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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 the only English Football League club not to be named after a settlement; their name being a reference to 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.
Meshach Dean was an English footballer who played for Burslem Port Vale in the 1890s.
C. McAlpine was a 19th-century footballer in England. He played 76 games for Burslem Port Vale, although 30 of those were friendlies, which were more prevalent in that era than today.
Daniel Robertson Ramsay was an English professional footballer who played in the English Football League for Stoke, Northwich Victoria and Burslem Port Vale. He played in Stoke's first ever Football league team.
John W. Smith was a 19th-century footballer.
Robert McCrindle was a Scottish footballer who played at centre-half for Burslem Port Vale and Luton Town in the 1890s. He played 183 games for Burslem Port Vale, scoring six goals, however 72 of these games were friendlies. He received a call-up to the Scotland national side in 1899, but was unable to play the game due to a fixture clash.
James Clutton was an English footballer. He made 92 appearances for Burslem Port Vale; 27 of these were friendlies, 29 were in the Football League and 22 in the Midland League.
Fred Farrington was an English footballer who played at half-back for Burslem Port Vale between 1888 and 1894. He served as club captain in the 1892–93 season.
Wallace Bliss was an English footballer. He was the first player to score a goal in the Football League for Burslem Port Vale.
Charles Garner was a footballer who played one game for Burslem Port Vale in December 1892.
Levi Higginson was a footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Burslem Port Vale in the early 1890s.
W. Jones was a footballer who played on the wing for Burslem Port Vale in the early 1890s.
W.E. Powell was a 19th-century footballer who played for Burslem Port Vale.
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.
William Reynolds was an English footballer who played as a centre-forward for Burslem Port Vale between 1882 and 1892.
Francis McGinnes was a Scottish footballer. He was described as 'the best centre-forward that ever left Scotland'. A prolific goalscorer, he was Burslem Port Vale's best player, but died suddenly just before they started their first season in the Football League in 1892–93.
The 1892–93 season was Burslem Port Vale's first season of football in the English Football League. The club were founding members of the Football League Second Division, the First Division having been in operation for four seasons prior to 1892–93. A learning curve for the club, it marked the first of four seasons of struggle in what was rapidly becoming the second tier of the strongest league in the world. This learning curve was punctuated by the biggest league defeat in the club's history, a 10–0 humiliation in a snowstorm at home to Sheffield United on 10 December 1892, still a Football League record for a home defeat.
The 1894–95 season was Burslem Port Vale's third consecutive season of football in the English Football League. The progress of the previous season was lost, as 19 of the 30 league games ended in defeat. Only nearby Crewe Alexandra finished below the Vale, however only Walsall Town Swifts failed to gain re-election – despite finishing two points ahead of Vale. As was the case in 1892–93, the Vale found great difficulty in scoring goals, with only Crewe scoring fewer.
George William Holmes was an English footballer who played as a defender for Burslem Port Vale, Merthyr Tydfil, The Wednesday and Wrexham.
References
- 1 2 3 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 88. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
- ↑ W. Downwood at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)