1948–49 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1948–49 season

Chairman

William Holdcroft

Manager

Gordon Hodgson

Stadium

The Old Recreation Ground

Football League Third Division South

13th (39 Points)

FA Cup

First Round

Top goalscorer

League: Walter Aveyard (13)
All: Walter Aveyard (13)

Highest home attendance

18,497 vs. Aldershot (28 August 1948)

Lowest home attendance

7,738 vs. Millwall (18 December 1948)

Average home league attendance

12,069

Home colours

← 1947–48

1949–50 →

The 1948–49 season was Port Vale's 37th season of football in the Football League, and their fourth full season in the Third Division South.^[1] A promotion campaign soon tailed off into an unremarkable mid-table finish, as bad form persuaded the club to sell off Bill Pointon for a then-club record fee.

Manager Gordon Hodgson during his playing days.

Overview

Third Division South

The pre-season saw the club attempt to sign Huddersfield Town's star forward Peter Doherty, when this failed Gordon Hodgson instead signed Liverpool left-wing duo Stan Palk and Mick Hulligan for £10,000.^[1] Striker Walter Aveyard was also signed from Birmingham City, despite his belief that a leg injury had finished him.^[1] Fans were convinced promotion to the Second Division was possible, and so there was a surge in season ticket sales.^[1]

The season started with seven points from the opening four games, leaving the club top of the table.^[1] The season-high 18,497 fans that turned up for a 3–0 win over Aldershot were impressed by the skill of the three new signings.^[1] The club's good form continued to the end of September, despite the sale of Walter Keeley to Accrington Stanley for £1,500 – who had found himself relegated to the sidelines by Hulligan's good performances.^[1] After this Hulligan broke his ankle, whilst other injuries also hit the squad.^[1] Six weeks of six defeats in seven games followed, leaving Vale sixth from bottom.^[1] During this spell Joe Dale was offloaded to Witton Albion, as Hodgson attempted to fill the gaps in the first team with young reserves.^[1] Winning three games on the trot, the Vale put an end to this bad spell, also keeping three clean sheets.

Over the Christmas period talk was dominated by 'The Wembley of the North', which had been projected as an 80,000 capacity stadium, now it was planned as a 40,000 capacity ground with room for future expansion.^[1] Finding just fifty members for the '100 club', the financing was helped by a £8,000 grant from The Football Association.^[1] In January the club initiated a fire-sale of players: Bill Pointon went to Queens Park Rangers for a then-club record five-figure fee, whilst Harry Hubbick was sold to Rochdale for around £1,000.^[1] Meanwhile the club transfer listed Palk, Aveyard, and Eric Eastwood (who all lived outside North Staffordshire); whilst Hulligan returned from injury.^[1] A two month run without a win followed, in which Hodgson again experimented with the first eleven.^[1] This run finally ended with a 1–0 win over Notts County on 9 April.^[1] Nine days later at Ashton Gate, keeper Harry Prince was given a chance in place of regular George Heppell, who embarrassed himself by attempting to punch a forty yard punt from Stone, only to miss the ball entirely and thereby concede the equalizer.^[1] Later in the month, Hodgson signed George King from Hull City for a four-figure fee.^[1] King scored twice in his debut against Torquay United.^[1]

They finished a disappointing thirteenth, boasting just 39 points.^[1] They had scored twelve fewer goals than the previous campaign, though their defensive record was identical.^[1] Harry Prince's move to Stafford Rangers was the only significant departure of the summer.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a large transfer credit helped the club record a gross profit of £7,120.^[1] Gate receipts had declined to £25,831, whilst wages had risen to £16,095.^[1] The Burslem Supporters Club put forward a donation of £600, and the club issued 22,000 new five shilling shares to help with the New Ground Fund.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale were knocked out in the First Round by Notts County at Meadow Lane in front of 36,514 spectators.^[1]

Final league table

Main article: 1948–49 Football League

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Swansea Town	42	27	8	7	87	34	2.559	62
2	Reading	42	25	5	12	77	50	1.540	55
3	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	42	22	8	12	69	48	1.438	52
4	Swindon Town	42	18	15	9	64	56	1.143	51
5	Bristol Rovers	42	19	10	13	61	51	1.196	48
6	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	15	18	9	55	55	1.000	48
7	Ipswich Town	42	18	9	15	78	77	1.013	45
8	Millwall	42	17	11	14	63	64	0.984	45
9	Torquay United	42	17	11	14	65	70	0.929	45
10	Norwich City	42	16	12	14	67	49	1.367	44
11	Notts County	42	19	5	18	102	68	1.500	43
12	Exeter City	42	15	10	17	63	76	0.829	40
13	Port Vale	42	14	11	17	51	54	0.944	39
14	Walsall	42	15	8	19	56	64	0.875	38
15	Newport County	42	14	9	19	68	92	0.739	37
16	Bristol City	42	11	14	17	44	62	0.710	36
17	Watford	42	10	15	17	41	54	0.759	35
18	Southend United	42	9	16	17	41	46	0.891	34
19	Leyton Orient	42	11	12	19	58	80	0.725	34
20	Northampton Town	42	12	9	21	51	62	0.823	33
21	Aldershot	42	11	11	20	48	59	0.814	33
22	Crystal Palace	42	8	11	23	38	76	0.500	27

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; 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	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	D	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	D	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	L	W	W	L	D	W	D	L	D	L	L	L	L	D	D	W	W	L	D	W	L	D
Position	9	1	2	1	3	1	3	2	2	5	6	8	10	12	15	17	17	16	15	11	13	9	9	10	10	11	11	11	11	12	12	12	13	13	13	13	12	12	12	12	12	13

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Third Division South

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
21 August 1948	Millwall	A	1–1	32,122	Aveyard
23 August 1948	Reading	H	3–0	17,394	Aveyard (2), Hulligan
28 August 1948	Aldershot	H	3–0	18,497	Hulligan (2), Dale
1 September 1948	Reading	A	2–1	13,955	Palk, Martin
4 September 1948	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–1	20,383
6 September 1948	Swindon Town	H	2–0	17,581	Palk, Pointon
11 September 1948	Southend United	H	0–2	16,592
15 September 1948	Swindon Town	A	2–0	16,894	Allen, Aveyard
18 September 1948	Northampton Town	A	2–2	9,964	Allen, Aveyard
25 September 1948	Norwich City	H	0–0	15,361
2 October 1948	Exeter City	A	1–2	10,672	Martin
9 October 1948	Swansea Town	H	0–2	17,888
16 October 1948	Newport County	A	2–2	10,037	Aveyard (2)
23 October 1948	Ipswich Town	H	1–2	11,424	Aveyard
30 October 1948	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	A	0–2	18,436
6 November 1948	Walsall	H	0–2	11,559
13 November 1948	Notts County	A	1–2	29,332	Aveyard
20 November 1948	Bristol Rovers	H	2–0	10,342	Cheadle, Palk
18 December 1948	Millwall	H	1–0	7,738	Pointon
25 December 1948	Leyton Orient	H	3–0	9,480	Allen, Pointon, Hubbick
27 December 1948	Leyton Orient	A	0–2	8,953
1 January 1949	Aldershot	A	1–0	4,510	Pointon
8 January 1949	Watford	H	3–1	8,681	Aveyard (2), Allen
15 January 1949	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	3–4	9,562	Martin, Pointon, Aveyard
22 January 1949	Southend United	A	0–0	9,713
5 February 1949	Northampton Town	H	1–0	9,369	Allen
12 February 1949	Crystal Palace	A	1–1	12,409	Cheadle
19 February 1949	Norwich City	A	0–2	26,323
26 February 1949	Exeter City	H	1–1	8,437	o.g.
5 March 1949	Swansea Town	A	1–3	13,769	Allen
12 March 1949	Newport County	H	1–2	9,487	Hulligan
19 March 1949	Ipswich Town	A	1–4	10,722	Allen
26 March 1949	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	H	0–2	8,560
30 March 1949	Torquay United	A	0–0	6,483
2 April 1949	Walsall	A	1–1	9,767	Martin
9 April 1949	Notts County	H	1–0	12,198	Martin
15 April 1949	Bristol City	H	4–2	13,571	Allen (2), Martin, Hulligan
16 April 1949	Bristol Rovers	A	1–4	15,477	Aveyard
18 April 1949	Bristol City	A	1–1	11,094	Palk
23 April 1949	Torquay United	H	3–1	11,914	King (2), McGarry
30 April 1949	Watford	A	1–2	6,316	Allen
7 May 1949	Crystal Palace	H	0–0	7,821

FA Cup

Main article: 1948–49 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	27 November 1948	Notts County	A	1–2	36,514	Martin

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	George Heppell	37	0	1	0	38	0
GK	Ray Hancock	3	0	0	0	3	0
GK	Harry Prince	2	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Basil Hayward	41	0	1	0	42	0
DF	Tommy Cheadle	22	2	1	0	23	2
DF	Garth Butler	33	0	1	0	34	0
DF	Harry Hubbick	20	1	1	0	21	1
DF	Reg Potts	19	0	0	0	19	0
DF	Jim Elsby	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Wilf Smith	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Jimmy Todd	11	0	0	0	11	0
MF	Alan Martin	42	6	1	1	43	7
MF	Bill McGarry	40	1	1	0	41	1
MF	Eric Eastwood	4	0	0	0	4	0
MF	Walter Keeley	2	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Joe Dale	6	1	0	0	6	1
MF	Mick Hulligan	28	5	0	0	28	5
MF	Alan Bennett	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Bernard Jones	6	0	1	0	7	0
FW	Bill Pointon	15	5	0	0	15	5
FW	Ronnie Allen	40	10	1	0	41	10
FW	Lewis White	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Pat Raftery	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW	John Sherratt	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW	George King	2	2	0	0	2	2
FW	George O'Neill	5	0	0	0	5	0
FW	Stan Palk	42	4	1	0	43	4
FW	Walter Aveyard	34	13	1	0	35	13

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
Walter Aveyard	13
Ronnie Allen	10
Alan Martin	7
Bill Pointon	5
Mick Hulligan	5
Stan Palk	4
George King	2
Tommy Cheadle	2
Harry Hubbick	1
Bill McGarry
Joe Dale

League

Scorer	Goals
Walter Aveyard	13
Ronnie Allen	10
Alan Martin	6
Bill Pointon	5
Mick Hulligan	5
Stan Palk	4
George King	2
Tommy Cheadle	2
Harry Hubbick	1
Bill McGarry
Joe Dale

References

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). "Creating Sunshine from the Shadows (1939–1950)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 151–171. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
↑ Port Vale 1948–1949 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

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

Port Vale F.C. seasons

1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 99–1900

1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10

1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20

1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 99–2000

2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20

Port Vale Football Club

History Honours Managers Records Reserves & Youth Seasons

Grounds	Athletic Ground Old Recreation Ground Vale Park

Players	25+ appearances <25 appearances Player of the Year Winners

Matches	1989 Play-off Final 1993 League Trophy Final 1993 Play-off Final 1996 Anglo-Italian Final 2001 League Trophy Final Potteries derby

1948–49 in English football

« 1947–48

1949–50 »

FA competitions

Football League

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Club seasons

First Division

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Blackpool
Bolton Wanderers
Burnley
Charlton Athletic
Chelsea
Derby County
Everton
Grimsby Town
Huddersfield Town
Liverpool
Manchester City
Manchester United
Middlesbrough
Portsmouth
Preston North End
Sheffield United
Stoke City
Sunderland
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division

Barnsley
Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers
Bradford Park Avenue
Brentford
Bury
Cardiff City
Chesterfield
Coventry City
Doncaster Rovers
Fulham
Leeds United
Leicester City
Luton Town
Millwall
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Plymouth Argyle
Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United

Third Division

North	Accrington Stanley Barrow Bradford City Carlisle United Chester Crewe Alexandra Darlington Gateshead Halifax Town Hartlepools United Hull City Lincoln City Mansfield Town New Brighton Oldham Athletic Rochdale Rotherham United Southport Stockport County Tranmere Rovers Wrexham York City

South	Aldershot Bournemouth Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Bristol Rovers Crystal Palace Exeter City Ipswich Town Leyton Orient Newport County Northampton Town Norwich City Notts County Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Southend United Swansea Town Swindon Town Torquay United Walsall Watford

Other

Colchester United

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