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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.
William McFarlane was a footballer who played at inside-right for Burslem Port Vale in 1893.
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.
William Levi Draycott was an English footballer who played as a right half for Burslem Port Vale, Stoke, Burton Wanderers, Newton Heath, Bedminster, Bristol Rovers, Wellingborough, and Luton Town in the 1890s and early 1900s.
Harry Clement Croxton was an English footballer who played as a half-back. He made 206 appearances and scored 11 times for Burslem Port Vale in two spells from 1901 to 1911. He spent 1905 to 1908 at Stoke, making 24 league and cup appearances, scoring one goal.
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.
William Arthur Cope was an English footballer who played as a full-back. He played 287 league games in the Football League over a nineteen-year professional career.
William Saunders was a footballer who played as a goalkeeper in one game for Burslem Port Vale in January 1900.
William Elson was an English footballer. He played 241 games and scored 15 goals for Burslem Port Vale, however 114 of these games were friendlies.
William Delves was an English footballer who played at half-back for Burslem Port Vale between 1891 and 1893.
William Henry Bradbury (1884–1966) was an English footballer who played at half-back for Burslem Port Vale, Stoke, Aberdare, Oldham Athletic, Scunthorpe United, Rochdale and Burton Town.
Samuel Baddeley was an English footballer. A centre-half, he played for Burslem Port Vale in 1906–07, before switching to Stoke after Vale quit the Football League. Stoke also resigned, and he helped the club to two Southern Football League Division Two titles and one Birmingham & District League title. His brothers, Amos, George, and Tom were all professional footballers.
William Leech was an English footballer who played for Burslem Port Vale, Leicester Fosse, Plymouth Argyle, Stoke and Tottenham Hotspur. He made over 300 competitive appearances in a career lasting over 11 years. A left-half, his greatest achievement was to help Leicester to win promotion out of the Second Division in 1906–07.
Richard Danks was an English footballer who played as a forward for Wolverhampton Wanderers and 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 Edward Poulson was an English footballer. He was a one-club man for Port Vale, possibly also being one of its founders.
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 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.
References
- 1 2 3 4 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. p. 248. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
- ↑ William Rhodes at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)