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Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in EFL League One but will play in EFL League Two in the 2024–25 season after suffering relegation. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal. They have never played top-flight football, and hold the record for the most seasons in the English Football League (112) without reaching the first tier. After playing at the Athletic Ground in Cobridge and The Old Recreation Ground in Hanley, the club returned to Burslem when Vale Park was opened in 1950. Outside the ground is a statue to Roy Sproson, who played 842 competitive games for the club. The club's traditional rivals are Stoke City, and games between the two are known as the Potteries derby.
Bucknall is a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent in the county of Staffordshire.
George Arthur Bridgett was an English footballer who played most of his career, playing at outside left, for Sunderland and also made eleven appearances for England. He scored 116 goals in 347 league and cup games in ten seasons at Roker Park, after joining from Stoke in 1902. He later managed both South Shields and North Shields, before making an unlikely return to the Football League with Port Vale in 1923 after nine years without competitive football.
Thomas Holford was an English footballer who played for Stoke, Manchester City, Port Vale and the England national team. His primary position was wing-half, but over the course of his career he played in many different positions. He later managed Port Vale on two separate occasions, serving throughout World War I, before a three-year spell from 1932 to 1935. He also served the club for many years as a trainer and a scout. In 1924 he turned out for the Vale at the age of 46 years and 68 days, making him one of the oldest ever players in the English Football League.
Arthur Rowley was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Burslem Port Vale and Stoke, and in the Southern League with Bristol Rovers. He was the first player to score a goal straight from a direct free kick in the Football League.
Adrian Capes, was an English footballer. A forward, he scored a total of 135 goals in 340 league and FA Cup games in a 17-year career with Nottingham Forest, Burton Wanderers, Burton Swifts, Burslem Port Vale, and Stoke. He also played cricket for Staffordshire in the 1900 Minor Counties Cricket Championship. After retiring in 1911, he worked behind the scenes at Port Vale from 1911 to 1934. His brother, Arthur, was also a professional footballer.
Henry Cotton was an English footballer who played in goal for Nantwich, Burslem Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra, Wigan Town and Stoke in the 1900s.
Alfred Bourne (1894–1939) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Port Vale between 1919 and 1922.
Albert "Arthur" Hartshorne was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Burslem Port Vale and Stoke, and in the Southern League for Northampton Town and Southampton.
Alfred Josiah Edward Wood was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Burslem Port Vale, Derby County and Stoke. He helped Villa to finish second in the First Division in 1902–03, and helped Stoke to reach the FA Cup semi-finals in 1899.
Thomas Coxon was an English footballer who played in the English Football League for Burslem Port Vale, Stoke, Middlesbrough, Grimsby Town, and Leyton.
Walter Ernest Smith was an English football goalkeeper who played for Leicester Fosse and Manchester City before World War I, and played for Port Vale, Plymouth Argyle, and Grimsby Town after the war. He helped Manchester City to win the Second Division title in 1909–10.
Arthur Ford was an English footballer who played at inside-left for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Port Vale, and Northampton Town.
Arthur Prince was an English footballer who played on the left-wing in the Football League for Port Vale, Sheffield Wednesday, Hull City, Walsall, and Bristol Rovers. He helped Wednesday to win the Second Division title in 1925–26.
Arthur Martin McGarry (1898–1960) was an English footballer who played at right-half for Port Vale, Reading, and Rochdale.
William Twemlow was an English footballer who played in the English Football League for Port Vale and Stoke City. His brother Charlie was also a footballer.
The 1919–20 season was Port Vale's first season of football back in the English Football League. It was their first Football League season at The Old Recreation Ground, and their first season in which they were in the same division as rivals Stoke. The club were also referred to as "the Valiants" for the first time, a nickname coined by chairman Frank Huntbach.
The 1902–03 season was Burslem Port Vale's fifth consecutive season of football in the English Football League. Finishing in ninth place for the second time in three years, it would take just over two decades for the club to again reach the heights of a top ten second tier finish. Their success was down mainly due to their home form, and in fact a club record 29 away games without a win began on 17 January 1903. Adrian Capes would become the club's top scorer for the third-successive season.
The 1967–68 season was Port Vale's 56th season of football in the English Football League, and their third-successive season in the Fourth Division. A poor season saw them battle to mid-table in order to avoid the re-election zone. Yet it would be off-the-field developments that would worry Vale supporters the most. An FA/Football League Joint-Inquiry investigated the club as club officials were forced to admit several breaches of the rules in regard to payment of players. The result was expulsion from the League, however, before the start of the following season a vote of 39 to 9 allowed the club to be immediately readmitted to the competition. The whole saga was rather ironic, as the club re-entered the League in 1919 after Leeds City were expelled over illegal payments to their players. On the playing front it was the final season of both Harry Poole and Terry Miles' careers.
References
- ↑ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 37. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
- ↑ Arthur Bourne at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)