1927–28 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale
1927–28 season
Chairman	Frank Huntbach
Manager	Joe Schofield
Stadium	Old Recreation Ground
Football League Second Division	9th (44 Points)
FA Cup	Fifth Round; (knocked out by Blackburn Rovers)
Top goalscorer	League: Wilf Kirkham (13); All: Wilf Kirkham (14)
Highest home attendance	21,071 vs. Stoke City, 17 March 1928
Lowest home attendance	5,371 vs. Blackpool, 14 April 1928
Average home league attendance	11,127
Biggest win	6–1 vs. Blackpool, 3 December 1927
Biggest defeat	0–4 (twice)
	Home colours
	Home colours

The 1927–28 season was Port Vale's ninth consecutive season of football (22nd overall) in the English Football League.^[1] Aiming to improve on the previous campaign’s mid-table finish, manager Joe Schofield guided the club to 8th place with 45 points – a modest improvement in both league position and total points. However, Wilf Kirkham's goal tally fell sharply from 41 to 14 goals, though he still ended the season as the club’s top scorer for the third year running.

The team were notably more consistent at the Old Recreation Ground, but continued to struggle away from home. The season consisted of alternating streaks of good and poor form. In the FA Cup, Vale were knocked out in the Third Round, losing to Blackburn Rovers. Financial issues again loomed in the background, with the club needing to raise funds to balance the books despite a respectable level of support from the fanbase.

For the third season running Billy Briscoe found himself battling against severe injury, this time he fractured a cheekbone but refused to leave the pitch for treatment.^[1]

Right-back Jack Maddock made 35 appearances and scored two penalties.

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw the players enjoy an outing at Rhyl, where "music and mirth held sway". The trip helped new signings Alf Bennett (Nottingham Forest), David Rollo (Blackburn Rovers), Alex Trotter (South Shields), and Robert Gillespie (Luton Town) settle in.^[1]

The season started terribly, with an opening day draw with Nottingham Forest and four consecutive defeats, including 4–0 losses at Bristol City and Preston North End.^[1] The team was changed around, with new signing Rollo dropped from the starting eleven; this helped the Vale to turn things around with convincing wins over Bristol City and Swansea.^[1] Billy Briscoe fractured his cheekbone against Bristol City, though he refused to leave the pitch for treatment. A third 4–0 away loss followed at Fulham, as did more injuries, along with cash offers from rival clubs for their best players.^[1] By mid-October, a settled side was formed, and the "Valiants" defeated derby rivals Stoke 2–0 in front of a record 31,493 crowd at the Victoria Ground.^[1] Going from strength to strength they travelled to Bloomfield Road and went from 1–0 down to 6–1 up within an amazing 25-minute spell.^[1] Three more victories followed until Christmas saw a downturn in form.^[1] Two runs of four straight wins were punctuated by a 3–0 defeat at Grimsby Town and a 1–1 draw with Chelsea. This run included a 6–1 win over Blackpool on 3 December when Vale scored all six goals in 25 minutes. A 4–1 win at home to West Bromwich Albion saw the team go into Christmas sixth in the table with three points to gain on the promotion places.^[1]

Five consecutive post-Christmas defeats to four promotion candidates ended the Vale's promotion campaign.^[1] Cosnecutive defeats to Leeds United also saw the team lose goalkeeper Alf Bennett to a fractured knuckle. In February, Wilf Kirkham was eventually rested, and replacement Stewart Littlewood bagged five in two games to end the run of poor results, including a hat-trick in a 4–1 win over Fulham.^[1] Littlewood had previously scored 70 goals for the reserves in just over a season and brought the necessary firepower to help the club surge up the league.^[1] Manager Schofield had something of a headache in choosing either the out-of-form legend Kirkham or consistent Littlewood and only added to the conundrum by signing Blackpool forward Bert Fishwick.^[1] Nobody managed to score in the 0–0 draw with Stoke City on 17 March, denying their promotion-chasing rivals an important second point. Following defeats to doomed South Shields and to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, they finished the season with six consecutive clean sheets, though they only won three of these games.^[1]

They finished in ninth place with 44 points, almost in the same spot they had finished in the past two seasons. The defence had tightened up, but the attack, especially top-scorer Kirkham, had been somewhat off the boil.^[1] This led to Jack Lowe, Sidney Blunt, and Alex Trotter all being handed free transfers; they left for Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town, and Manchester Central respectively.^[1] Meanwhile, back-up keepers Matthews and Holdcroft were also released, the former went to Halifax Town; however, the latter would eventually find himself an England international and FA Cup winner at Preston North End.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, the directors wished to leave the Old Recreation Ground for new and bigger stadia. However, attempts to move to the greyhound track at Sun Street were blocked by Stoke City, who claimed the Vale would be too close to them.^[1] Overall the club lost £1,051 on the season, with their income £1,155 lower than the previous campaign.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale breezed past league rivals Barnsley and Third Division North New Brighton with two 3–0 home victories.^[1] Yet they came unstuck at Ewood Park, First Division Blackburn Rovers won 2–1 and would go on to win the final.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
7	Oldham Athletic	42	19	8	15	75	51	1.471	46
8	West Bromwich Albion	42	17	12	13	90	70	1.286	46
9	Port Vale	42	18	8	16	68	57	1.193	44
10	Nottingham Forest	42	15	10	17	83	84	0.988	40
11	Grimsby Town	42	14	12	16	69	83	0.831	40

Source:

Results

Football League Second Division

Results by matchday

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A
Result	D	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	D	W	W	D	L	D	L	L	W	W	D	W	D	D
Position	6	17	18	18	21	18	16	18	16	17	16	13	12	12	13	13	11	9	7	6	8	8	11	13	13	12	9	10	11	10	8	8	9	9	12	12	12	10	9	9	9	9
Points	1	1	1	1	1	3	5	5	7	7	9	11	13	15	15	16	18	20	22	24	24	24	24	24	24	26	28	28	29	31	33	34	34	35	35	35	37	39	40	42	43	44

Source: Statto^[2]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

27 August 1927 1	Port Vale	2–2	Nottingham Forest	Hanley
	Lowe Briscoe			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 14,524

31 August 1927 2	Bristol City	4–0	Port Vale	Ashton Gate, Bristol
				Stadium: Ashton Gate Attendance: 20,305

3 September 1927 3	Manchester City	1–0	Port Vale	Manchester
				Stadium: Maine Road Attendance: 37,583

10 September 1927 4	Port Vale	1–2	Hull City	Hanley
	Kirkham			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 12,169

17 September 1927 5	Preston North End	4–0	Port Vale	Preston, Lancashire
				Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 18,127

19 September 1927 6	Port Vale	5–1	Bristol City	Hanley
	Kirkham Page Briscoe			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 11,319

24 September 1927 7	Port Vale	2–0	Swansea City	Hanley
	Kirkham			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 10,197

1 October 1927 8	Fulham	4–0	Port Vale	Fulham, West London
				Stadium: Craven Cottage Attendance: 10,560

8 October 1927 9	Port Vale	2–1	Barnsley	Hanley
	Simms			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 10,070

15 October 1927 10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	2–1	Port Vale
			Gillespie	Attendance: 18,026

22 October 1927 11	Notts County	2–4	Port Vale	Nottingham
			Kirkham Anstiss Trotter	Stadium: Meadow Lane Attendance: 9,053

29 October 1927 12	Port Vale	4–0	Southampton	Hanley
	Gillespie Trotter Kirkham			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 10,679

5 November 1927 13	Stoke City	0–2	Port Vale	Stoke-upon-Trent
			Anstiss Kirkham	Stadium: Victoria Ground Attendance: 31,493

12 November 1927 14	Port Vale	1–0	Oldham Athletic	Hanley
	Briscoe			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 10,000

19 November 1927 15	Grimsby Town	3–0	Port Vale	Cleethorpes
				Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 10,119

26 November 1927 16	Port Vale	1–1	Chelsea	Hanley
	Gillespie			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 14,115

3 December 1927 17	Blackpool	1–6	Port Vale	Blackpool
			Briscoe Page Anstiss Gillespie o.g. Kirkham	Stadium: Bloomfield Road Attendance: 7,662

10 December 1927 18	Port Vale	3–0	Reading	Hanley
	Briscoe Page Kirkham			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 8,556

17 December 1927 19	Clapton Orient	0–1	Port Vale	Leyton, East London
			Gillespie	Stadium: Lea Bridge Stadium Attendance: 9,287

24 December 1927 20	Port Vale	4–1	West Bromwich Albion	Hanley
	Simms Gillespie			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 8,216

26 December 1927 21	Port Vale	1–2	Leeds United	Hanley
	Simms			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 18,869

27 December 1927 22	Leeds United	3–0	Port Vale	Beeston, Leeds
				Stadium: Elland Road Attendance: 32,275

7 January 1928 23	Port Vale	1–2	Manchester City	Hanley
	Gillespie			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 14,310

21 January 1928 24	Hull City	1–0	Port Vale	Kingston upon Hull
				Stadium: Anlaby Road Attendance: 7,106

4 February 1928 25	Swansea City	2–0	Port Vale	Swansea
				Stadium: Vetch Field Attendance: 6,745

6 February 1928 26	Port Vale	2–0	Preston North End	Hanley
	Littlewood			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 9,492

11 February 1928 27	Port Vale	4–1	Fulham	Hanley
	Littlewood Page			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 7,530

20 February 1928 28	Barnsley	4–2	Port Vale	Barnsley
			Gillespie	Stadium: Oakwell Attendance: 5,423

25 February 1928 29	Port Vale	2–2	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Hanley
	Page Littlewood			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 11,358

3 March 1928 30	Port Vale	3–0	Notts County	Hanley
	Maddock pen' Gillespie Littlewood			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 9,664

10 March 1928 31	Southampton	1–3	Port Vale	Southampton
			Kirkham Trotter Jones	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 9,874

17 March 1928 32	Port Vale	0–0	Stoke City	Hanley
				Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 21,071

24 March 1928 33	Oldham Athletic	4–1	Port Vale	Oldham
			Simms	Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 11,809

31 March 1928 34	Port Vale	2–2	Grimsby Town	Hanley
	o.g. Simms			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 9,125

6 April 1928 35	Port Vale	2–3	South Shields	Hanley
	Page Simms			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 11,081

7 April 1928 36	Chelsea	1–0	Port Vale	Fulham, West London
				Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 39,278

9 April 1928 37	South Shields	0–1	Port Vale	South Shields
			Fishwick	Stadium: Horsley Hill Attendance: 4,444

14 April 1928 38	Port Vale	3–0	Blackpool	Hanley
	Connelly Gillespie Griffiths			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 5,371

21 April 1928 39	Reading	0–0	Port Vale	Reading, Berkshire
				Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 7,664

26 April 1928 40	Nottingham Forest	0–2	Port Vale	West Bridgford
			Page Kirkham	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 3,713

28 April 1928 41	Port Vale	0–0	Clapton Orient	Hanley
				Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 8,966

5 May 1928 42	West Bromwich Albion	0–0	Port Vale	West Bromwich
				Stadium: The Hawthorns Attendance: 9,217

FA Cup

14 January 1928 R3	Port Vale	3–0	Barnsley	Hanley
	Simms Page Maddock pen'			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 13,162

28 January 1928 R4	Port Vale	3–0	New Brighton	Hanley
	Page Kirkham Anstiss			Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 10,867

18 February 1928 R5	Blackburn Rovers	2–1	Port Vale	Blackburn
			Anstiss	Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 43,000

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	George Holdcroft	4	0	0	0	4	0
GK	Howard Matthews	14	0	2	0	16	0
GK	Alf Bennett	24	0	1	0	25	0
FB	Jimmy Oakes	38	0	3	0	41	0
FB	Jack Maddock	32	1	3	1	35	2
FB	Billy Wootton	12	0	0	0	12	0
HB	David Rollo	2	0	0	0	2	0
HB	Bob Connelly	42	1	3	0	45	1
HB	Roger Jones	8	1	0	0	8	1
HB	Herbert Smith	15	0	1	0	16	0
HB	George Whitcombe	14	0	0	0	14	0
HB	Vic Rouse	38	0	3	0	41	0
FW	Jack Lowe	9	1	0	0	9	1
FW	Jack Simms	22	9	2	1	24	10
FW	Phil Griffiths	11	1	0	0	11	1
FW	Bert Fishwick	9	1	0	0	9	1
FW	Alex Trotter	16	3	1	0	17	3
FW	Tom Page	33	8	3	2	36	10
FW	Wilf Kirkham	37	13	3	1	40	14
FW	Billy Briscoe	20	5	2	0	22	5
FW	Stewart Littlewood	6	7	0	0	7	7
FW	Harry Anstiss	29	3	3	2	32	5
FW	Robert Gillespie	23	12	2	0	25	12
FW	Sam Smith	4	0	0	0	4	0
FW	Charles Heinemann	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW	James Harkins	0	0	0	0	0	0

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Second Division	FA Cup	Total
1	FW	England	Wilf Kirkham	13	1	14
2	FW	England	Robert Gillespie	12	0	12
3	FW	England	Tom Page	8	2	10
–	FW	England	Jack Simms	9	1	10
5	FW	England	Stewart Littlewood	7	0	7
6	FW	England	Billy Briscoe	5	0	5
–	FW	England	Harry Anstiss	3	2	5
8	FW	England	Alex Trotter	3	0	3
9	FW	England	Jack Lowe	2	0	2
–	FB	England	Jack Maddock	1	1	2
11	HB	Scotland	Bob Connelly	1	0	1
–	FW	England	Bert Fishwick	1	0	1
–	FW	Wales	Phil Griffiths	1	0	1
–	HB	England	Roger Jones	0	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	2	0	2
			TOTALS	68	7	75

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
May 1927	GK	Alf Bennett	Nottingham Forest	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1927	FW	Robert Gillespie	Luton Town	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1927	FW	Sam Smith	Cardiff City	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1927	FW	Alex Trotter	South Shields	Free transfer	^[3]
June 1927	FB	George Shenton	Blythe Bridge	Free transfer	^[3]
August 1927	HB	David Rollo	Blackburn Rovers	Free transfer	^[3]
March 1928	FW	Bert Fishwick	Blackpool	Free transfer	^[3]
March 1928	FW	Frank Williams	Preston North End	Free transfer	^[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
May 1928	FW	Arthur Ecclestone		Released	^[3]
May 1928	GK	George Holdcroft	Darlington	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1928	FW	Jack Lowe	Oldham Athletic	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1928	GK	Howard Matthews	Halifax Town	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1928	FW	Sam Smith	Hull City	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1928	FW	Alex Trotter	Manchester Central	Free transfer	^[3]

References

Specific

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Kent, Jeff (1990). "Keeping in Good Company (1919-1929)". The Valiants' Years The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 98–123. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
^ Port Vale 1927–1928 : Results & Fixtures Archived 6 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

General

Kent, Jeff (1993). The Port Vale Record 1879-1993. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-9-8.

[Kent-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v Kent, Jeff (1990). "Keeping in Good Company (1919-1929)". The Valiants' Years The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 98–123. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.

[2] Port Vale 1927–1928 : Results & Fixtures Archived 6 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

[transfers-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

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