1920–21 Port Vale F.C. season

The 1920–21 season was Port Vale's second consecutive season of football (fifteenth overall) in the Football League.^[1] The season peaked early with a double victory in the league over rivals Stoke, however any sense of euphoria evaporated in February with the sale of star striker Bobby Blood. The club failed to find another reliable goalscorer until the arrival of Wilf Kirkham in 1923. The Vale finished at the bottom end of the table, though they did finish higher in the league than Stoke for the first time in their history.

Chairman Frank Huntbach.

Wing half Tom Holford was past 40 and still going strong.

The sale of Bobby Blood brought in £4,000.

Joe Brough, 34, was another veteran.

Billy Briscoe was a key player.

Overview

Second Division

During the pre-season, manager-secretary Joe Schofield stated that: "the future policy of Port Vale is to go ahead".^[1] He duly signed experienced full-back Bob Pursell, brother of Peter, from Liverpool.^[1] The capacity of The Old Recreation Ground was increased to 30,000; mainly due to the fund raising activities of the Supporters' Club.^[1] Of the 1919–20 squad, only William Aitken was let go, for a fee of £2,500 to Newcastle United.^[1] That money helped to pay for £400 Tom Page from St. Mirren, and right-half Freddy Price from Wolverhampton Wanderers.^[1]

The season started positively enough; a 2–0 win over new club Leeds United helped to establish a start of six points from the opening six games.^[1] On 25 September, the "Valiants" delighted their fans by recording their first league victory over rivals Stoke in 'a stirring duel' which ended 2–1.^[1] The following week they achieved the double over Stoke by recording a 1–0 victory at the Victoria Ground.^[1] This encouraged fans to travel in their numbers to see the team beat Nottingham Forest 4–1 at the City Ground.^[1] Injuries to Price and Brough then saw the team slump, and this continued when new signing, Manchester City goalkeeper Walter Smith was arrested for assault on the day of his debut.^[1] The arrest is likely to account for a majority of the six goals he conceded that day at South Shields.^[1] The side recovered to record heavy victories over Hull City and Stockport County, with Bobby Blood scoring six of the Vale's ten goals in the two games.^[1] Vale lost both their games to Bristol City, though Blood demonstrated his fearsome shooting power by blasting a penalty kick at City's keeper – the keeper saved the penalty to keep a clean sheet but broke his wrist in the process of saving the shot.^[1] Blood was sold to West Bromwich Albion for £4,000 in February – then a club record for both clubs.^[1] The effect on the pitch was telling, as Vale went on to record just two wins in their remaining sixteen games, with a meagre six goals scored.^[1] One of the victories was a 'flash in the pan' win over FA Cup semi-finalists Cardiff City, Cardiff fielded a weakened team and watched in bewilderment as Page scored the winning goal from the penalty spot, stubbing his foot in the process.^[1]

At the end of the season, Vale finished six points ahead of relegated Stockport County, but 22 points behind the promotion places. Only a handful of teams had lost fewer away matches than Vale, however Vale boasted fewer home wins than any other club in the league, and even with Blood in the side the club struggled to find goals.

A core of six players formed the spine of the team: Peter and Bob Pursell, with Tom Lyons in defence; Joe Brough at half-back; with Billy Briscoe and Tom Page in forward positions. Page contributed to the goals tally, but Blood was the sole hope in front of goal, racking up 20 goals in 25 league games before his transfer. In the addition to the Pursell brothers, Harry and John Johnstone also made sporadic appearances; in one match both the Pursell brothers and the Johnstone brothers took to the field.^[1]

Finances

The issue of finance reared its head in September with an appeal for greater support from chairman Frank Huntbach.^[1] The chairman emphasised the club's potential and pleaded for the remaining £4,500 worth of shares to be snapped up.^[1] The Pursell brothers were so affected by the speech that they each bought £5 worth of shares.^[1] The club later received a £70 boost when supporters bought copies of "The Port Vale War-Cry", though more significant was the elevated noise level as supporters sang the cry throughout matches.^[1] Vale's weather-conscious supporters would turn up in their number during sunshine, but were somewhat unreliable during the winter.^[1] The club were desperate to increase ground capacity but were already facing worrying financial times, despite the club debt falling to £800.^[1] Though the sale of Blood raised considerable funds, fans were outraged, especially as Schofield and the directors refused to comment on the issue – Blood was apparently told by the club that either "[he] went or the club".^[1] At the end of the season a £1,187 profit was recorded.^[1]

Cup competitions

The club failed to qualify for the FA Cup, losing their qualification match with league rivals Clapton Orient.^[1] The North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup went to Stoke, who claimed victory with a 5–3 win at The Old Recreation Ground.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GA	GD	Pts
1	Birmingham	42	16	4	1	55	13	8	6	7	24	25	79	38	2.079	+ 41	58
2	Cardiff City	42	13	5	3	27	9	11	5	5	32	23	59	32	1.844	+ 27	58
3	Bristol City	42	14	3	4	35	12	5	10	6	14	17	49	29	1.690	+ 20	51
4	Blackpool	42	12	3	6	32	19	8	7	6	22	23	54	42	1.286	+ 12	50
5	West Ham United	42	13	5	3	38	11	6	5	10	13	19	51	30	1.700	+ 19	48
6	Notts County	42	12	5	4	36	17	6	6	9	19	23	55	40	1.375	+ 15	47
7	Clapton Orient	42	13	6	2	31	9	3	7	11	12	33	43	42	1.024	+ 1	45
8	South Shields	42	13	4	4	41	16	4	6	11	20	30	61	46	.326	+ 15	44
9	Fulham	42	14	4	3	33	12	2	6	13	10	35	43	47	0.915	– 4	42
10	The Wednesday	42	9	7	5	31	14	6	4	11	17	34	48	48	1.000	± 0	41
11	Bury	42	10	8	3	29	13	5	2	14	16	36	45	49	0.918	– 4	40
12	Leicester City	42	10	8	3	26	11	2	8	11	13	35	39	46	0.848	– 7	40
13	Hull City	42	7	10	4	24	18	3	10	8	19	35	43	53	0.811	– 10	40
14	Leeds United	42	11	5	5	30	14	3	5	13	10	31	40	45	0.889	– 5	38
15	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42	11	4	6	34	24	5	2	14	15	42	49	66	0.742	– 17	38
16	Barnsley	42	9	10	2	31	17	1	6	14	17	33	48	50	0.960	– 12	36
17	Port Vale	42	7	6	8	28	19	4	8	9	15	30	43	49	0.878	– 6	36
18	Nottingham Forest	42	9	6	6	37	26	3	6	12	11	29	48	55	0.873	– 7	36
19	Rotherham County	42	8	9	4	23	21	4	3	14	14	32	37	53	0.698	– 16	36
20	Stoke	42	9	5	7	26	16	3	6	12	20	40	46	56	0.821	– 10	35
21	Coventry City	42	8	6	7	24	25	4	5	12	15	45	39	70	0.557	– 31	35
22	Stockport County	42	8	6	7	30	24	1	6	14	12	51	42	75	0.560	– 33	30

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

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
Ground	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	W	D	L	D	D	D	W	W	W	L	L	L	D	W	D	L	D	W	L	L	W	W	L	L	W	L	W	L	L	D	D	D	W	L	D	L	D	D	D	L	L	L
Position	1	3	10	10	8	11	10	5	4	5	10	13	15	11	10	10	12	9	12	15	14	11	13	13	12	15	12	14	15	15	15	16	11	13	12	13	17	15	14	15	15	17

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Second Division

Main article: 1920–21 Football League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
28 August 1920	Leeds United	H	2–0	15,000	Page, Blood
30 August 1920	Coventry City	A	0–0	20,000
4 September 1920	Leeds United	A	1–3	16,000	Blood
6 September 1920	Coventry City	H	0–0	12,000
11 September 1920	Rotherham County	H	1–1	20,000	Blood
18 September 1920	Rotherham County	A	1–1	12,000	Brough
25 September 1920	Stoke	H	2–1	20,000	Page, Briscoe
2 October 1920	Stoke	A	1–0	26,500	Blood
9 October 1920	Nottingham Forest	A	4–1	15,000	Blood (2), Page, Briscoe
16 October 1920	Nottingham Forest	H	0–1	17,000
23 October 1920	South Shields	A	1–6	18,000	Blood
30 October 1920	South Shields	H	0–2	15,000
6 November 1920	Hull City	A	1–1	12,000	Wootton
13 November 1920	Hull City	H	4–0	15,000	Blood (2 [1 pen]), Page, Price
20 November 1920	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–2	16,000	Blood (pen), Briscoe
27 November 1920	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–3	10,000	Fitchford, Blood (pen)
4 December 1920	Stockport County	A	0–0	8,000
11 December 1920	Stockport County	H	6–1	10,000	Blood (4 [1 pen]), Holford, Page
25 December 1920	Bristol City	H	0–2	16,000
27 December 1920	Bristol City	A	0–3	34,710
1 January 1921	Clapton Orient	H	4–0	12,000	Blood (2), Wootton, Page
15 January 1921	The Wednesday	H	1–0	12,000	Blood (pen)
22 January 1921	The Wednesday	A	0–1	20,000
29 January 1921	Bury	A	0–1	10,000
5 February 1921	Bury	H	3–0	12,000	Blood (2), Fitchford
12 February 1921	Notts County	H	1–2	16,000	Page
19 February 1921	Notts County	A	1–0	14,000	Page
26 February 1921	Blackpool	H	0–1	18,000
5 March 1921	Blackpool	A	0–1	7,000
12 March 1921	Leicester City	H	0–0	15,000
19 March 1921	Leicester City	A	0–0	15,000
25 March 1921	Barnsley	H	1–1	13,000	Fitchford
26 March 1921	Cardiff City	A	2–1	30,000	Cartledge, Page
28 March 1921	Barnsley	A	0–3	12,000
2 April 1921	Cardiff City	H	0–0	17,000
9 April 1921	Fulham	A	0–1	18,000
16 April 1921	Fulham	H	0–0	10,000
23 April 1921	West Ham United	A	1–1	20,000	Johnstone
25 April 1921	Clapton Orient	A	0–0	15,000
30 April 1921	West Ham United	H	1–2	12,000	Perry
2 May 1921	Birmingham	A	0–4	35,000
7 May 1921	Birmingham	H	0–2	10,000

FA Cup

Main article: 1920–21 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
6Q	18 December 1920	Clapton Orient	A	0–1	16,000

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Jonathan Hammond	4	0	0	0	4	0
GK	Walter Smith	28	0	1	0	29	0
GK	Alfred Bourne	10	0	0	0	11	0
DF	Peter Pursell	34	0	1	0	35	0
DF	Bob Pursell	38	0	1	0	39	0
DF	Tom Lyons	31	0	1	0	32	0
DF	Len Birks	1	0	0	0	2	0
MF	James Wootton	24	2	1	0	25	2
MF	Arthur McGarry	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Ernest Perry	18	1	0	0	19	1
MF	Tom Holford	23	1	1	0	25	1
MF	Joe Brough	31	1	1	0	33	1
MF	Billy Fitchford	25	3	0	0	25	3
MF	James Hill	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Frank Simon	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Freddy Price	19	1	0	0	19	1
MF	Arthur Poole	9	0	1	0	10	0
MF	Frank Newman	20	0	0	0	20	0
MF	Jack Mellor	9	0	0	0	9	0
MF	Harry Johnstone	8	1	0	0	8	1
MF	Ernest Collinge	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	F. Crook	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	A.G.Evans	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Billy Briscoe	35	3	1	0	37	5
FW	Bobby Blood	25	20	1	0	26	20
FW	William Wilson	2	0	0	0	2	0
FW	Tom Page	39	9	1	0	41	9
FW	Andrew Livingstone	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	John Johnstone	3	0	0	0	3	0
FW	Albert Hayes	1	0	0	0	2	1
FW	John Davis	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Frank Cartledge	14	1	0	0	14	1

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
Bobby Blood	20
Tom Page	9
Billy Briscoe	5
Billy Fitchford	3
James Wootton	2
Ernest Perry	1
Tom Holford
Joe Brough
Freddy Price
Harry Johnstone
Albert Hayes
Frank Cartledge

League

Scorer	Goals
Bobby Blood	20
Tom Page	9
Billy Briscoe	3
Billy Fitchford	3
James Wootton	2
Ernest Perry	1
Tom Holford
Joe Brough
Freddy Price
Harry Johnstone
Frank Cartledge

References

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 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 1920–1921 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

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

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

1920–21 in English football

« 1919–20

1921–22 »

FA competitions

FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds
Final)
FA Charity Shield

Football League

Third Division)

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Home Championship

Club seasons

First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bradford City Bradford Park Avenue Burnley Chelsea Derby County Everton Huddersfield Town Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Oldham Athletic Preston North End Sheffield United Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion

Second Division	Barnsley Birmingham Blackpool Bristol City Bury Cardiff City Clapton Orient Coventry City Fulham Hull City Leeds United Leicester City Nottingham Forest Notts County Port Vale Rotherham County South Shields Stockport County Stoke The Wednesday West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers

Third Division	Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol Rovers Crystal Palace Exeter City Gillingham Grimsby Town Luton Town Merthyr Town Millwall Newport County Northampton Town Norwich City Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Queens Park Rangers Reading Southampton Southend United Swansea Town Swindon Town Watford

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