1969–70 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1969–70 season
Chairman	Arthur McPherson (until March) Mark Singer (March onwards)
Manager	Gordon Lee
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Fourth Division	4th (59 Points)
FA Cup	Second Round
League Cup	First Round
Player of the Year	John Green
Top goalscorer	League: John James (14) All: John James (17)
Highest home attendance	12,538 vs. Crewe Alexandra (15 September 1969)
Lowest home attendance	3,955 vs. York City (7 February 1970)
Average home league attendance	6,894
Home colours
← 1968–69 1970–71 →

The 1969–70 season was Port Vale's 58th season of football in the Football League, and their fifth successive season (sixth overall) in the Fourth Division.^[1] They achieved promotion with a fourth-place finish, taking them back into the Third Division. They started the season with an eighteen match unbeaten run in the league, and finished with nine games unbeaten following a dip in form around January. Manager Gordon Lee credited the teamwork and fitness of an extremely settled side for the promotion campaign, as ten players made at least 35 league appearances.

Overview

Fourth Division

In the pre-season there were talks of bringing speedway to Vale Park, introducing a new team to the British League Division Two.^[1] However many were opposed to the idea, and a 2,600 strong petition was given to local MP John Forrester.^[1] The idea was killed when the council failed to grant planning permission, despite a 3,000 strong petition in favour of the proposal.^[1] The club had hoped to profit from the venture, however many locals were concerned about noise pollution.^[1] Gordon Lee meanwhile had little in the way of funds when it came to signing new players, and so he was only able to bring in three new attackers on free transfers: Ken Wookey (Newport County); Stuart Shaw (Southport); and Eric Magee (Oldham Athletic).^[1]

They continued on from their unbeaten result at the end of the previous season, to make a club-record unbeaten sequence of ten away games, and nineteen games home and away {5 May to 8 November}. Five of these results were goalless draws, as the defence proved stronger than the attack following the departure of top-scorer Roy Chapman at the end of the previous season.^[1] Nevertheless, the run put them at the top of the table, and Lee credited his team's hard work and fitness.^[1] John James played on despite an injured ankle, Mick Morris found himself a permanent fixture as an energetic utility man, whilst Tommy McLaren also worked his way into the first eleven.^[1] The defence conceded just six goals in the opening fifteen league games. The run included a 1–0 win over Chesterfield at Saltergate, a 2–0 win over nearby Crewe Alexandra in front of a season-best Burslem crowd of 12,538, and a 'war of attrition' in a 1–1 draw 'full of ugly incidents' with Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground in front of a crowd of 19,946.^[1] Their 22 November fixture at the Old Showground with Scunthorpe United could have seen the Vale equal the best start to an English League season in the twentieth century.^[1] After a Wookey goal put them ahead they lost after a disputed penalty and a bizarre own goal from Roy Sproson.^[1] Meanwhile, Vale could not afford the £500 registration fee for Ian Buxton following the player's departure from Notts County, and so the club could only sign him for an initial three-month period.^[1]

Injuries and suspensions helped to dent the Vale's form, as they lost their status as league leaders.^[1] On 17 January, Sproson made his 800th senior appearance in a 2–0 victory over Exeter City.^[1] In an attempt to lift the club, Lee signed wing-half Tony Lacey on loan from Stoke City, and also bought Bill Summerscales from Leek Town for £400.^[1] Heading into a six-game unbeaten run, Lee signed Buxton permanently, despite the player's decision to retire at the end of the season.^[1] In March, Chairman Arthur McPherson pleaded guilty to receiving stolen goods and so was sentenced to an eighteen-month suspended sentence and fined £1,500.^[1] Resigning his position at the club, he was replaced by Mark Singer.^[1] On 9 March, the match against Hartlepool had to be suspended for five minutes after Vale fans continually pelted the opposition keeper with snowballs.^[1] Signing Lacey permanently for £2,500, and Sammy Morgan on a free from Gorleston, Vale were in a close battle for promotion.^[1] Unbeaten in their final nine games, they secured promotion with what The Sentinel's Peter Hewitt called a 'blockade formula' – they conceded just four goals in this run.^[1]

They finished in fourth place with 59 points, three points clear of fifth place. His side promoted, Lee said that 'no team could have deserved reward as much for their hard work and strength of character'.^[1] With 33 goals conceded, only Chesterfield conceded fewer.^[1] Only seventeen players were used all season, whilst eight barely missed a game between them.^[1] On 31 May, they played a Potteries derby friendly with First Division Stoke and won 3–2 at the Victoria Ground.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a loss of £3,003 was made despite fund raising donations of £17,925.^[1] Gate receipts were up by over £13,000 as home attendances were encouraging, however expenditure had increased and there was a transfer deficit of £2,900.^[1] Six players were let go at the season's end, including Ken Wookey (Workington); Stuart Shaw (Morecambe); Eric Magee (Linfield); Stuart Chapman (Stafford Rangers); and Gordon Logan (Kettering Town).^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, they had to overcome Northern Premier League Wigan Athletic at Springfield Park, but could only manage a 1–1 draw.^[1] After a 2–2 draw back in Stoke-on-Trent, the second replay was held at Old Trafford, Manchester.^[1] James scored two minutes from the end of extra-time to finally kill off the non-leaguers.^[1] After a 3–1 defeat at Prenton Park to Tranmere Rovers in a replay, the Vale were out of the competition with a profit of £5,000 from their five games.^[1]

In the League Cup, a First Round exit came courtesy of Third Division Tranmere Rovers at Vale Park.

Final league table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Chesterfield	46	27	10	9	77	32	2.406	64
2	Wrexham	46	26	9	11	84	49	1.714	61
3	Swansea City	46	21	18	7	66	45	1.467	60
4	Port Vale	46	20	19	7	61	33	1.848	59
5	Brentford	46	20	16	10	58	39	1.487	56
6	Aldershot	46	20	13	13	78	65	1.200	53
7	Notts County	46	22	8	16	73	62	1.177	52
8	Lincoln City	46	17	16	13	66	52	1.269	50
9	Peterborough United	46	17	14	15	77	69	1.116	48
10	Colchester United	46	17	14	15	64	63	1.016	48
11	Chester	46	21	6	19	58	66	0.879	48
12	Scunthorpe United	46	18	10	18	67	65	1.031	46
13	York City	46	16	14	16	55	62	0.887	46
14	Northampton Town	46	16	12	18	64	55	1.164	44
15	Crewe Alexandra	46	16	12	18	51	51	1.000	44
16	Grimsby Town	46	14	15	17	54	58	0.931	43
17	Southend United	46	15	10	21	59	85	0.694	40
18	Exeter City	46	14	11	21	57	59	0.966	39
19	Oldham Athletic	46	13	13	20	60	65	0.923	39
20	Workington	46	12	14	20	46	64	0.719	38
21	Newport County	46	13	11	22	53	74	0.716	37
22	Darlington	46	13	10	23	53	73	0.726	36
23	Hartlepool	46	10	10	26	42	82	0.512	30
24	Bradford Park Avenue	46	6	11	29	41	96	0.427	23

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	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	D	W	W	D	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	D	D	W	D	D	W	W	L	W	W	D	L	L	W	L	L	D	W	W	D	W	W	L	D	W	L	W	D	W	D	W	D	D	D	D
Position	7	3	1	3	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	3	2	1	2	2	2	2	4	4	3	2	2	2	3	4	5	3	3	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Fourth Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
9 August 1969	Peterborough United	H	0–0	5,453
16 August 1969	Chesterfield	A	1–0	5,062	Sproson
23 August 1969	Northampton Town	H	4–1	4,809	Green, Wookey, Gough, Magee
27 August 1969	Lincoln City	A	0–0	6,865
30 August 1969	Colchester United	A	0–0	6,323
6 September 1969	Chester	H	3–0	6,874	James, Wookey, Green
13 September 1969	Oldham Athletic	A	3–2	5,777	Gough, Logan, James
15 September 1969	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–0	12,538	James, Morris
20 September 1969	Grimsby Town	H	1–0	8,787	James (pen)
27 September 1969	Exeter City	A	2–1	5,503	Green, McLaren
29 September 1969	Southend United	A	1–1	7,704	James
4 October 1969	Aldershot	H	0–0	8,858
6 October 1969	Chesterfield	H	1–1	9,506	Wookey
11 October 1969	York City	A	1–0	7,195	Gough
18 October 1969	Swansea City	H	0–0	7,195
25 October 1969	Wrexham	A	1–1	19,946	McLaren
1 November 1969	Newport County	H	3–1	7,477	Sproson (2), Boulton
8 November 1969	Bradford Park Avenue	A	2–1	3,498	o.g., Boulton
22 November 1969	Scunthorpe United	A	1–2	5,750	Wookey
29 November 1969	Workington	H	3–1	4,891	James (2), Sproson
13 December 1969	Oldham Athletic	H	1–0	5,387	Buxton
20 December 1969	Chester	A	1–1	5,235	McLaren
26 December 1969	Northampton Town	A	0–2	7,522
10 January 1970	Grimsby Town	A	0–2	4,654
17 January 1970	Exeter City	H	2–0	4,633	o.g., James
24 January 1970	Brentford	A	0–1	8,661
31 January 1970	Aldershot	A	0–2	6,858
7 February 1970	York City	H	1–1	3,955	Gough
21 February 1970	Bradford Park Avenue	H	4–1	4,416	James (3), Boulton
23 February 1970	Southend United	H	3–0	6,333	Gough (2), James
28 February 1970	Swansea City	A	0–0	6,576
2 March 1970	Darlington	A	2–2	2,152	Boulton, James
9 March 1970	Hartlepool	H	3–0	5,456	Boulton (2), Lacey
14 March 1970	Workington	A	2–3	2,047	Buxton, Gough
16 March 1970	Brentford	H	0–0	7,944
21 March 1970	Darlington	H	4–0	4,717	Buxton (2), Green, Gough
23 March 1970	Scunthorpe United	H	1–2	6,394	Gough
28 March 1970	Hartlepool	A	2–0	2,227	Morris, Buxton
30 March 1970	Newport County	A	1–1	2,218	Morgan
1 April 1970	Wrexham	H	1–0	10,954	James (pen)
4 April 1970	Lincoln City	H	0–0	7,414
8 April 1970	Notts County	A	2–1	5,010	Sproson, Buxton
15 April 1970	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–0	7,155
18 April 1970	Notts County	H	1–1	8,042	Morris
22 April 1970	Peterborough United	A	0–0	3,844
25 April 1970	Colchester United	H	1–1	5,626	McLaren

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	15 November 1969	Wigan Athletic	A	1–1	12,622	James
R1 Replay	18 November 1969	Wigan Athletic	H	2–2	9,703	McLaren, Sproson
R1 Replay	24 November 1969	Wigan Athletic	N	1–0	16,453	James
R2	6 December 1969	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–2	6,883	James, Green
R2 Replay	8 December 1969	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–3	7,156	Magee

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	13 August 1969	Tranmere Rovers	H	0–1	4,955

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup League Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK Keith Ball 46 0 5 0 1 0 52 0 DF Roy Sproson 46 5 5 1 1 0 52 6 DF Clint Boulton 46 6 5 0 1 0 52 6 DF Ron Wilson 46 0 3 0 1 0 50 0 DF Gordon Logan 9 1 5 0 0 0 14 1 DF Bill Summerscales 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 MF Stuart Chapman 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 MF Tommy McLaren 35 4 5 1 1 0 41 5 MF John Green 46 4 5 1 1 0 52 5 MF John King 35 0 5 0 1 0 41 0 MF Tony Lacey 18 1 0 0 0 0 18 1 MF Stuart Shaw 3 0 2 0 0 0 5 0 FW John James 43 14 4 3 1 0 48 17 FW Mick Morris 45 3 5 0 0 0 50 3 FW Bobby Gough 45 9 2 0 1 0 48 9 FW Ian Buxton 18 6 0 0 0 0 18 6 FW Ken Wookey 24 4 4 0 1 0 29 4 FW Sammy Morgan 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 FW Eric Magee 18 1 2 1 1 0 21 2

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals John James 17 Bobby Gough 9 Ian Buxton 6 Clint Boulton Roy Sproson John Green 5 Tommy McLaren Ken Wookey 4 Mick Morris 2 Eric Magee 2 Sammy Morgan 1 Tony Lacey Gordon Logan League Scorer Goals John James 14 Bobby Gough 9 Ian Buxton 6 Clint Boulton Roy Sproson 5 Ken Wookey 4 John Green Tommy McLaren Mick Morris 3 Gordon Logan 1 Sammy Morgan Eric Magee Tony Lacey

References

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Surviving on a Shoestring (1969–1979)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 227–257. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
2. Port Vale 1969–1970 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

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