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James Scarratt was an English footballer who played on the wing for Burslem Port Vale in the early 1890s.
Meshach Dean was an English footballer who played for Burslem Port Vale in the 1890s.
William Henry Heames was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Burslem Port Vale and Stoke. A left-winger, he had an eleven-year career, scoring 28 goals in 249 games in all competitions. His sole honour was a Staffordshire Senior Cup win with Vale in 1898.
Edward McDonald was an English footballer who played at left half for Stoke, Burslem Port Vale, Notts County, and Portsmouth.
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.
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.
Thomas John "Spill" Spilsbury (1874–1947) was a footballer who played 57 games at left-back for Burslem Port Vale.
Levi Higginson was a footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Burslem Port Vale in the early 1890s.
Thomas J. Walker was a footballer who played on the right-wing for Burslem Port Vale and Burton Swifts in the 1890s.
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.
John Edward Evans, also known as "Jammer", was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Bury, Burslem Port Vale and Stoke.
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 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.
Port Vale Football Club, an English association football club based in the town of Burslem, in Stoke-on-Trent, was founded in the late 1870s. In the club's early history, there was no league football, so matches were arranged on an occasional basis, supplemented by cup competitions organised at both local and national level. The club changed its name to Burslem Port Vale in 1884. In 1888, Burslem Port Vale joined the Combination, a league set up to provide organised football for those clubs not invited to join the Football League which was to start the same year. However, the Combination was not well organised, and folded in April 1889 with many fixtures still outstanding. Burslem Port Vale were founder members of the Midland League in 1890, and two years later were elected to the newly formed Second Division of the Football League. They failed re-election in 1896 and spent two seasons in the Midland League, before winning re-election back into the Football League Second Division. However they continued to struggle and folded in 1907. At this stage, North Staffordshire Church League champions Cobridge Church sought permission from the Football Association to change the club's name to Port Vale and bought the old club's ground. This was the start of a 12-year process that saw the newly formed club work its way through the North Staffordshire Federation League, North Staffordshire & District League and The Central League, to secure election into the Football League in October 1919. The club have remained in the Football League since that time, winning the Third Division North in 1929–30 and 1953–54 seasons and the Fourth Division title in 1958–59.