2 1 0 0 2 1 FW Stewart Littlewood 10 2 0 0 10 2

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Sam Jennings 17 Phil Griffiths 13 Harry Roberts 11 Harry Anstiss 6 Bert Fishwick 4 Albert Pynegar 3 Tom Baxter 2 Harry Marshall Jack Round Stewart Littlewood James Henshall Jimmy Oakes 1 Roger Jones Clarence Spencer Harry Rowbotham Joseph Chell League Scorer Goals Sam Jennings 16 Phil Griffiths 13 Harry Roberts 9 Harry Anstiss 6 Bert Fishwick 4 Albert Pynegar 3 Tom Baxter 2 Harry Marshall Jack Round Stewart Littlewood James Henshall Jimmy Oakes 1 Roger Jones Clarence Spencer Harry Rowbotham Joseph Chell

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 1930–1931 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

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