William Henry Meredith was a Welsh professional footballer. He was considered one of the early superstars of football due to his performances, notably for Manchester City and Manchester United. He won each domestic trophy in the English football league and gained 48 caps for Wales, for whom he scored 11 goals and won two British Home Championship titles. His favoured position was outside right, and his key skills were dribbling, passing, crossing and shooting. A dedicated and extremely fit professional, his habit of chewing on a toothpick during games made him instantly recognisable.
James Ernest Mangnall was an English football manager who started his career with Burnley and managed Manchester United between 1903–1912 and then went on to manage Manchester City from 1912–1924, and is the only man to have managed both clubs.
Harold James Halse was an English football forward, who played most of his career for Manchester United and then for Chelsea. He was the first player to appear in three FA Cup finals for three clubs. He is also the highest scoring player in a Charity Shield match, having scored six goals in the 1911 edition for Manchester United.
Colin John Gibson is an English former footballer. He was an attacking left back who could also play in midfield. In a 17-year career, he scored 34 goals in 448 league and cup appearances, and also won caps for the England under-21 and England B teams.
Alan Arthur Oakes is an English former footballer who holds Manchester City's all-time record for appearances. A midfielder, in total he played 776 the Football League matches – the tenth most in history. He is a cousin of former teammate Glyn Pardoe, an uncle of defender Chris Blackburn, and the father of former goalkeeper Michael Oakes.
Raymond Jack Graydon is an English former footballer and manager. In a 16-year professional career in the English Football League and North American Soccer League he scored 139 goals in 484 league and cup appearances.
Joseph Smith was an English professional football player and manager. He is eleventh in the list of England's top-flight goal scorers with 243 league goals to his name. He was manager of Blackpool for 23 years and guided them to victory in the 1953 FA Cup Final, the only time they have won the competition since their 1887 inception.
Albert Arthur Gosnell was an England international footballer who played in two FA Cup finals for Newcastle United in the early 20th century and later managed Norwich City.
Robert McNeal was an English footballer who played as a left-half. Despite his career running through World War I he managed nearly 400 appearances in the Football League for West Bromwich Albion, playing in some of the most successful seasons in the club's history. He won the Second Division (1910–11), First Division (1919–20), and Charity Shield (1920), and played in the 1912 FA Cup Final.
Milija Anthony Aleksic was an English football goalkeeper who made 138 league appearances in the Football League.
Roy Thomas Pritchard was an English footballer who played 247 league games at full back in the Football League for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Aston Villa, Notts County, and Port Vale. He also played war-time football for Wolves, Mansfield Town, Notts County, Swindon Town and Walsall, and later played Southern League football for Wellington Town. He won the Fourth Division title with Port Vale in 1958–59, and won both the FA Cup with Wolves in 1949, as well as the First Division title in 1953–54.
William Howard Matthews was an English football goalkeeper who played for Port Vale, Burton United, Oldham Athletic, Halifax Town, Chester, and Oswestry Town. With Oldham he finished second in the Second Division in 1909–10 and then second in the First Division in 1914–15.
Joseph Brough was an English footballer. He was also an accomplished cycler and sprinter.
John Hampson was a Welsh footballer who played for Oswestry Town, Northampton Town, Leeds City, Aston Villa, and Port Vale.
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.
Robert Edwin Firth was an English footballer who played for Birmingham, Wellington Town, Nottingham Forest, Port Vale, and Southend United. He scored 22 goals from 242 appearances in the Football League. He later coached Spanish La Liga teams Racing de Santander and Real Madrid, leading Santander to a second-place finish in 1930–31 and Madrid to two Campeonato Regional Centro titles and to a first-place finish in La Liga in 1932–33 and a second-place finish in 1933–34.
Frank Cannon was an English footballer who played at inside-right. He played for Hitchin Town, Queen's Park Rangers, West Ham United, New Brompton, and Port Vale. He helped QPR to the Southern League title in 1907–08, and scored in the FA Charity Shield defeat in 1908. He later won the Staffordshire Senior Cup and Birmingham Senior Cup with Port Vale. He was killed in action during World War I, at the age of 27.
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 1898–99 season was Burslem Port Vale's fifth season of football in the English Football League; it followed a two-season absence, which the club spent in the Midland Football League. A solid return to the Football League, they finished in mid-table. They had the strongest defence in the division as they conceded less goals than any other team in the division. It was instead a lack of firepower in front of goal that prevented a push for promotion.
