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1917–18 Port Vale F.C. season

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Port Vale
1917–18 season
ChairmanFrank Huntbach
ManagerTom Holford
StadiumOld Recreation Ground
Football League Lancashire Section11th (26 points)
Lancashire Section Subsidiary Tournament4th (2 points)
Top goalscorerLeague: David Bowcock (7)
All: David Bowcock (7)
Highest home attendance10,000 vs. Stoke City, 29 September 1917
Lowest home attendance562 vs. Oldham Athletic, 1 December 1917
Average home league attendance3,507
Biggest win4–0 and 5–1
Biggest defeat0–7 vs. Everton, 9 March 1918

The 1917–18 season was Port Vale's second season of football after going into abeyance during World War I.[1] Improving on the previous season, they managed to finish in 11th-place. The team managed a run of just one defeat in 11 games, though ended the league campaign with six defeats in eight games.

Overview

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Port Vale had a difficult start to the season, losing key players to conscription and facing champions Liverpool home and away.[1] They led 2–0 at half-time in the season opener, though they ended the match with a 3–2 defeat and then were beaten 4–0 at Anfield.[1] They picked up a draw and win over Southport Central, but were beaten home and away by Potteries derby rivals Stoke; the home tie with Stoke saw a season-high crowd of 10,000.[1] A 5–2 win over Burnley, in which David Bowcock scored a hat-trick, was the first of a five-match unbeaten run, though they did draw the other four matches.[1] A 4–0 home defeat in which they were "outclassed" by Stockport County ruined this run before they put together another five-match unbeaten run.[1]

A 4–0 win over Blackpool on 26 January took Vale to seventh place. However, they then suffered poor form until the end of the campaign, picking up just three points from their remaining eight matches.[1] This poor run of defeats included a heavy 7–0 loss at Everton, though they were comforted by their £60 share of the 15,000 crowd.[1] They picked up an expected two points away with a 5–1 win at rock-bottom Blackburn Rovers but lost the final game of the season 2–0 at home to Rovers, which was only the away side's second victory of the season.[1] Around this time, club nicknames were becoming popular, and The Staffordshire Sentinel reporter "The Wanderer" suggested "the Colliers" in reference to local coal mines. However, the nickname failed to catch on.[1] They ended the season in a respectable 11th place; David Bowcock's seven goals made him top-scorer, as few attackers could play in half the club's matches.[1] The six-game Subsidiary Tournament was used as an exercise to blood young players. They lost five of their games in a difficult group of Manchester City, Manchester United and Stoke.[1] Despite low costs, the club announced a loss of £33 and the total debt reached £4,000, leaving directors grumbling about their financial responsibilities.[1]

Results

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Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

Football League Lancashire Section

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
10 Preston North End 30 12 3 15 38 53 0.717 27
11 Port Vale 30 9 8 13 47 58 0.810 26
12 Blackpool 30 10 5 15 46 70 0.657 25

Matches

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 September 1917 Liverpool H 2–3 4,000 Worthy (2)
8 September 1917 Liverpool A 0–4 12,000
15 September 1917 Southport Central H 1–1 Worthy
22 September 1917 Southport Central A 4–2 1,000 Lyons, Bowcock, A.Pearson, Edgeley
29 September 1917 Stoke H 0–2 10,000
6 October 1917 Stoke A 1–4 Hill
13 October 1917 Burnley H 5–2 poor Bowcock (3), Spooner, A.Pearson
20 October 1917 Burnley A 2–2 A.Pearson, Bowcock
27 October 1917 Manchester United A 3–3 7,000 Whittaker (2), A.Pearson
3 November 1917 Manchester United H 2–2 4,000 Edgeley, A.Pearson
10 November 1917 Stockport County A 2–2 2,000 Whittaker, Edgeley
17 November 1917 Stockport County H 0–4 3,000
24 November 1917 Oldham Athletic A 1–1 1,203 Hill
1 December 1917 Oldham Athletic H 2–0 562 Spooner, Malkin
8 December 1917 Bury A 2–0 2,000 Spooner, Whittaker
15 December 1917 Bury H 2–2 1,000 o.g., Whittaker
22 December 1917 Bolton Wanderers A 2–0 1,000 Bowcock (2)
29 December 1917 Bolton Wanderers H 1–2 few hundred Daley
5 January 1918 Preston North End A 0–1
12 January 1918 Preston North End H 3–0 Brennan (2), H.Pearson
19 January 1918 Blackpool A 1–0 7000 Rogers
26 January 1918 Blackpool H 4–0 Brennan (2), Rogers (2)
2 February 1918 Manchester City A 1–5 11,000 Hill
9 February 1918 Manchester City H 0–2 1,000
16 February 1918 Rochdale H 1–1 Brennan
23 February 1918 Rochdale A 0–2 2,000
2 March 1918 Everton H 0–1
9 March 1918 Everton A 0–7 15,000
16 March 1918 Blackburn Rovers A 5–1 100 Jolly (2), A.Pearson, Foster, J.Bennett
23 March 1918 Blackburn Rovers H 0–2

Lancashire Section Subsidiary Tournament

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League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
2 Manchester United 6 3 1 2 6 7 0.857 7
3 Stoke 6 2 2 2 10 5 2.000 6
4 Port Vale 6 1 0 5 4 15 0.267 2

Matches

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
29 March 1918 Stoke H 0–2
30 March 1918 Manchester City H 1–4 8,000 Brennan
1 April 1918 Stoke A 0–6
6 April 1918 Manchester City A 0–1 1,000
13 April 1918 Manchester United A 0–2 3,000
20 April 1918 Manchester United H 3–0 4,000 Foster (2), Daley

Player statistics

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Appearances and goals

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Pos. Name League Subsidiary Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Teddy Bateup 5 0 0 0 5 0
GK England John Powell 5 0 0 0 5 0
GK England Jonathan Hammond 20 0 5 0 25 0
DF England Jim Bennett 15 1 4 0 19 1
DF Scotland Jock Cameron 27 0 5 0 32 0
DF England Ted Collins 2 0 0 0 2 0
DF England John Griffiths 2 0 0 0 2 0
DF England George Holmes 13 0 4 0 17 0
DF England Willie Hawley 0 0 1 0 1 0
DF England Tom Lyons 30 1 4 0 34 1
DF England Harry Pearson 24 1 2 0 26 1
DF England B Phillips 14 0 0 0 14 0
DF England Bill Taylor 0 0 1 0 1 0
MF England G Arrowsmith 23 0 5 0 28 0
MF England Tom Holford 2 0 0 0 2 0
MF England George Shelton 2 0 0 0 2 0
MF England Billy Spooner 26 3 1 0 27 3
MF England Joe Daley 3 1 2 1 5 2
MF England Harold Edgeley 14 3 0 0 14 3
MF England James Hill 15 3 0 0 15 3
MF England J Lawton 3 0 0 0 3 0
MF England W Malkin 1 1 2 0 3 1
MF England W Pepper 1 0 1 0 2 0
MF England Herbert Bennett 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England Joe Brough 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England Jack Shelton 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England David Bowcock 10 7 0 0 10 7
FW England Tom Brennan 11 5 5 1 16 6
FW England Billy Briscoe 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England Jack Foster 5 1 4 2 9 3
FW England Jack Jolly 7 2 1 0 8 2
FW Scotland A MacKenzie 0 0 1 0 1 0
FW England G Maddock 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England Albert Pearson 28 6 5 0 33 6
FW England Arthur Rogers 6 3 3 0 6 3
FW England J Wellings 0 0 1 0 1 0
FW England Sam Whittaker 6 5 0 0 6 5
FW England S Worthy 5 3 0 0 5 3

Top scorers

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Place Position Nation Name League Subsidiary Total
1 FW  England David Bowcock 7 0 7
2 FW  England Albert Pearson 6 0 6
FW  England Tom Brennan 5 1 6
4 FW  England Sam Whittaker 5 0 5
5 FW  England S Worthy 3 0 3
MF  England Billy Spooner 3 0 3
MF  England Harold Edgeley 3 0 3
MF  England James Hill 3 0 3
FW  England Arthur Rogers 3 0 3
FW  England Jack Foster 1 2 3
11 FW  England Jack Jolly 2 0 2
MF  England Joe Daley 1 1 2
13 DF  England Jim Bennett 1 0 1
DF  England Tom Lyons 1 0 1
DF  England Harry Pearson 1 0 1
MF  England W Malkin 1 0 1
Own goals 1 0 1
TOTALS 47 4 51

Transfers

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Transfers in

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Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref.
1917 MF England Joe Daley Free transfer [2]
1917 MF England W Pepper Free transfer [2]
1917 FW England Arthur Rogers Free transfer [2]
Summer 1917 FW England David Bowcock Free transfer [2]
Summer 1917 MF England James Hill Free transfer [2]
Autumn 1917 MF England W Malkin Free transfer [2]
September 1917 DF England Harry Pearson Bury Free transfer [2]
November 1917 FW England Jack Foster Free transfer [2]
November 1917 MF England J Lawton Free transfer [2]
January 1918 FW England Billy Briscoe Leek United Free transfer [2]
February 1918 FW England Jack Jolly Free transfer [2]

Transfers out

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Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref.
1918 GK England Teddy Bateup Retired [2]
1918 MF England J Lawton Released [2]
1918 MF England W Pepper Released [2]
1918 FW England S Worthy Released [2]
April 1918 MF England W Malkin Released [2]
Summer 1918 DF England Jim Bennett Released [2]
Summer 1918 FW England Jack Jolly Released [2]

References

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Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Kent, Jeff (1990). "The Hard Road Back (1907–1919)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 71–97. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
General