1898–99 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

Burslem Port Vale
1898–99 season
Chairman Robert Audley
Manager Sam Gleaves
Stadium Athletic Ground
Football League Second Division 9th (39 Points)
FA Cup Fifth Qualifying Round
Staffordshire Senior Cup Semi-final
Birmingham Senior Cup Runners-up
Top goalscorer League: James Peake (11)
All: James Peake (17)
Highest home attendance 12,000 vs Manchester City (1 April 1899)
Lowest home attendance 1,000 vs Gainsborough Trinity (26 November 1898)
Average home attendance 4,500+
Home colours

The 1898–99 season was Burslem Port Vale's fifth season of football in the Football League; it followed a two season absence, which the club spent in the Midland Football League.[1] A solid return to the Football League, they finished in mid-table. They had the strongest defence in the division as they conceded less goals than any other team in the division. It was instead a lack of fire-power in front of goal that prevented a push for promotion.

Winning their opening six league games, just two points gained from their final five games ensured a top two position was out of their reach. Safety from the lottery of re-election was never in doubt though, as they finished nineteen points above the re-election places. Over the next eight seasons they never bettered their league finish of 1898–99, though they twice equalled it.

Contents

Overview

Second Division

Their FA Cup win over First Division champions Sheffield United in 1897–98 won Vale the respect (and votes) they needed to win re-election to the Football League for 1898–99.[1] To ensure a competitive campaign they signed striker Howard Harvey from Aston Villa for £50.[1] Winning their opening six league games, the semi-professional side conceded just one goal in this run. However Tommy Clare broke a leg at their final win of the streak of six, and their run ended at Newton Heath the following week – the team badly missed Clare.[1] Their fading hopes of promotion were bolstered by four wins in January, including a 6–1 win over Blackpool aided by a four goal haul from James Peake.[1] Yet they finished the season with two points from five games, dropping into ninth place – their lowest position all season.[1]

Of the two clubs that failed to gain re-election, Darwen, who picked up a League record eighteen consecutive defeats, played regional football for the rest of their existence; whereas Blackpool gained re-election at the end of the following season, and never lost their League status again.

Right-half Lucien Boullemier was an ever-present throughout the campaign, with goalkeeper Herbert Birchenough missing just one game.[1] Winger Billy Heames and forward Howard Harvey rarely missed a game between them.[1]

Finances

Financially, the club lost £300 over the season.[1]

Cup competitions

Defending champions of the Staffordshire Senior Cup, Vale reached the semi-final, where they lost 4–0 to Walsall in a replay.[1] In the Birmingham Senior Cup, they defeated Walsall in the semi-final, in a replay, going on to lose 4–0 to Aston Villa in the final.[1] In the FA Cup they were turned over 7–0 at Small Heath in the qualification rounds.[1]

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GA GD Pts
1 Manchester City 34 15 1 1 64 10 8 5 4 28 25 92 35 2.629 + 47 52
2 Glossop North End 34 12 1 4 48 13 8 5 4 28 25 76 38 2.000 + 38 46
3 Leicester Fosse 34 12 5 0 35 12 6 4 7 29 30 64 42 1.524 + 22 45
4 Newton Heath 34 12 4 1 51 14 7 1 9 16 29 67 43 1.558 + 24 43
5 New Brighton Tower 34 13 2 2 48 13 5 5 7 23 39 71 52 1.365 + 9 43
6 Walsall 34 12 5 0 64 11 3 7 7 15 25 79 36 2.194 + 43 42
7 Woolwich Arsenal 34 14 2 1 55 10 4 3 10 17 31 72 41 1.756 + 31 41
8 Small Heath 34 14 1 2 66 17 3 6 8 19 33 85 50 1.700 + 35 41
9 Burslem Port Vale 34 12 2 3 35 12 5 3 9 21 22 56 34 1.647 + 22 39
10 Grimsby Town 34 10 3 4 39 17 5 2 10 32 43 71 60 1.183 + 11 35
11 Barnsley 34 11 4 2 44 18 1 3 13 8 38 52 56 0.929 – 4 31
12 Lincoln City 34 10 5 2 31 16 2 2 13 20 40 51 56 0.911 – 5 31
13 Burton Swifts 34 7 5 5 35 25 3 3 11 16 45 51 70 0.729 – 19 28
14 Gainsborough Trinity 34 8 4 5 40 22 2 1 14 16 50 56 72 0.778 – 16 25
15 Luton Town 34 8 1 8 37 31 2 2 13 14 64 51 95 0.537 – 44 23
16 Blackpool 34 6 3 8 35 30 2 1 14 14 60 49 90 0.544 – 31 20
17 Loughborough 34 5 4 8 31 26 1 2 14 7 66 38 92 0.413 – 54 18
18 Darwen 34 2 4 11 16 32 0 1 16 6 109 22 141 0.156 – 119 9

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against;
GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Burslem Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Football League Second Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
3 September 1898 Barnsley H 2–0 4,000 Peake, Evans
5 September 1898 Woolwich Arsenal H 3–0 5,000 Evans (2), unknown
10 September 1898 Small Heath A 2–1 5,500 Evans, Peake
17 September 1898 Loughborough H 3–0 5,000 Peake (2), Simpson
24 September 1898 Blackpool A 4–0 1,000 Peake (2), Harvey, Beech
1 October 1898 Grimsby Town H 2–0 6,000 Simpson, Evans
8 October 1898 Newton Heath A 1–2 10,000 Simpson
15 October 1898 New Brighton Tower H 0–0 5,000
22 October 1898 Lincoln City A 0–1 4,000
5 November 1898 Luton Town A 1–0 2,000 Evans
12 November 1898 Leicester Fosse H 0–2 4,000
26 November 1898 Gainsborough Trinity H 2–1 1,000 Evans, Harvey
3 December 1898 Manchester City A 1–3 6,000 Peake
17 December 1898 Walsall A 1–1 3,000 Evans
24 December 1898 Burton Swifts H 4–1 2,000 Beckett (2), Harvey, Beech
31 December 1898 Barnsley A 1–2 1,000 Evans
2 January 1899 Darwen A 3–1 400 Harvey (2), Mitchell
7 January 1899 Small Heath H 1–0 5,000 Beckett
14 January 1899 Loughborough A 3–0 2,000 Evans, Harvey, Beckett
21 January 1899 Blackpool H 6–1 Peake (4), Beech, Beckett
28 January 1899 Burton Swifts A 0–2 500
4 February 1899 Newton Heath H 1–0 6,000 Belfield
11 February 1899 New Brighton Tower A 0–1 2,000
18 February 1899 Lincoln City H 2–1 3,000 Harvey, Beech
21 February 1899 Grimsby Town A 1–3 2,500 Beckett
25 February 1899 Woolwich Arsenal A 0–1 6,000
4 March 1899 Luton Town H 4–1 4,000 McDonald (3), Simpson
11 March 1899 Leicester Fosse A 1–1 9,000 Harvey
18 March 1899 Darwen H 3–1 Harvey, Beckett, McDonald
25 March 1899 Gainsborough Trinity A 2–3 Simpson, Beckett
1 April 1899 Manchester City H 1–1 12,000 Heames
3 April 1899 Glossop North End H 1–2 4,000 Beckett
8 April 1899 Glossop North End A 0–0 3,500
15 April 1899 Walsall H 0–1 1,500

FA Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
3Q 29 October 1898 Wellington Town H 5–0 1,000 Peake (2), Evans (2), Price
4Q 19 November 1898 Burton Wanderers H 3–0 1,500 Peake, Simpson, Harvey
5Q 10 December 1898 Small Heath A 0–7 7,000

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos. Name League FA Cup Total (+Senior Cup)
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK Herbert Birchenough 33 0 3 0 44 0
DF S.E. Bayley 3 0 0 0 3 0
DF Jim Beech 31 4 3 0 38 4
DF Lucien Boullemier 34 0 3 0 45 0
DF John Bowman 0 0 0 0 1 0
DF Tommy Clare 13 0 0 0 16 0
DF George Hulme 8 0 2 0 13 0
DF Tom McFarlane 22 0 1 0 27 0
DF Henry Platt 2 0 1 0 3 0
DF Thomas Spilsbury 15 0 2 0 21 1
DF Frank Stokes 3 0 0 0 5 0
MF Billy Heames 33 1 3 0 43 1
MF Charles Hodgkinson 6 0 0 0 10 0
MF Ted McDonald 30 4 2 0 39 7
FW Danny Simpson 17 5 2 1 22 7
FW George Price 0 0 1 1 1 1
FW James Peake 22 11 3 3 28 17
FW Frank Mitchell 4 1 1 0 8 2
FW Johnny Lander 16 0 1 0 22 0
FW Howard Harvey 32 9 2 1 41 13
FW Dick Evans 23 10 3 2 30 13
FW R.H. Capener 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW Fred Belfield 5 1 0 0 6 1
FW Ernest Beckett 21 9 0 0 26 9

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer Goals
James Peake 17
Howard Harvey 13
Dick Evans
Ernest Beckett 9
Ted McDonald 7
Danny Simpson
Jim Beech 4
Frank Mitchell 2
Billy Heames 1
Fred Belfield
George Price
Thomas Spilsbury

League

Scorer Goals
James Peake 11
Dick Evans 10
Ernest Beckett 9
Howard Harvey
Danny Simpson 5
Jim Beech 4
Ted McDonald
Billy Heames 1
Fred Belfield
Frank Mitchell

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kent, Jeff (1990). "The Hopeless Struggle (1898-1907)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 50–70. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.