1984–85 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1984–85 season

Chairman

Jim Lloyd

Manager

John Rudge

Stadium

Vale Park

Football League Fourth Division

12th (60 Points)

Third Round

Second Round

Second Round

Top goalscorer

League: Ally Brown (17)
All: Ally Brown (21)

Highest home attendance

6,949 vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers (24 September 1984)

Lowest home attendance

1,386 vs. Northampton Town (29 January 1985)

Average home league attendance

3,267

Home colours

← 1983–84

1985–86 →

The 1984–85 season was Port Vale's 73rd season of football in the Football League, and first (12th overall) back in the Fourth Division following their relegation from the Third Division.^[1] John Rudge's first full season in charge, the Vale finished in mid-table following a season of rebuilding the squad. Veteran striker Ally Brown was top-scorer with 21 goals, whilst midfield dynamo Robbie Earle hit 19 goals. Defender Alan Webb was elected Player of the Year, whilst a young Ray Walker also spent a short period on loan at the club. Vale progressed to the Third Round of the FA Cup, and the Second Rounds of the League Cup and League Trophy.

Overview

Fourth Division

The pre-season saw four new arrivals: veteran striker Ally Brown (Walsall); winger Peter Griffiths (Stoke City); and both forward Derek Monaghan and reliable defender Alan Webb (West Bromwich Albion).^[1] This came after John Rudge stated that "Vale's reputation has been built on grit and determination and I will be looking to bring in the player who is willing to die for the cause".^[1] Attempts to re-sign Brian Horton failed once again, whilst Martin Henderson had his contract cancelled after failing to report for pre-season training – he later signed with Spalding United.^[1] Just before the season began Gary Brazil was signed on loan from Sheffield United.^[1]

The season opened with a 1–0 defeat to Mansfield Town.^[1] Tommy Gore soon announced his retirement due to a neck injury.^[1] The Vale then went five games unbeaten, as the club announced a new five year shirt sponsorship deal with Trentham firm Eagle Delivery Service.^[1] Young winger Ray Walker also arrived on loan from Aston Villa.^[1] The fans chanted 'what a load of rubbish' on 1 October, as Vale lost 3–0 at home to struggling side Northampton Town.^[1] Rudge stated that 'In truth we were rubbish' and promptly cancelled the player's day off.^[1] Another five game unbeaten run followed, as Brown showed his 'class' and Walker impressed.^[1] On 5 November, Eamonn O'Keefe scored a 'brilliant' hat-trick past Southend United in a 4–1 win.^[1] Rudge then signed Stockport County's outside-right Oshor Williams for £7,000.^[1] Vale's form then suffered after Walker returned to Villa Park.^[1] To remedy this Rudge signed Southend United midfielder Billy Kellock, who made 'a stunning impact' in his debut, playing a key part in the 5–1 victory over Exeter City on New Year's Day.^[1] This was the first of a sixteen game unbeaten run, in which the team equalled a club-record six straight away draws between 19 January and 29 March.

On 2 February, Robbie Earle scored a hat-trick past Hereford United.^[1] Striker partner Ally Brown claimed "He is my brains and I am his legs".^[1] John Rudge received the Manager of the Month award for February.^[1] The next month Barry Siddall joined Stoke City on a free transfer, after Chris Pearce had established himself as the Vale's #1.^[1] Wayne Cegielski also signed with Blackpool and Eamonn O'Keefe followed him to Bloomfield Road for a £10,000 fee.^[1] Five victories in the opening six games of April took Vale sliding down the league, as Brown was out with a knee injury.^[1] Vale rallied to go through the final five games unbeaten.^[1]

They finished in twelfth place with sixty points, winning and losing fourteen games.^[1] Between them Brown and Earle racked up a combined total of forty goals in all competitions.^[1] Yet it was Russell Bromage who was selected for the PFA Fourth Division team.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a loss was made of £7,793 due to a 20% drop in attendance figures.^[1] The wage bill stood at £389,341, whilst gate receipts took in £128,954 and the lottery raised £191,000.^[1] The club's shirt sponsors were EDS. Five players left on free transfers, most significant were the departures of: Terry Armstrong and Derek Monaghan (retired); Colin Tartt (Shepshed Charterhouse); and Ian Griffiths (Wigan Athletic).^[1] Billy Kellock also refused terms, and so joined Halifax Town, whilst John Ridley joined Stafford Rangers as a player-coach.^[1] Vale received £700 following a tribunal claim, becoming the first Football League club to take a non-league club to a tribunal.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale beat Northern Premier League side Macclesfield Town 2–1 at Moss Rose.^[1] This game was overshadowed by a fence collapse that left thirteen injured and led to 21 arrests.^[1] Town Chairman Alan Brocklehurst blamed 'the hooligan element of the Vale support', however Vale Chairman Jim Lloyd laid the blame at the feet of the police.^[1] The next round saw Vale conquer Scunthorpe United with a 4–1 home victory.^[1] In the Third Round they travelled to West Ham United's Upton Park, where the First Division club beat the "Valiants" 4–1.

In the League Cup, Vale went past Bury on away goals, having scored one of their two goals at Gigg Lane.^[1] In the Second Round they lost 2–1 at home to Second Division Wolverhampton Wanderers, though they did earn a goalless draw at Molineux.

In the League Trophy, Vale eliminated Northampton Town in a 2–1 replay victory at Sixfields. The original match saw an attendance of just 1,386 at Vale Park.^[1] At the replay Ian Griffiths required a skin graft after getting his hand trapped in a toilet door.^[1] Vale were knocked out in the next round by Bristol City, losing 2–1 to the Third Division side at Ashton Gate.

Final league table

Main article: 1984–85 Football League

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Chesterfield	46	26	13	7	64	35	+29	91
2	Blackpool	46	24	14	8	73	39	+34	86
3	Darlington	46	24	13	9	66	49	+17	85
4	Bury	46	24	12	10	76	50	+26	84
5	Hereford United	46	22	11	13	65	47	+18	77
6	Tranmere Rovers	46	24	3	19	83	66	+17	75
7	Colchester United	46	20	14	12	87	65	+22	74
8	Swindon Town	46	21	9	16	62	58	+4	72
9	Scunthorpe United	46	19	14	13	83	62	+21	71
10	Crewe Alexandra	46	18	12	16	65	69	-4	66
11	Peterborough United	46	16	14	16	54	53	+1	62
12	Port Vale	46	14	18	14	61	59	+2	60
13	Aldershot	46	17	8	21	56	63	-7	59
14	Mansfield Town	46	13	18	15	41	38	+3	57
15	Wrexham	46	15	9	22	67	70	-3	54
16	Chester City	46	15	9	22	60	72	-12	54
17	Rochdale	46	13	14	19	55	69	-14	53
18	Exeter City	46	13	14	19	57	79	-22	53
19	Hartlepool United	46	14	10	22	54	67	-13	52
20	Southend United	46	13	11	22	58	83	-25	50
21	Halifax Town	46	15	5	26	42	69	-27	50
22	Stockport County	46	13	8	25	58	79	-21	47
23	Northampton Town	46	14	5	27	53	74	-21	47
24	Torquay United	46	9	14	23	38	63	-25	41

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; 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	43	44	45	46
Ground	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A
Result	L	D	D	W	D	W	L	L	W	W	W	D	W	L	W	L	D	L	L	D	L	L	W	D	D	W	W	D	D	W	D	W	D	D	D	L	D	L	L	L	L	D	W	D	W	D
Position	18	18	19	13	13	9	10	12	11	8	6	6	7	11	6	9	8	9	11	12	14	14	13	13	13	11	13	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	12	13	13	13	12	12	12

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Fourth Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 August 1984	Mansfield Town	H	0–1	3,552
1 September 1984	Wrexham	A	1–1	1,849	Brazil
8 September 1984	Hartlepool United	H	1–1	3,232	Sproson
15 September 1984	Torquay United	A	3–1	1,692	Walker, Earle, Brown
18 September 1984	Blackpool	A	1–1	4,902	Brazil
22 September 1984	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–1	3,301	Brazil, Earle
29 September 1984	Hereford United	A	0–1	4,093
1 October 1984	Northampton Town	H	0–3	3,235
6 October 1984	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–0	4,145	Brown, P.Griffiths
13 October 1984	Rochdale	A	2–1	1,722	O'Keefe, Brown
20 October 1984	Swindon Town	A	1–0	3,056	O'Keefe
22 October 1984	Chesterfield	H	0–0	4,988
27 October 1984	Peterborough United	H	3–1	3,943	Brown (2), O'Keefe
3 November 1984	Stockport County	A	1–3	2,698	O'Keefe
5 November 1984	Southend United	H	4–1	2,989	O'Keefe (3), Earle
10 November 1984	Aldershot	A	0–1	2,188
23 November 1984	Chester City	H	0–0	3,391
30 November 1984	Halifax Town	A	1–2	1,689	Hunter
15 December 1984	Darlington	H	0–1	3,645
22 December 1984	Scunthorpe United	H	1–1	2,521	P.Griffiths
26 December 1984	Bury	A	0–4	4,664
28 December 1984	Colchester United	A	2–3	2,014	Brown, Smith
1 January 1985	Exeter City	H	5–1	3,306	Kellock (2 [1 pen]), Brown (2), Earle
19 January 1985	Hartlepool United	A	2–2	2,285	Brown, Williams
26 January 1985	Torquay United	H	2–2	2,839	Hunter, Earle
2 February 1985	Hereford United	H	3–1	3,453	Earle (3)
23 February 1985	Stockport County	H	3–2	3,154	Brown (2), Bromage
2 March 1985	Peterborough United	A	0–0	2,817
5 March 1985	Chesterfield	A	0–0	3,480
9 March 1985	Swindon Town	H	2–0	3,300	Sproson, Brown
13 March 1985	Mansfield Town	H	1–1	2,161	Sproson
16 March 1985	Rochdale	H	3–1	2,788	P.Griffiths, Kellock (pen), Brown
22 March 1985	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–0	4,763
25 March 1985	Wrexham	H	0–0	2,964
29 March 1985	Southend United	A	1–1	2,407	Earle
1 April 1985	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–4	1,450	Earle
6 April 1985	Bury	H	0–0	3,544
8 April 1985	Exeter City	A	1–2	2,427	Earle
13 April 1985	Aldershot	H	1–2	2,562	Earle
17 April 1985	Northampton Town	A	0–1	1,311
20 April 1985	Chester City	A	0–2	1,575
22 April 1985	Blackpool	H	1–1	3,725	Brown
27 April 1985	Halifax Town	H	3–1	2,029	Brown, Earle, Williams
4 May 1985	Darlington	A	1–1	3,565	Earle
6 May 1985	Colchester United	H	3–2	2,526	Brown, Kellock, Earle (pen)
10 May 1985	Scunthorpe United	A	3–3	1,867	Brown, Tartt, Williams

FA Cup

Main article: 1984–85 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	19 November 1984	Macclesfield Town	A	2–1	4,672	Brown, Earle
R2	7 December 1984	Scunthorpe United	H	4–1	4,268	Brown, O'Keefe (pen), Bromage, I.Griffiths
R3	5 January 1985	West Ham United	A	1–4	11,452	P.Griffiths

League Cup

Main article: 1984–85 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	28 August 1984	Bury	H	1–0	2,498	Earle
R1 2nd Leg	4 September 1984	Bury	A	1–2	2,257	Tartt
R2 1st Leg	24 September 1984	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–2	6,949	Brown
R2 2nd Leg	9 October 1984	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	0–0	5,964

League Trophy

Main article: 1984–85 Football League Trophy


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	29 January 1985	Northampton Town	H	1–1	1,386	Williams
R1 Replay	5 February 1985	Northampton Town	A	2–1	1,405	Earle (2)
R2	18 March 1985	Bristol City	A	1–2	3,635	Brown

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Barry Siddall	9	0	1	0	1	0	12	0
GK	Chris Pearce	36	0	2	0	3	0	43	0
GK	Karl Austin	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Phil Sproson	44	3	3	0	4	0	54	3
DF	Wayne Cegielski	8	0	1	0	1	0	10	0
DF	Alan Webb	46	0	3	0	4	0	56	0
DF	Wayne Ebanks	11	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
DF	Chris Banks	7	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
MF	Russell Bromage	37	1	3	1	4	0	46	2
MF	Terry Armstrong	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0
MF	Colin Tartt	12	1	0	0	3	1	15	2
MF	Geoff Hunter	42	2	3	0	3	0	51	2
MF	John Ridley	43	0	2	0	4	0	51	0
MF	Robbie Earle	46	15	3	1	4	1	56	19
MF	Tommy Gore	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Ray Walker	15	1	0	0	0	0	15	1
MF	Martyn Smith	13	1	0	0	3	0	17	1
MF	Adrian Reeves-Jones	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Billy Kellock	11	4	0	0	0	0	13	4
MF	Wayne Kerrins	8	0	0	0	0	0	8	0
MF	Paul Lodge	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Ian Griffiths	12	0	1	1	0	0	15	1
MF	Peter Griffiths	31	3	2	1	4	0	39	4
FW	Eamonn O'Keefe	22	7	3	1	1	0	27	8
FW	Oshor Williams	17	3	3	0	0	0	22	4
FW	Derek Monaghan	7	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
FW	Ally Brown	40	17	3	2	4	1	49	21
FW	Gary Brazil	6	3	0	0	0	0	6	3

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
Ally Brown	21
Robbie Earle	19
Eamonn O'Keefe	8
Billy Kellock	4
Oshor Williams
Peter Griffiths
Gary Brazil	3
Phil Sproson	3
Geoff Hunter	2
Colin Tartt
Russell Bromage
Ray Walker	1
Martyn Smith
Ian Griffiths

League

Scorer	Goals
Ally Brown	17
Robbie Earle	15
Eamonn O'Keefe	7
Billy Kellock	4
Oshor Williams	3
Peter Griffiths
Gary Brazil
Phil Sproson
Geoff Hunter	2
Ray Walker	1
Colin Tartt
Russell Bromage
Martyn Smith

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 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Kent, Jeff (1990). "From Rags to Riches (1979–1990)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 258–290. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
↑ Port Vale 1984–1985 : 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

1984–85 in English football

« 1983–84

1985–86 »

FA competitions

Football League

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Other

Club seasons

First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Chelsea Coventry City Everton Ipswich Town Leicester City Liverpool Luton Town Manchester United Newcastle United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Stoke City Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur Watford West Bromwich Albion West Ham United

Second Division	Barnsley Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Brighton & Hove Albion Cardiff City Carlisle United Charlton Athletic Crystal Palace Fulham Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Leeds United Manchester City Middlesbrough Notts County Oldham Athletic Oxford United Portsmouth Sheffield United Shrewsbury Town Wimbledon Wolverhampton Wanderers

Third Division	Bolton Wanderers Bournemouth Bradford City Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Cambridge United Derby County Doncaster Rovers Gillingham Hull City Leyton Orient Lincoln City Millwall Newport County Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Swansea City Walsall Wigan Athletic York City

Fourth Division	Aldershot Blackpool Bury Chester Chesterfield Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Darlington Exeter City Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hereford United Mansfield Town Northampton Town Peterborough United Port Vale Rochdale Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Swindon Town Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Wrexham

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