1923–24 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1923–24 season

Chairman

Sampson Walker

Manager

Joe Schofield

Stadium

The Old Recreation Ground

Football League Second Division

16th (38 Points)

FA Cup

Fifth Qualification Round

North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup

Runners-up

Top goalscorer

League: Billy Briscoe (10)
All: Billy Briscoe & Tom Page (10)

Highest home attendance

16,800 vs Stoke (13 October 1923)

Lowest home attendance

3,000 vs South Shields (21 January 1924)

Average home league attendance

8,489

Home colours

← 1922–23

1924–25 →

The 1923–24 season was Port Vale's fifth consecutive season of football (eighteenth overall) in the Football League.^[1] Another season of slow and steady progress saw the club finish one point, and one place higher than the previous campaign. The club still lacked a regular goalscorer since selling Bobby Blood, however Wilf Kirkham made his debut, and goals came from all across the team. A still-standing club record was set on 5 April 1924, when Tom Holford played against Derby County at the age of 46.

The most notable incident in the campaign was the death of Tom Butler on 11 November 1923; he died from complications of a broken arm that he picked up whilst playing for the club.

Tom Holford retired at the end of the season, at the age of 43.

Billy Briscoe spent six months at Congleton Town, before returning to Vale in January to become the club's top scorer.

New-signing Jack Maddock played 22 games.

Sunderland legend Arthur Bridgett ended his professional career with Vale in 1924.

Overview

Second Division

To strengthen the side, pre-season signings included: Stalybridge Celtic goalkeeper Tommy Lonsdale; Macclesfield Town 'penalty king' right-back Jack Maddock; Leeds United tough-tackling half-back Alf Dark; Bolton Wanderers winger Jack Lowe; Clyde's reliable forward Fred Howard; and Exeter City goal machine Harold Crockford.^[1] The kit for the season was picked – red jerseys with white shorts.^[1]

The season started positively, with two wins recorded, as well as a 14,000 home crowd. However a run of one point won in five games saw the club slump down the table.^[1] The arrival of Ireland international Louis Bookman for £250 from Luton Town couldn't reverse the side's fortunes.^[1] Their stats by the end of October were: played twelve, lost eight, failed to score in six.^[1] This miserable run included two defeats inflicted by rivals Stoke – the first time they had done the double over Vale in the league.^[1] Crockford agreed to have his contract cancelled, and talks began to try to re-sign Billy Briscoe.^[1] A young Wilf Kirkham made his debut against Leeds United, but failed to make much of an impact.^[1]

Their rotten form seemed to have been turned around when the "Valiants" earned a 1–1 draw with Clapton Orient on 3 November 1923.^[1] Tom Butler scored the goal, yet paid the ultimate price for his efforts.^[1] Near the end of the match he suffered a compound fracture in his left arm, and complications set in whilst he was at Hackney Hospital, causing septic poisoning; he died of lockjaw on 11 November.^[1] The club paid his widow the rest of his wages, and Stoke and numerous other clubs donated generously to provide the widow with a £700 benefit fund.^[1]

Back to football, and the club signed 41-year-old former England international Arthur Bridgett, despite the fact that he had spent several years in retirement.^[1] The winger impressed, and scored within ninety seconds of his debut.^[1] Later in the year Peter Pursell returned to the field for the first time in the season following an injury, and was like a new signing.^[1] Despite all this, Vale still suffered, and a heavy defeat at Old Trafford saw them stuck at the foot of the table.^[1] Turning to 1924, the Vale managed a run of six games unbeaten, and Briscoe was finally given his pay rise and so was re-signed from Congleton Town.^[1]

Despite Blackpool putting twelve past the Vale defence, the latter half of the season saw a massive improvement, as they lost just 6 of the 22 games. Briscoe and Kirkham provided the goals necessary to lift the club out of the relegation zone. On 5 April 1924, Tom Holford played against Derby County at the age of 46 – still a club record.^[1]

At the end of season, Vale finished in sixteenth place with 38 points, making it two seasons in a row in which the club bettered their previous season tally by one point and one place. Performing poorly at home, only bottom place Bristol City lost more home games, and only second-bottom Nelson conceded more at home. Vale were five points clear of relegation, but thirteen points off a promotion place.

Briscoe, Page, Kirkham, and Bridgett were the major goalscorers. Full-back Len Birks was an ever-present, and Tommy Lonsdale, Jack Hampson, and Jack Lowe were also key first team players. As well as the debut of Kirkham, Roger Jones also made his debut, starting his fourteen-year association with the club. At the end of the season the club let Peter Pursell leave for Wigan Borough, whereas Lonsdale and Hampson both retired due to injury.^[1]

Finances

Finances were once again worrying for the club and its supporters.^[1] A greatly reduced wage bill of £7,900 still necessitated fund raising activities from fans to keep the club alive.^[1] Arthur Prince was also sold to Sheffield Wednesday to raise cash.^[1] Season ticket prices ranged from £2 6s. 6d. to £3, 6s. 6d.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale drew Third Division North Wrexham at the Fifth Round of Qualifying for the second successive season, and another disappointing defeat followed, this time at the Racecourse Ground, with the Welsh club running out 5–1 winners. The North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup went to Stoke, who beat Vale 1–0 at The Old Recreation Ground.

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GA	GD	Pts
1	Leeds United	42	14	5	2	41	10	7	7	7	20	25	61	35	1.743	+ 26	54
2	Bury	42	15	5	1	42	7	6	4	11	21	28	63	35	1.800	+ 28	51
3	Derby County	42	15	4	2	52	15	6	5	10	23	27	75	42	1.786	+ 33	51
4	Blackpool	42	13	7	1	43	12	5	6	10	29	35	72	47	1.532	+ 25	49
5	Southampton	42	13	5	3	36	9	4	9	8	16	22	52	31	1.677	+ 21	48
6	Stoke	42	9	11	1	27	10	5	7	9	17	32	44	42	1.048	+ 2	46
7	Oldham Athletic	42	10	10	1	24	12	4	7	10	21	40	45	52	0.865	– 7	45
8	The Wednesday	42	15	5	1	42	9	1	7	13	12	42	54	51	1.059	+ 3	44
9	South Shields	42	13	5	3	34	16	4	5	12	15	34	49	50	0.980	– 1	44
10	Clapton Orient	42	11	7	3	27	10	3	8	10	13	26	40	36	1.111	+ 4	43
11	Barnsley	42	12	7	2	34	16	4	4	13	23	45	57	61	0.934	– 4	43
12	Leicester City	42	13	4	4	43	16	4	4	13	21	38	64	54	1.185	+ 10	42
13	Stockport County	42	10	7	4	32	21	3	9	9	12	31	44	52	0.846	– 8	42
14	Manchester United	42	10	7	4	37	15	3	7	11	15	29	52	44	1.182	+ 8	40
15	Crystal Palace	42	11	7	3	37	19	2	6	13	16	46	53	65	0.815	– 12	39
16	Port Vale	42	9	5	7	33	29	4	7	10	17	37	50	66	0.758	– 16	38
17	Hull City	42	8	7	6	32	23	2	10	9	14	28	46	51	0.902	– 5	37
18	Bradford City	42	8	7	6	24	21	3	8	10	11	27	35	48	0.729	– 13	37
19	Coventry City	42	9	6	6	34	23	2	7	12	18	45	52	68	0.765	– 16	35
20	Fulham	42	9	8	4	30	20	1	6	14	15	36	45	56	0.804	– 11	34
21	Nelson	42	8	8	5	32	31	2	5	14	8	43	40	74	0.541	– 34	33
22	Bristol City	42	5	8	8	19	26	2	7	12	13	39	32	65	0.492	– 33	29

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	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	A
Result	W	W	L	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	L	L	D	W	L	D	W	L	L	W	D	D	W	D	D	L	L	D	D	D	W	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	D	W	D	W
Position	3	1	9	11	12	14	18	14	16	17	21	21	21	21	21	21	21	22	22	22	21	21	21	21	20	20	20	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	19	19	18	18	16

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Second Division

Main article: 1923–24 Football League

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 August 1923	Crystal Palace	A	2–1	10,000	Crockford, Dark
27 August 1923	The Wednesday	H	2–0	14,000	Collinge, Crockford
1 September 1923	Crystal Palace	H	3–4	12,900	Howard (2 [1 pen]), Page
3 September 1923	The Wednesday	A	1–2	12,000	Lowe
8 September 1923	Stockport County	A	0–0	12,000
15 September 1923	Stockport County	H	0–1	11,000
22 September 1923	Leicester City	A	0–2	19,000
29 September 1923	Leicester City	H	2–1	6,400	Page, Connelly
6 October 1923	Stoke	A	0–1	21,685
13 October 1923	Stoke	H	2–4	16,800	Page, Butler
20 October 1923	Leeds United	H	0–1	9,300
27 October 1923	Leeds United	A	0–3	12,000
3 November 1923	Clapton Orient	A	1–1	15,000	Butler
10 November 1923	Clapton Orient	H	1–0	7,540	Bridgett
17 November 1923	Bradford City	A	0–2	7,500
24 November 1923	Bradford City	H	2–2	6,000	Connelly, Bridgett
8 December 1923	Barnsley	H	4–1	6,083	Page (2), Hampson, Bridgett
15 December 1923	Manchester United	H	0–1	7,500
22 December 1923	Manchester United	A	0–5	11,750
29 December 1923	Bury	H	2–1	8,348	Reid, Bridgett
1 January 1924	South Shields	A	3–3	10,000	Page, Bridgett, Reid
5 January 1924	Bury	A	0–0	10,000
19 January 1924	Coventry City	A	3–1	8,000	Bridgett (2), Kirkham
21 January 1924	South Shields	H	1–1	3,000	Hampson
26 January 1924	Coventry City	H	1–1	10,000	Lowe
2 February 1924	Barnsley	A	0–3	7,000
9 February 1924	Bristol City	H	0–2	6,000
13 February 1924	Bristol City	A	0–0	7,000
16 February 1924	Southampton	A	1–1	10,000	Briscoe
1 March 1924	Fulham	A	0–0	12,000
8 March 1924	Fulham	H	3–1	9,000	Kirkham (2), Briscoe
15 March 1924	Blackpool	H	2–6	11,700	Briscoe (2 [1 pen])
17 March 1924	Southampton	H	1–0	5,000	Kirkham
22 March 1924	Blackpool	A	1–6	10,000	Page
29 March 1924	Derby County	H	2–0	8,000	Maddock (pen), Briscoe
5 April 1924	Derby County	A	0–2	10,000
12 April 1924	Nelson	A	3–1	6,000	Page, Briscoe, Kirkham
18 April 1924	Oldham Athletic	A	0–2	11,000
19 April 1924	Nelson	H	0–0	8,000
21 April 1924	Oldham Athletic	H	3–0	6,000	Kirkham, Page, Briscoe
26 April 1924	Hull City	H	2–2	5,689	Briscoe, Kirkham
3 May 1924	Hull City	A	2–1	6,000	Briscoe (2)

FA Cup

Main article: 1923–24 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
5Q	1 December 1923	Wrexham	A	1–5	8,390	Page

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Robert Radford	3	0	0	0	3	0
GK	Tommy Lonsdale	31	0	0	0	31	0
GK	Sidney Brown	8	0	1	0	10	0
DF	Peter Pursell	24	0	0	0	25	0
DF	Len Birks	42	0	1	0	44	0
DF	Jimmy Oakes	2	0	0	0	2	0
DF	William Newton	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Jack Maddock	21	1	0	0	22	1
MF	Ernest Collinge	18	1	1	0	19	1
MF	Bob Connelly	24	2	0	0	25	2
MF	Jack Hampson	31	2	1	0	33	2
MF	Arthur Prince	27	0	0	0	28	0
MF	Tom Holford	2	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Roger Jones	1	0	1	0	2	0
MF	Jack Lowe	30	2	1	0	32	2
MF	Jack Mellor	6	0	0	0	6	0
MF	Tom Davis	14	0	0	0	14	0
MF	Alf Dark	25	1	1	0	26	1
MF	Louis Bookman	10	0	1	0	11	0
MF	Arthur Bridgett	14	7	1	0	15	7
MF	George Benson	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Harold Crockford	6	2	0	0	6	2
FW	Tom Page	37	9	1	1	39	10
FW	Albert Spencer	1	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Tom Reid	17	2	1	0	18	2
FW	Tom Butler	7	2	0	0	7	2
FW	Joe Pointon	6	0	0	0	6	0
FW	Fred Howard	12	2	0	0	12	2
FW	Wilf Kirkham	21	7	0	0	22	7
FW	Billy Briscoe	20	10	0	0	21	10

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
Tom Page	10
Billy Briscoe	10
Wilf Kirkham	7
Arthur Bridgett	7
Fred Howard	2
Tom Butler
Tom Reid
Harold Crockford
Jack Lowe
Jack Hampson
Bob Connelly
Jack Maddock	1
Ernest Collinge
Alf Dark

League

Scorer	Goals
Billy Briscoe	10
Tom Page	9
Wilf Kirkham	7
Arthur Bridgett	7
Fred Howard	2
Tom Butler
Tom Reid
Harold Crockford
Jack Lowe
Jack Hampson
Bob Connelly
Jack Maddock	1
Ernest Collinge
Alf Dark

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 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 1923–1924 : 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

1923–24 in English football

« 1922–23

1924–25 »

FA competitions

FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds
Final)
FA Charity Shield

Football League

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Home Championship

Club seasons

First Division

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Birmingham
Blackburn Rovers
Bolton Wanderers
Burnley
Cardiff City
Chelsea
Everton
Huddersfield Town
Liverpool
Manchester City
Middlesbrough
Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest
Notts County
Preston North End
Sheffield United
Sunderland
Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United

Second Division

Barnsley
Blackpool
Bradford City
Bristol City
Bury
Clapton Orient
Coventry City
Crystal Palace
Derby County
Fulham
Hull City
Leeds United
Leicester City
Manchester United
Nelson
Oldham Athletic
Port Vale
South Shields
Southampton
Stockport County
Stoke
The Wednesday

Third Division

North	Accrington Stanley Ashington Barrow Bradford Park Avenue Chesterfield Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Rovers Durham City Grimsby Town Halifax Town Hartlepools United Lincoln City New Brighton Rochdale Rotherham County Southport Tranmere Rovers Walsall Wigan Borough Wolverhampton Wanderers Wrexham

South	Aberdare Athletic Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Brentford Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol Rovers Charlton Athletic Exeter City Gillingham Luton Town Merthyr Town Millwall Newport County Northampton Town Norwich City Plymouth Argyle Portsmouth Queens Park Rangers Reading Southend United Swansea Town Swindon Town Watford

Other

Torquay United

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