1950–51 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1950–51 season
Chairman	William Holdcroft
Manager	Gordon Hodgson
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Third Division South	12th (45 Points)
FA Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Cliff Pinchbeck (16) All: Cliff Pinchbeck (19)
Highest home attendance	30,196 vs. Newport County (24 August 1950)
Lowest home attendance	2,630 vs. Exeter City (30 April 1951)
Average home league attendance	10,832
Home colours
← 1949–50 1951–52 →

The 1950–51 season was Port Vale's 39th season of football in the Football League, and their sixth full season in the Third Division South.^[1] It was the first season to be played at Vale Park, and Roy Sproson also made his debut for the club. In the FA Cup there was excitement as the Vale took rivals Stoke City to a replay in the Fourth Round, only to lose 1–0. It was the last season in the reign of Gordon Hodgson, who died in the summer after long suffering from cancer.

Manager Gordon Hodgson during his playing days.

Overview

Third Division South

The pre-season saw expansion for the league, and so the addition of two new teams to the division, nevertheless only one promotion place was available for the 24 teams. For Vale, two attacking players were added to the squad; Syd Peppitt arrived from Stoke City for £4,000, and Roland Lewis was signed from Congleton Town.^{[1] [2]}

The season opened with a 2–0 defeat at Carrow Road, though the real excitement came five days later on 24 August, when Vale Park hosted its first league game; 30,196 turned up to see Newport County beaten 1–0 with a Walter Aveyard goal.^[1] The stadium had cost £50,000 and held 40,000 spectators, though work was still needed to complete the covers.^[1] Three straight losses followed, and as a result four players were transfer listed.^[1] As the weather turned bleak the attendances suffered, as less than a fortnight after its opening the stadium hosted 15,884 fans for the win over Ipswich Town (a reduction of almost 50%).^[1] The lack of cover did nothing to encourage fans to show up.^[1] Nevertheless the team won six of their opening seven home games, whilst they lost six of their first seven away games. On 28 October they travelled to The Den, where they fought to earn a 2–2 draw with high-flying Millwall, Tommy Cheadle playing on despite breaking three teeth in a hefty collision.^[1] On 11 November they drew 1–1 with Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium, a game which saw the first of Roy Sproson's 842 club appearances.^[1]

Results tailed off after Christmas, leaving Vale in a re-election fight by the start of February.^[1] This was partly due to an outbreak of flu, which affected eleven of the players.^[1] A run of eight wins in eleven games soon allayed any fears of Vale losing their league status. The club were so confident in fact as to sell right-half Bill McGarry to Huddersfield Town for £12,000 – he would later be selected in the England squad for the 1954 FIFA World Cup.^[1] Waterlogging of the Vale Park pitch caused numerous games to be postponed, this meant a run of six home games would be played between 23 April and 3 May.^[1] This gave young reserves the chance to impress.^[1]

They finished twelfth with 45 points, a whole 25 points short of promotion. Cliff Pinchbeck proved to be the only regular scorer, with nineteen goals, though he was on the transfer list at his own request.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a profit of £5,367 was recorded thanks to a transfer credit of £12,315.^[1] Gate receipts had fallen to £27,650, though the wage bill was slashed to £20,063.^[1] Leaving the club were new signings Peppitt and Lewis, the former joining Worcester City.^[1] On 16 May the club hosted FC Progrès Niedercorn of Luxembourg, who were on their British tour, Vale won 4–1.^[1] After the game 3,000 tons of soil were removed from the stadium, as a new drainage system was installed.^[1] On 14 June, manager Gordon Hodgson died following a lengthy battle against cancer, his funeral at Carmountside was conducted by Reverend Norman Hallam.^[1] His replacement was Ivor Powell, who was signed as player-manager from Aston Villa.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, the "Valiants" progressed past Third Division North New Brighton and Lancashire Combination Nelson with two 3–2 home victories.^[1] Drawn against First Division Potteries derby rivals Stoke in the Third Round, it was the first competitive derby game since 1933. Vale showed some 'lively attacking' to achieve a 2–2 draw at the Victoria Ground on 6 January in front of a crowd of 49,500.^[1] Vale Park had problems with drainage, and so the replay two days later had to be played at the Victoria Ground as well – this time 40,977 fans showed up.^[1] Stoke won by the odd goal from Frank Bowyer, though Vale were consoled by the £2,800 worth of gate receipts they had earned.^[1]

Final league table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Nottingham Forest	46	30	10	6	110	40	2.750	70
2	Norwich City	46	25	14	7	82	45	1.822	64
3	Reading	46	21	15	10	88	53	1.660	57
4	Plymouth Argyle	46	24	9	13	85	55	1.545	57
5	Millwall	46	23	10	13	80	57	1.404	56
6	Bristol Rovers	46	20	15	11	64	42	1.524	55
7	Southend United	46	21	10	15	92	69	1.333	52
8	Ipswich Town	46	23	6	17	69	58	1.190	52
9	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	46	22	7	17	65	57	1.140	51
10	Bristol City	46	20	11	15	64	59	1.085	51
11	Newport County	46	19	9	18	77	70	1.100	47
12	Port Vale	46	16	13	17	60	65	0.923	45
13	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	13	17	16	71	79	0.899	43
14	Exeter City	46	18	6	22	62	85	0.729	42
15	Walsall	46	15	10	21	52	62	0.839	40
16	Colchester United	46	14	12	20	63	76	0.829	40
17	Swindon Town	46	18	4	24	55	67	0.821	40
18	Aldershot	46	15	10	21	56	88	0.636	40
19	Leyton Orient	46	15	8	23	53	75	0.707	38
20	Torquay United	46	14	9	23	64	81	0.790	37
21	Northampton Town	46	10	16	20	55	67	0.821	36
22	Gillingham	46	13	9	24	69	101	0.683	35
23	Watford	46	9	11	26	54	88	0.614	29
24	Crystal Palace	46	8	11	27	33	84	0.393	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	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	H	H	A
Result	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	D	W	L	W	W	L	W	D	L	D	W	W	D	D	L	D	D	L	L	W	W	L	W	D	W	L	L	W	W	W	L	D	D	L	D	D	W	L	D
Position	19	16	21	24	24	19	21	21	18	21	20	16	18	15	14		16	13	13	13	13	14	15	15	16	17	17	14	17	13	14	12	13	14	13	12	11	12	13	13	14	14	13	12	12	12

Sourced from Statto.^[3]

Football League Third Division South

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
19 August 1950	Norwich City	A	0–2	27,288
24 August 1950	Newport County	H	1–0	30,196	Aveyard
26 August 1950	Northampton Town	H	0–3	21,424
31 August 1950	Newport County	A	1–2	13,537	Palk (pen)
2 September 1950	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–1	19,288
4 September 1950	Ipswich Town	H	1–0	15,884	Pinchbeck
9 September 1950	Nottingham Forest	A	1–2	29,295	Hulligan
13 September 1950	Ipswich Town	A	2–2	10,724	Pinchbeck, Hulligan
16 September 1950	Torquay United	H	1–0	14,424	Pinchbeck
23 September 1950	Aldershot	A	0–2	7,358
30 September 1950	Swindon Town	H	2–1	9,517	Peppitt, Bennett
7 October 1950	Leyton Orient	H	3–1	12,899	Hulligan, Peppitt, Pinchbeck
14 October 1950	Walsall	A	0–2	9,686
21 October 1950	Watford	H	2–1	12,112	Pinchbeck (2)
28 October 1950	Millwall	A	2–2	25,799	Martin, McGarry
4 November 1950	Bristol City	H	1–3	11,603	Hulligan
11 November 1950	Gillingham	A	1–1	12,103	Peppitt
18 November 1950	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	H	3–1	8,153	Pinchbeck, Palk (pen), Aveyard
2 December 1950	Southend United	H	3–1	8,339	Pinchbeck (2), Palk
23 December 1950	Northampton Town	A	1–1	8,785	Martin
25 December 1950	Bristol Rovers	H	0–0	13,250
26 December 1950	Bristol Rovers	A	0–2	22,279
13 January 1951	Nottingham Forest	H	1–1	13,148	Pinchbeck
17 January 1951	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2–2	5,754	Pinchbeck (2)
20 January 1951	Torquay United	A	2–3	6,280	Aveyard, McGarry
27 January 1951	Reading	A	0–3	15,409
3 February 1951	Aldershot	H	3–1	8,606	Aveyard, Pinchbeck, Martin
10 February 1951	Exeter City	A	3–0	7,893	Palk, Hulligan, Martin
17 February 1951	Swindon Town	A	1–2	7,889	Pinchbeck
24 February 1951	Leyton Orient	A	3–2	6,861	Hulligan, Pinchbeck, o.g.
3 March 1951	Walsall	H	1–1	13,071	Pinchbeck
5 March 1951	Plymouth Argyle	H	2–1	4,894	Aveyard, Martin
10 March 1951	Watford	A	0–2	6,610
24 March 1951	Bristol City	A	1–3	17,301	Hulligan
26 March 1951	Crystal Palace	A	2–0	11,320	Barber, o.g.
31 March 1951	Gillingham	H	4–3	5,947	Aveyard (2), Griffiths, Barber
2 April 1951	Norwich City	H	2–1	10,247	Barber (2)
7 April 1951	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	A	1–3	8,742	Barber
16 April 1951	Colchester United	H	1–1	8,520	Palk
21 April 1951	Southend United	A	1–1	8,554	Griffiths
23 April 1951	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	0–1	10,340
26 April 1951	Crystal Palace	H	2–2	7,069	Palk, Bennett
28 April 1951	Reading	H	0–0	3,402
30 April 1951	Exeter City	H	2–0	2,630	Cunliffe, Barber
3 May 1951	Millwall	H	0–1	5,459
5 May 1951	Colchester United	A	1–1	8,414	Barber

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	25 November 1950	New Brighton	H	3–2	8,997	Aveyard (2), Pinchbeck
R2	9 December 1950	Nelson	H	3–2	11,088	Pinchbeck, Hulligan, Aveyard
R3	6 January 1951	Stoke City	A	2–2	49,500	Bennett, Pinchbeck
R3 Replay	8 January 1951	Stoke City	A	0–1	40,977

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK George Heppell 17 0 0 0 17 0 GK Ray King 29 0 4 0 33 0 DF Basil Hayward 25 0 1 0 26 0 DF Tommy Cheadle 32 0 4 0 36 0 DF Garth Butler 5 0 0 0 5 0 DF Reg Potts 23 0 2 0 25 0 DF Lol Hamlett 45 0 4 0 49 0 DF Stan Turner 6 0 1 0 7 0 DF Roy Sproson 10 0 0 0 10 0 DF John Abbotts 3 0 0 0 3 0 MF Jimmy Todd 8 0 0 0 8 0 MF Alan Martin 42 5 4 0 46 5 MF Bill McGarry 31 2 4 0 35 2 MF Mick Hulligan 46 7 4 1 50 8 MF Alan Bennett 28 2 3 1 31 3 MF Albert Leake 1 0 0 0 1 0 MF Syd Peppitt 11 3 0 0 11 3 MF John Cunliffe 8 1 0 0 8 1 FW Stan Palk 45 6 4 0 49 6 FW Walter Aveyard 33 7 4 3 37 10 FW Cliff Pinchbeck 30 16 4 3 34 19 FW Ken Griffiths 8 2 1 0 9 2 FW Len Barber 14 7 0 0 14 7 FW Roland Lewis 6 0 0 0 6 0

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Cliff Pinchbeck 19 Walter Aveyard 10 Mick Hulligan 8 Len Barber 7 Stan Palk 6 Alan Martin 5 Syd Peppitt 3 Alan Bennett Bill McGarry 2 Ken Griffiths John Cunliffe 1 League Scorer Goals Cliff Pinchbeck 16 Walter Aveyard 7 Mick Hulligan Len Barber Stan Palk 6 Alan Martin 5 Syd Peppitt 3 Alan Bennett 2 Bill McGarry Ken Griffiths John Cunliffe 1

References

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Fame and Fortune (1950–1959)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 171–196. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
2. "The Sentinel's 1950-51 season preview". onevalefan.co.uk. 11 November 2014. Retrieved 11 November 2014.
3. Port Vale 1950–1951 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

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