1996–97 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1996–97 season

Chairman

Bill Bell

Manager

John Rudge

Stadium

Vale Park

Football League First Division

8th (67 Points)

Third Round

Third Round

Top goalscorer

League: Tony Naylor (17)
All: Tony Naylor (20)

Highest home attendance

15,186 vs. Bradford City (28 January 1997)

Lowest home attendance

3,505 vs. Carlisle United (17 September 1996)

Average home league attendance

7,840

Home colours

← 1995–96

1997–98 →

The 1996–97 season was Port Vale's eighty-fifth season of football in the Football League, and third successive season in the First Division. John Rudge led the club to its joint-second highest ever league finish, as Vale finished in eighth spot, four points from the play-offs. Vale exited both the FA Cup and the League Cup at the Third Round.

Overview

First Division

The pre-season saw John Rudge sign forward Justin O'Reilly from non-league Gresley Rovers for a £30,000 fee.

The season started poorly, with just two wins in the opening thirteen games, and protests began to develop against Chairman Bill Bell and his selling policy. A decent October, with wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux and Birmingham City at home, was followed by a winless November – in which midfielder Jan Jansson became the first Swede to play for the club, when he arrived on loan from IFK Norrköping. A run of four consecutive victories in December showed the squad's potential however. Tony Naylor put a hat-trick past Charlton Athletic at The Valley on 14 December, and the following week Vale pulled Norwich City apart in a 6–1 win, before the run was topped off with a 1–0 win over Manchester City in front of over 30,000 people at Maine Road. Meanwhile, O'Reilly was loaned out to Macclesfield Town to gain experience. Vale's form tailed off, and on 19 January they managed to go from 4–0 up against Queens Park Rangers at half-time to finish the game drawn 4–4.^[1] In February, Rudge spent £75,000 to bring Dutch midfielder Rogier Koordes in from Telstar. However he had to suffer the departure of winger Steve Guppy, who was sold to top-flight Leicester City for £850,000. Despite the loss, the "Valiants" marched on, as a late spurt of form saw them win four straight games to stand a great chance of reaching the play-offs with just three games to go. In April, Justin O'Reilly was moved on to Southport, having not appeared in the Vale first team. Rivals Stoke City managed to dampen Vale's hopes by easing to a 2–0 victory at the Victoria Ground. More damaging though was the defeat at home to Wolves and a final day draw with eventual play-off winners Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

They finished eighth with 67 points (a mere four points off Palace in the play-offs), representing their highest finish since 1933–34. They finished three points and four places higher than Stoke.

At the end of the season, legendary midfielder Ray Walker ended his nine years association with the club, becoming a player-coach with non-league Leek Town. Another popular player's Vale career was just starting however, with Jan Jansson signing permanently for a £200,000 fee.

Finances

The club's shirt sponsors were Tunstall Assurance.

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Premier League Blackburn Rovers proved to be too strong, as Vale left Ewood Park having suffered a 1–0 defeat.

In the League Cup, nearby Second Division side Crewe Alexandra lost 1–0 at Vale Park, before Vale blasted them away with a 5–1 win at Gresty Road. They then advanced past Third Division Carlisle United with a 3–2 aggregate victory. Pitted against Oxford United in the Third Round, a 2–0 defeat at the Manor Ground meant Vale were out of the competition.

Final league table

Main article: 1996–97 Football League

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1.	Bolton Wanderers	46	28	14	4	100	53	+47	98
2.	Barnsley	46	22	14	10	76	55	+21	80
3.	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	22	10	14	68	51	+17	76
4.	Ipswich Town	46	20	14	12	68	50	+18	74
5.	Sheffield United	46	20	13	13	75	52	+23	73
6.	Crystal Palace	46	19	14	13	78	48	+30	71
7.	Portsmouth	46	20	8	18	59	53	+6	68
8.	Port Vale	46	17	16	13	58	55	+3	67
9.	Queens Park Rangers	46	18	12	16	64	60	+4	66
10.	Birmingham City	46	17	15	14	52	48	+4	66
11.	Tranmere Rovers	46	17	14	15	63	56	+7	65
12.	Stoke City	46	18	10	18	51	57	-6	64
13.	Norwich City	46	17	12	17	63	68	-5	63
14.	Manchester City	46	17	10	19	59	60	-1	61
15.	Charlton Athletic	46	16	11	19	52	66	-14	59
16.	West Bromwich Albion	46	14	15	17	68	72	-4	57
17.	Oxford United	46	16	9	21	64	68	-4	57
18.	Reading	46	15	12	19	58	67	-9	57
19.	Swindon Town	46	15	9	22	52	71	-19	54
20.	Huddersfield Town	46	13	15	18	48	61	-13	54
21.	Bradford City	46	12	12	22	47	72	-25	48
22.	Grimsby Town	46	11	13	22	60	81	-21	46
23.	Oldham Athletic	46	10	13	23	51	66	-15	43
24.	Southend United	46	8	15	23	42	86	-44	39

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goals difference; Pts = Points

Results

Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

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	43	44	45	46
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	D	L	W	D	L	D	D	D	W	L	D	L	W	W	L	W	D	D	L	D	W	W	W	W	L	D	D	W	L	D	L	D	W	W	L	D	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	L	D
Position	10	16	18	13	12	17	19	18	19	14	15	17	20	15	11	13	12	10	11	14	16	15	12	9	8	9	10	11	7	8	8	12	10	9	7	9	8	8	8	6	5	5	5	6	8	8

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League First Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
17 August 1996	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–1	10,057	Naylor
24 August 1996	Swindon Town	A	1–1	8,706	McCarthy
27 August 1996	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–2	6,123
31 August 1996	Oxford United	H	2–0	6,016	Naylor, Mills
7 September 1996	Portsmouth	A	1–1	6,448	Porter
10 September 1996	Manchester City	H	0–2	10,770
14 September 1996	Grimsby Town	H	1–1	4,892	Hill
21 September 1996	Southend United	A	0–0	4,025
29 September 1996	Bradford City	A	1–1	4,706	Guppy
2 October 1996	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–1	8,727	Guppy, Naylor
5 October 1996	Oldham Athletic	A	0–3	6,051
13 October 1996	Stoke City	H	1–1	14,396	Mills
16 October 1996	Crystal Palace	H	0–2	4,522
19 October 1996	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–0	22,755	Naylor
26 October 1996	Huddersfield Town	A	1–0	11,017	McCarthy
29 October 1996	Barnsley	H	1–3	5,231	Guppy
2 November 1996	Birmingham City	H	3–0	8,388	Naylor (2), Guppy
9 November 1996	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	13,975	Guppy
16 November 1996	Sheffield United	H	0–0	8,352
23 November 1996	Ipswich Town	A	1–2	9,491	Naylor
30 November 1996	Huddersfield Town	H	0–0	6,026
7 December 1996	Reading	A	1–0	6,445	Talbot
14 December 1996	Charlton Athletic	A	3–1	10,003	Naylor (3)
21 December 1996	Norwich City	H	6–1	6,278	Talbot (2), Foyle (2), Porter, Mills
26 December 1996	Manchester City	A	1–0	30,344	Foyle
28 December 1996	Portsmouth	H	0–2	7,382
11 January 1997	Grimsby Town	A	1–1	3,863	Tankard
19 January 1997	Queens Park Rangers	H	4–4	5,736	Glover, Mills, Jansson, Brazier (og)
25 January 1997	Southend United	H	2–1	5,588	Guppy, McCarthy
28 January 1997	Bradford City	H	0–1	15,186
1 February 1997	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–2	8,093	Naylor (2)
8 February 1997	Barnsley	A	0–1	12,246
15 February 1997	Ipswich Town	H	2–2	6,115	Mills, Porter (pen)
23 February 1997	Birmingham City	A	2–1	13,192	Porter, Glover
1 March 1997	Reading	H	1–0	6,057	Naylor
4 March 1997	Sheffield United	A	0–3	14,950
8 March 1997	Norwich City	A	1–1	16,101	McCarthy
15 March 1997	Charlton Athletic	H	2–0	5,905	Mills (2)
18 March 1997	Bolton Wanderers	A	2–4	14,150	Bogie, Talbot
22 March 1997	Swindon Town	H	1–0	6,142	Mills
31 March 1997	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–1	7,469	Mills (2)
5 April 1997	Oxford United	A	2–0	7,370	Mills, Naylor
12 April 1997	Oldham Athletic	H	3–2	8,114	Naylor (2), Mills
20 April 1997	Stoke City	A	0–2	16,246
27 April 1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–2	13,615	Naylor
4 May 1997	Crystal Palace	A	1–1	16,401	Mills

FA Cup

Main article: 1996–97 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	4 January 1997	Blackburn Rovers	A	0–1	19,891

League Cup

Main article: 1996–97 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	20 August 1996	Crewe Alexandra	H	1–0	5,236	Naylor
R1 2nd Leg	3 September 1996	Crewe Alexandra	A	5–1	4,471	Bogie, McCarthy, Foyle, Naylor, Mills
R2 1st Leg	17 September 1996	Carlisle United	H	1–0	3,505	Naylor
R2 2nd Leg	24 September 1996	Carlisle United	A	2–2	5,545	McCarthy, Mills
R3 1st Leg	22 October 1996	Oxford United	H	0–0	4,942
R3 2nd Leg	5 November 1996	Oxford United	A	0–2	5,279

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Paul Musselwhite	33	0	1	0	2	0	36	0
GK	Arjan van Heusden	13	0	0	0	4	0	17	0
DF	Dean Glover	42	2	1	0	5	0	48	2
DF	Neil Aspin	33	0	1	0	4	0	38	0
DF	Allen Tankard	37	1	1	0	6	0	44	1
DF	Dean Stokes	10	0	1	0	0	0	11	0
DF	Jon McCarthy	45	4	1	0	6	2	52	6
DF	Andy Hill	38	1	0	0	5	0	43	1
DF	Jermaine Holwyn	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
DF	Gareth Griffiths	26	0	1	0	4	0	31	0
MF	Andy Porter	44	4	1	0	6	0	51	4
MF	Ray Walker	17	0	0	0	2	0	19	0
MF	Ian Bogie	31	1	1	0	4	0	36	1
MF	Wayne Corden	12	0	0	0	1	0	13	0
MF	Steve Guppy	34	6	1	0	5	0	40	6
MF	Stewart Talbot	34	4	0	0	2	0	36	4
MF	Rogier Koordes	13	0	0	0	0	0	13	0
MF	Jan Jansson	11	1	1	0	0	0	12	1
FW	Martin Foyle	37	3	1	0	5	1	43	4
FW	Lee Mills	35	13	0	0	6	2	41	15
FW	Tony Naylor	43	17	1	0	5	3	49	20
FW	Justin O'Reilly	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
Tony Naylor	20
Lee Mills	15
Steve Guppy	6
Jon McCarthy	6
Stewart Talbot	4
Andy Porter
Martin Foyle
Dean Glover	2
Allen Tankard	1
Andy Hill
Ian Bogie
Jan Jansson

League

Scorer	Goals
Tony Naylor	17
Lee Mills	13
Steve Guppy	6
Stewart Talbot	4
Andy Porter
Jon McCarthy
Martin Foyle	3
Dean Glover	2
Allen Tankard	1
Andy Hill
Ian Bogie
Jan Jansson

References

↑ Sherwin, Phil (2010). The Port Vale Miscellany. Brimscombe Port: The History Press. p. 103. ISBN 978-0-7524-5777-2.
↑ Port Vale 1996–1997 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

Soccerbase

Port Vale F.C. seasons

1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 99–1900

1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10

1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20

1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 99–2000

2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20

Port Vale Football Club

History Honours Managers Records Reserves & Youth Seasons

Grounds	Athletic Ground Old Recreation Ground Vale Park

Players	25+ appearances <25 appearances Player of the Year Winners

Matches	1989 Play-off Final 1993 League Trophy Final 1993 Play-off Final 1996 Anglo-Italian Final 2001 League Trophy Final Potteries derby

1996–97 in English football

« 1995–96

1997–98 »

FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Football Conference

Football Conference
Conference League Cup

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

1998 FIFA World Cup (UEFA Qualification Group 2)

Glenn Hoddle

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Chelsea Coventry City Derby County Everton Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wimbledon

First Division	Barnsley Birmingham City Bolton Wanderers Bradford City Charlton Athletic Crystal Palace Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Manchester City Norwich City Oldham Athletic Oxford United Portsmouth Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Sheffield United Southend United Stoke City Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackpool Bournemouth Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Bury Chesterfield Crewe Alexandra Gillingham Luton Town Millwall Notts County Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Stockport County Walsall Watford Wrexham Wycombe York City

Third Division	Barnet Brighton & Hove Albion Cambridge United Cardiff City Carlisle United Chester City Colchester United Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Fulham Hartlepool United Hereford United Hull City Leyton Orient Lincoln City Mansfield Town Northampton Town Rochdale Scarborough Scunthorpe United Swansea City Torquay United Wigan Athletic

Others	Newport Woking

Summer 1996 transfers
Winter 1996–97 transfers