1965–66 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1965–66 season
Chairman	Fred Pinfold
Manager	Jackie Mudie
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Fourth Division	19th (39 Points)
FA Cup	Third Round
League Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: John Rowland (21) All: John Rowland (23)
Highest home attendance	11,395 vs. Crewe Alexandra (4 October 1965)
Lowest home attendance	3,959 vs. Southport (27 November 1965)
Average home league attendance	6,015
Home colours
← 1964–65 1966–67 →

The 1965–66 season was Port Vale's 54th season of football in the Football League, and their first season (second overall) back in the Fourth Division following their relegation from the Third Division.^[1] For the first time in their Football League history they played three divisions below rivals Stoke City. Despite hope of a swift return to the third tier, the season instead proved a complete disaster, the club finishing nineteenth (87th of the 92 League clubs). The appointment of Stanley Matthews as general manager meant an adoption of a youth policy, which eventually saw four teenagers make their debut in one match, as well as the arrival of several Scottish youngsters.

Overview

Fourth Division

On 19 July 1965, Stanley Matthews was appointed general manager to help his friend Jackie Mudie as manager.^[1] Matthews announced his policy of 'attracting and nurturing young footballers' and stressed the need for 'patience'.^[1] Matthews did not receive and did not request a contract.^[1] Though a massive lift for the club at the time, this development transpired to be a negative one for all involved, as Roy Sproson later explained that 'the club had their priorities wrong and the first team suffered badly, whilst Stan trusted people, who took advantage of him'.^[1] Most of the summer signings were youngsters, which also suited the club's directors, who had overseen massive losses over the past two seasons. In came Brian Taylor (£3,000 from Shrewsbury Town); winger Roger Smith (Walsall); Scottish inside-forwards John Cummings and Tommy Morrison (Aberdeen); as well as sixteen-year-old Scottish trialist winger Alex Donald.^[1] Matthews also initiated a series of trials for 700 boys.^[1]

The season opened with a 1–0 win over Colchester United in front of 11,212 at Vale Park.^[1] Two narrow away defeats followed, in what would be a season long pattern of success at home and defeat away.^[1] Terry Miles replaced Terry Lowe in a 2–0 win over Stockport County on 4 September to become Vale's first ever playing substitute.^[1] John Nicholson's club record run of 208 consecutive appearances, which began on 2 September 1961, ended on 8 September. Nicholson was unhappy with this and was consequently sold to Doncaster Rovers for £5,000 – much to the distress of supporters.^[1] Attendances fell away to only 4,605 on 18 September, when Vale 'disgraced themselves' by only beating Lincoln City 3–0, who provided 'abysmal opposition'.^[1] Keeper Jimmy O'Neill was 'in vintage form', but twelve forwards were tried up front in the first ten games.^[1] On 2 October Jackie Mudie's 'extra craft' helped the Vale to thrash high-flying Chester 5–2, and two days later Vale beat Crewe Alexandra.^[1] However the club then played a friendly with SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin in Berlin (losing 2–0), and proceeded to lose their next six league games.^[1] The club then signed Jimmy Hill from Everton for £5,000, however Hill seemed to be a replica of Mudie, rather than an addition to the firepower.^[1]

As Vale slipped down the table, they were denied permission by the Ministry of Labour to sign USA international Willy Roy as he did not meet the two-year residential requirement.^[1] More trouble came when Bo'ness United reported the club to the Scottish Junior Football Association for an alleged breach of the rules in the transfer of Roddy Georgeson.^[1] On the pitch results continued to go against the Vale, as they found themselves in a re-election struggle by January.^[1] Vale then went on a club-record six consecutive away games without scoring a goal in a run lasting from 8 January to 9 March. In came left-back John Ritchie from Whitley Bay, though free agent Graham Barnett did not return to the club, despite protestations from supporters – the management stated that Barnett's wage demands were too great.^[1] For the clash with bottom-placed Bradford City on 12 January, Vale assembled the youngest ever Football League forward line: Alex Donald (17), Roddy Georgeson (17), Mick Cullerton (17), Paul Bannister (18), and Paul Ogden (19).^[1] Of the five forwards only Bannister had played competitively before.^[1] Bradford won 2–0. A 2–1 win over Rochdale was then followed by four straight defeats.^[1] Cummings and Morrison were judged not to have made the grade and so were released form their contracts, signing with Ayr United and Sligo Rovers respectively.^[1]

Stanley Matthews encouraged supporters not to raise their expectations, claiming that "we are rebuilding and miracles don't happen overnight".^[1] Starting with a 2–1 win over Darlington, Vale picked up seven points out of a possible eight.^[1] Their defence was bolstered by the signing of keeper Stuart Sharratt from Oswestry Town for £2,000.^[1] However by April they were back into the re-election zone.^[1] On 12 April, Malcolm James MacKenzie began the youngest ever first team player for the club when at 15 years 347 days old he was selected for the game against Newport County.^[1] To act a nursery club, Broxburn Athletic of Edinburgh was adopted to save having to bring youngsters to Burslem for trials.^[1] They finished the season in indifferent form, and received a final day thrashing 5–0 from Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.^[1]

They finished in nineteenth spot with 39 points, leaving them two points away from having to apply for re-election.^[1] They were ahead of Chesterfield on goal average, and two points ahead of Rochdale, Lincoln City, and Bradford City, and four points ahead of Wrexham. Their 48 goals scored was atrocious, and easily the weakest in the division, though the defence only conceded 59.^[1] The one saviour was John Rowland, whose 23 goals in all competitions was almost quadruple that of his nearest rival.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, another big loss of £29,696 was announced despite another large donation from the Sportsmen's Association, the Development Fund and the social club.^[1] Wages had risen by 25% to £54,552, there was a £5,000 credit in player transfers, though an improved home crowd average saw gate receipts rise by 25% to £30,994.^[1] The management were determined to stick with the club's youth policy.^[1]

Six players were released, most significantly Tony Richards departed, who had never really recovered from a knee injury, he joined Nuneaton Borough.^[1] Also leaving were Mel Machin to Gillingham, Roger Smith to Walsall, whilst Selwyn Whalley retired with a foot injury.^[1] This left 23 professionals at the club.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Hill 'masterminded the Vale attack' in a 'thrilling' 2–2 draw at Third Division Oxford United's Manor Ground.^[1] Vale won the replay 3–2 to meet Dartford of the Southern League in the Second Round.^[1] Vale won 1–0 despite the best efforts of what The Sentinel described as 'man-eating sharks' that left the "Valiants" nursing several injuries.^[1] In the Third Round they were defeated 2–1 by Second Division Cardiff City at Ninian Park despite a surprisingly resilient defensive display.^[1]

In the League Cup, Vale drew 2–2 at home to Reading before exiting the competition with a 1–0 defeat at Elm Park.

Final league table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Doncaster Rovers	46	24	11	11	85	54	1.574	59
2	Darlington	46	25	9	12	72	53	1.358	59
3	Torquay United	46	24	10	12	72	49	1.469	58
4	Colchester United	46	23	10	13	70	47	1.489	56
5	Tranmere Rovers	46	24	8	14	93	66	1.409	56
6	Luton Town	46	24	8	14	90	70	1.286	56
7	Chester	46	20	12	14	79	70	1.129	52
8	Notts County	46	19	12	15	61	53	1.151	50
9	Newport County	46	18	12	16	75	75	1.000	48
10	Southport	46	18	12	16	68	69	0.986	48
11	Bradford Park Avenue	46	21	5	20	102	92	1.109	47
12	Barrow	46	16	15	15	72	76	0.947	47
13	Stockport County	46	18	6	22	71	70	1.014	42
14	Crewe Alexandra	46	16	9	21	61	63	0.968	41
15	Halifax Town	46	15	11	20	67	75	0.893	41
16	Barnsley	46	15	10	21	74	78	0.949	40
17	Aldershot	46	15	10	21	75	84	0.893	40
18	Hartlepools United	46	16	8	22	63	75	0.840	40
19	Port Vale	46	15	9	22	48	59	0.814	39
20	Chesterfield	46	13	13	20	62	78	0.795	39
21	Rochdale	46	16	5	25	71	87	0.816	37
22	Lincoln City	46	13	11	22	57	82	0.695	37
23	Bradford City	46	12	13	21	63	94	0.670	37
24	Wrexham	46	13	9	24	72	104	0.692	35

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	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	A	A
Result	W	L	L	W	L	D	W	L	W	W	L	D	W	W	D	W	W	D	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	W	D	W	L	D	L	D	W	W	L	L	W	W	D	L	W	L	L
Position	1	9	16	11	15	13	11	16	11	8	12	12	13	15	16	17	16	17	18	18	18	18	16	20	20	20	21	21	20	18	16	19	19	19	20	21	18	19	21	20	16	16	16	15	15	19

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Fourth Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
21 August 1965	Colchester United	H	1–0	11,212	Bannister
24 August 1965	Barnsley	A	0–1	3,016
27 August 1965	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–1	10,419
4 September 1965	Stockport County	H	2–0	6,780	Rowland, Smith
11 September 1965	Darlington	A	1–2	3,379	Rowland
13 September 1965	Barnsley	H	1–1	6,573	Rowland
18 September 1965	Lincoln City	H	3–0	4,605	Rowland (2 [1 pen]), Mitchell
25 September 1965	Notts County	A	1–3	6,066	Rowland (pen)
2 October 1965	Chester	H	5–2	8,108	Smith (2), Rowland, Richards, Mudie
4 October 1965	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–0	11,395	Rowland, Richards
9 October 1965	Torquay United	A	0–1	5,112
16 October 1965	Chesterfield	H	1–1	7,644	Rowland
22 October 1965	Rochdale	A	0–1	4,195
30 October 1965	Luton Town	H	1–2	6,058	Smith
6 November 1965	Barrow	A	2–2	5,076	Morrison, Johnson
19 November 1965	Doncaster Rovers	A	0–1	6,065
27 November 1965	Southport	H	4–1	3,959	Hill, Richards, o.g., Smith
11 December 1965	Bradford Park Avenue	H	3–3	4,419	Richards (2), Smith
18 December 1965	Chesterfield	A	1–3	2,903	Taylor
1 January 1966	Torquay United	H	0–0	7,048
8 January 1966	Hartlepools United	A	0–2	4,284
12 January 1966	Bradford City	A	0–2	3,051
15 January 1966	Rochdale	H	2–1	4,262	Georgeson, Rowland
29 January 1966	Colchester United	A	0–3	4,481
5 February 1966	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–3	5,331	Rowland, Poole
12 February 1966	Aldershot	A	0–3	2,444
18 February 1966	Stockport County	A	0–3	7,400
26 February 1966	Darlington	H	3–1	4,594	Machin, Ritchie, Rowland
5 March 1966	Aldershot	H	2–1	5,443	Rowland, Machin
9 March 1966	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–0	6,160
12 March 1966	Lincoln City	A	1–0	2,238	Rowland
19 March 1966	Notts County	H	0–1	5,619
21 March 1966	Hartlepools United	H	0–0	4,908
26 March 1966	Chester	A	0–2	6,520
4 April 1966	Bradford City	H	0–0	3,972
11 April 1966	Newport County	A	1–0	2,528	Rowland
12 April 1966	Newport County	H	3–0	4,496	Rowland (2), Poole
16 April 1966	Doncaster Rovers	H	0–1	6,669
23 April 1966	Southport	A	1–2	3,433	o.g.
27 April 1966	Halifax Town	H	2–0	4,824	Sproson, Rowland
30 April 1966	Wrexham	H	1–0	5,110	Rowland
2 May 1966	Barrow	H	0–0	5,306
4 May 1966	Wrexham	A	0–1	2,679
7 May 1966	Bradford Park Avenue	A	2–1	4,978	Rowland (2)
10 May 1966	Halifax Town	A	0–2	2,494
14 May 1966	Luton Town	A	0–5	12,054

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	13 November 1965	Oxford United	A	2–2	10,355	Sproson, Cummings
R1 Replay	15 November 1965	Oxford United	H	3–2	7,510	Taylor, Mudie, Hill
R2	4 December 1965	Dartford	H	1–0	6,090	Hill
R3	26 January 1966	Cardiff City	A	1–2	17,126	Rowland

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	1 September 1965	Reading	H	2–2	5,321	Rowland (pen), Taylor
R1 Replay	8 September 1965	Reading	A	0–1	5,664

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup League Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK Jimmy O'Neill 29 0 4 0 2 0 35 0 GK Stuart Sharratt 15 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 GK David Ikin 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 DF Roy Sproson 30 1 4 1 0 0 34 2 DF Selwyn Whalley 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 DF Terry Lowe 9 0 3 0 1 0 13 0 DF Terry Alcock 41 0 4 0 1 0 46 0 DF Clint Boulton 18 0 0 0 2 0 20 0 DF Ron Wilson 36 0 4 0 2 0 42 0 DF John Ritchie 22 1 0 0 0 0 22 1 DF John Nicholson 4 0 0 0 2 0 6 0 MF Terry Miles 28 0 1 0 1 0 30 2 MF Roger Smith 30 6 1 0 2 0 33 6 MF Mel Machin 18 2 1 0 0 0 19 2 MF Alan Johnson 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1 MF Malcolm James MacKenzie 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 MF Paul Ogden 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 MF Jimmy Hill 20 1 4 2 0 0 24 3 MF Alex Donald 11 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 FW Harry Poole 46 2 4 0 1 0 51 2 FW John Rowland 42 21 2 1 2 1 46 23 FW Tony Richards 18 5 1 0 1 0 20 5 FW Jackie Mudie 13 1 3 1 1 0 17 2 FW David Mitchell 4 1 0 0 1 0 5 1 FW Paul Bannister 7 1 0 0 0 0 7 1 FW Brian Taylor 36 1 4 1 2 1 42 3 FW John James 10 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 FW Tommy Morrison 5 1 0 0 1 0 6 1 FW Roddy Georgeson 5 1 1 0 0 0 6 1 FW Mick Cullerton 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 FW John Cummings 3 0 2 1 1 0 6 1

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals John Rowland 23 Roger Smith 6 Tony Richards 5 Jimmy Hill 3 Brian Taylor Harry Poole 2 Mel Machin Jackie Mudie Roy Sproson Tommy Morrison 1 John Ritchie Roddy Georgeson Alan Johnson David Mitchell Paul Bannister John Cummings League Scorer Goals John Rowland 21 Roger Smith 6 Tony Richards 5 Harry Poole 2 Mel Machin Jimmy Hill 1 Jackie Mudie Roy Sproson Tommy Morrison Roddy Georgeson John Ritchie Alan Johnson David Mitchell Paul Bannister Brian Taylor

References

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Flattering Only to Deceive (1960–1969)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 196–226. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
2. Port Vale 1965–1966 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

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