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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. 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.
Joseph Turner was a professional footballer who played in the 1902 FA Cup final for Southampton. Southampton were a Southern League club at the time, and their feat was all the more remarkable in that they had already been losing finalists two years earlier. Turner missed the 1900 final and had also previously missed a crucial penalty when Southampton lost a semi final to Nottingham Forest in 1898.
Alfred Ernest Priest was a professional footballer from the North East of England who won the 1899 and 1902 FA Cup finals with Sheffield United.
William Edwin Beats was an England international footballer. A centre-forward, he scored 150 goals in 403 league games in a 16-year career from 1891 to 1907.
Croydon Common Football Club was an amateur and, later on, professional football club based in Croydon.
Thomas Baddeley was an England international footballer who played as a goalkeeper. In his playing career, Baddeley made over 350 league appearances, and also earned five caps. After starting his career in the English Football League with Burslem Port Vale, he spent 1896 to 1907 at Wolverhampton Wanderers, and then ended his career with spells at Bradford Park Avenue and Stoke.
Thomas Clare was an English international footballer, who played at right-back, and football manager.
Lucien Emile Boullemier was an English footballer and ceramic designer. A right-half, he played competitively for Stoke, Burslem Port Vale, Philadelphia Hibernian, Northampton Town, and Northern Nomads. He was the younger brother of Leon Boullemier, also an accomplished sportsman.
George Samuel Eccles was an English footballer who played at right-back in the Football League and Southern League for Burslem Port Vale, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Everton, Preston North End, West Ham United and Bolton Wanderers. He helped Bolton Wanderers to win promotion out of the Second Division in 1904–05.
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.
George Hulme was a footballer who played at full-back for Burslem Port Vale in the late 1890s.
William Spencer Rowley was an English footballer who played as goalkeeper for Stoke in the 1880s and 1890s, also making two appearances for England. He later became Stoke's manager between 1895 and 1897.
The 1895–96 season was Burslem Port Vale's fourth consecutive season of football in the English Football League. Another poor season struggling at the wrong end of the table, this time they failed to gain re-election; two seasons in the Midlands League followed, and despite a finish of 7th and then 5th they were re-elected back into the Football League for the expanded 1898–99 season.
The 1970–71 season was Port Vale's 59th season of football in the Football League, and their first season back in the Third Division following their promotion from the Fourth Division. Gordon Lee led his team to safety in the league, though Vale exited both cup competitions at the first stage.
John Henry Horton was an English footballer who played in the English Football League and the 1895 FA Cup final for West Bromwich Albion. He also played for Burslem Port Vale and Wednesbury Old Athletic. His brother Ezra was also a footballer, and was a teammate of many years at West Brom.
John Kay Horne, or Johnny Horne, was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Accrington, Windsor, Grimsby Town, Bury, Burslem Port Vale, Blackburn Rovers, Notts County, Burton Swifts, and Darwen. He kept goal for Blackburn as they won the 1890 FA Cup final.
The 1890–91 season was Burslem Port Vale's first season in the newly formed Midland League. They finished in eighth-place, having only picked up two points away from home. They failed to go on any cup runs and were in fact beaten by a club record 12–0 margin by Aston Villa in the Second Round of the Staffordshire Senior Cup. They did though share the North Staffordshire Challenge Cup after holding Stoke to a draw in the final.
The 1891–92 season was Burslem Port Vale's second-successive season in the Midland League. They managed to finish third in the table and were rewarded with a place in the Football League for the following season, justifying the club's decision to refuse to listen to offers for star forward Frank McGinnes. They also reached the semi-finals of the Staffordshire Senior Cup and won the North Staffordshire Challenge Cup, though exited the FA Cup and Birmingham Senior Cup at the first round.
The 1896–97 season was Burslem Port Vale's first season of football back in the Midland League following a four-season stay in the Football League. The first half of the season saw low crowds and poor results, the consequence of which led to discussions about dissolving the club. However, the club returned from the brink, as a new committee was formed, with Edward Oliver installed as chairman and Sam Gleaves appointed club secretary. Good results and large crowds followed in the second half of the campaign, and the club finished in seventh-place and narrowly missed out on re-election to the Football League. Vale were beaten by Football League opposition in the fifth qualification round in the FA Cup, whilst exiting the Birmingham Senior Cup, Staffordshire Senior Cup and Wellingborough Cup in the early stages, though they did beat Football League side Walsall in the latter competition. They won the Staffordshire Senior Charity Cup after beating Dresden United 3–0.
The 1897–98 season was Burslem Port Vale's second season of football in the Midland League. Their league form proved streaky, as they lost seven of their opening nine fixtures but recovered to post nine wins in 12 games from November to March, ending the campaign in fifth-place. However, they proved their worth in the cup competitions, particularly so in the FA Cup, beating Small Heath and eventual Football League First Division champions Sheffield United en route to the second round. In the Birmingham Senior Cup they took First Division side West Bromwich Albion to a second replay, whilst they beat Stoke in the semi-finals of the Staffordshire Senior Cup, losing out to West Bromwich Albion in the final. Their success earned them re-election back into the Football League.