1939–40 Port Vale F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Port Vale 1939–40 Frank Huntbach Old Recreation Ground Football League Third Division South 22nd (1 point) – season abandoned Football League West League 8th (22 points) Football League War Cup Preliminary Round(eliminated by Walsall) Staffordshire Senior Cup First Round(eliminated by West Bromwich Albion) Jack Roberts (13) Jack Roberts (14) 6,000 vs. Everton, 6 April 1940 1,000 vs. New Brighton, 13 May 1940 2,568 6–1 vs. Crewe Alexandra, 21 October 1939 0–7 and 1–8 _white stripes _band_white ffffff ffffff ffffff 000000 000000 1938–39 The 1939–40 season was Port Vale's 34th season of football in the Football League, and second-successive season in the Third Division South.Kent Jeff The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale Witan Books 1990 151–171 Creating Sunshine from the Shadows (1939–1950) 0-9508981-4-7 After just two league matches — both victories — the outbreak of World War II on 1 September 1939 led to the immediate suspension and eventual cancellation of all competitive league football. These opening fixtures were expunged from the official records, ending any formal pursuit of promotion or league progression that year. With the abandonment of the official competition, Vale turned to regional wartime football, competing in the Football League West Regional League, where they finished 8th with 22 points. A 0–7 defeat and a 1–8 loss formed the season's heaviest reversals, while more encouraging results — such as competitive home performances—offered sporadic morale boosts in a difficult season context. Vale were also knocked out early in the Football League War Cup, exiting in the preliminary round following a defeat to Walsall. Though informal, the season served as a makeshift continuation for fans amid global upheaval. Jack Roberts emerged as the club's leading scorer, netting 13 league goals and 14 in all competitions across the wartime programme. He remained a key focal point in Vale’s working side, displaying consistent goal-scoring form despite the unsettled nature of the competition structure. Attendances were much reduced due to wartime restrictions: the highest gate of approximately 6,000 came against Everton on 6 April 1940, while the lowest dipped to around 1,000 for a visit by New Brighton on 13 May. The average attendance settled at just 2,568, reflecting the broader limitations of the period. Off the pitch, Port Vale faced severe financial and personnel strain. Most first-team players were unavailable, having joined the war effort, and the club struggled to field a competitive professional side. As a result, Vale often relied on youth and reserve players while managing across multiple local competitions. By the summer of 1940, financial pressures had escalated, with the club selling its Old Recreation Ground to the city council and operating in a precarious position for the duration of the war. Overview Having rebuilt the playing squad the previous season, the Port Vale management opted to supplement the relatively team with young signings; notable teenage arrivals were Scottish winger Murdoch Dickie from Crewe Alexandra and inside-forward Bert Flatley from York City. Ken Fish returned as an assistant trainer as well as a player, with the club deciding to do without a manager in favour of a selection committee. The squad consisted of 22 professionals, though both Roy Felton and Roger Whittle were absent on military training, as the club decided to save money by asking squad players to be versatile in their playing positions.Fielding Rob The 1939-40 Port Vale season preview https://www.onevalefan.co.uk/2025/01/the-1939-40-port-vale-season-preview/ 13 January 2025 onevalefan.co.uk 12 January 2025 A goalless draw on the opening day down at Brighton & Hove Albion was followed by a 1–0 home defeat to Exeter City. Still, match number three against Northampton Town was cancelled after war was declared and the government prohibited all sports gatherings. The Football League was formally cancelled, and the footballing authorities looked at alternative arrangements. Permission was granted for football to take place in Stoke-on-Trent and friendlies took place as during this time. The Football League eventually decided upon regional leagues and placed Vale in the West Region, alongside the big clubs from Liverpool and Manchester. Attendances were low, with only the fixtures with Manchester United and Everton breaking the 4,000 mark at the Old Recreation Ground. They managed to beat Everton 2–1 in front on a season-high crowd of around 6,000, and also managed to pick up a 1–1 draw with Liverpool in front of just 4,000 spectators at Anfield. Vale suffered heavy defeats at Old Trafford, the Victoria Ground and Maine Road, as well as at home to Liverpool, but managed to record doubles against both Crewe Alexandra and Tranmere Rovers. Despite fielding strong sides in the War Cup and Staffordshire Senior Cup they were eliminated in the opening rounds by Walsall and West Bromwich Albion respectively. Jack Roberts finished as top-scorer with 14 goals in all competitions. The club could not afford to continue fielding a professional team and so fielded just a junior side until the 1944–45 season despite still losing vast sums of money maintaining the Old Recreation Ground. Results Football League Third Division South 1939–40 Football League table b Round Ground A/H Result D/L Position 12/22 Points 1p/1p Home Away green2 Win yellow2 Draw red2 Loss green1 red1 StattoPort Vale 1939–1940 : Results & Fixtures . Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012. League table Third Division South y PTV Note: The Football League was cancelled after three matches. Results by matchday 1 26 August 1939 Brighton & Hove Albion 0–0 D Port Vale Goldstone Ground Hove 8,172 2 2 September 1939 Port Vale 0–1 L https://grecianarchive.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/5275 Exeter City Riley 40 Old Recreation Ground Hanley E.L. Davies 5,102 Football League West (War) League League table main WDL Q 2 y y PTV STK Stoke City LIV Liverpool EVE Everton MU Manchester United MC Manchester City WRE Wrexham NEW New Brighton PTV Port Vale CHE Chester CRE Crewe Alexandra SPC Stockport County TRA Tranmere Rovers 13 5 4 57 41 12 5 5 66 40 12 4 6 64 33 14 0 8 74 41 12 4 6 73 41 10 5 7 45 50 10 3 9 55 52 10 2 10 52 56 7 5 10 40 51 6 1 15 44 79 4 3 15 45 79 2 3 17 41 93 complete Results by matchday 1 21 October 1939 Port Vale 6–1 W Crewe Alexandra P.Griffiths Tunnicliffe Nolan Roberts Old Recreation Ground Hanley 2,100 2 28 October 1939 Liverpool 1–1 D https://www.11v11.com/matches/liverpool-v-port-vale-28-october-1939-293018/ Port Vale Balmer 15 Nolan Anfield Anfield 4,000 3 11 November 1939 Stockport County 2–1 L Port Vale P.Griffiths Edgeley Park Stockport 3,452 4 18 November 1939 Port Vale 6–2 W Tranmere Rovers H.Griffiths pen. pen. P.Griffiths Tunnicliffe Nolan Old Recreation Ground Hanley 1,745 5 25 November 1939 Manchester United 8–1 L Port Vale Wrigglesworth Asquith Pearson Smith Tunnicliffe Old Trafford Old Trafford 1,500 6 2 December 1939 14:30 GMT Port Vale 1–0 W https://www.wrexhamafcarchive.co.uk/matchdetails.php?id=4893 Wrexham Higgins 81 Old Recreation Ground Hanley F. Lee 1,456 7 9 December 1939 Everton 3–1 L Port Vale P.Griffiths Goodison Park Walton, Liverpool 1,000 8 6 January 1940 New Brighton 2–2 D Port Vale Tunnicliffe P.Griffiths Sandheys Park New Brighton, Merseyside 1,500 9 10 February 1940 Crewe Alexandra 1–3 W Port Vale Roberts Cumberlidge Gresty Road Crewe 800 10 24 February 1940 Port Vale 3–8 L https://www.11v11.com/matches/port-vale-v-liverpool-24-february-1940-293028/ Liverpool Sproson Roberts P.Griffiths Fagan pen. Liddell Tennant Van Den Berg Old Recreation Ground Hanley 2,039 11 2 March 1940 Chester 0–3 W Port Vale Higgins Roberts Tunnicliffe Sealand Road Chester 1,000 12 9 March 1940 Port Vale 6–2 W Stockport County Higgins Tunnicliffe P.Griffiths Roberts Old Recreation Ground Hanley 1,787 13 16 March 1940 Tranmere Rovers 1–5 W Port Vale Tunnicliffe Roberts Higgins Prenton Park Prenton 2,000 14 23 March 1940 Port Vale 1–3 L Manchester United Higgins McKay Pearson Old Recreation Ground Hanley 4,127 15 25 March 1940 Stoke City 5–1 L Port Vale Ormston Sale og. Roberts Victoria Ground Stoke-upon-Trent 9,450 16 30 March 1940 15:30 BST Wrexham 1–0 L https://www.wrexhamafcarchive.co.uk/matchdetails.php?id=4904 Port Vale Martin 60 Racecourse Ground Wrexham C. Fletcher 2,000 17 6 April 1940 Port Vale 2–1 W Everton Griffiths Higgins Old Recreation Ground Hanley 6,000 18 4 May 1940 Port Vale 3–1 W Chester Roberts Blunt Old Recreation Ground Hanley 1,170 19 6 May 1940 Port Vale 1–2 L Stoke City Roberts Steele Sale Old Recreation Ground Hanley 3,053 20 11 May 1940 Port Vale 2–5 L Manchester City Roberts Bellis Old Recreation Ground Hanley 1,242 21 13 May 1940 Port Vale 3–0 W New Brighton Triner Bellis Old Recreation Ground Hanley 1,000 22 18 May 1940 Manchester City 7–0 L Port Vale Maine Road Manchester 2,000 Football League (War) Cup Preliminary 13 April 1940 Port Vale 2–2 D Walsall H.Griffiths Roberts Old Recreation Ground Hanley 4,403 Replay 15 April 1940 Walsall 6–0 L Port Vale Fellows Park Walsall 883 Staffordshire Senior Cup 1R 4 November 1939 West Bromwich Albion 2–1 L Port Vale P.Griffiths The Hawthorns West Bromwich 2,000 Squad statistics Appearances and goals Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward Third Division South War League Cups GK ENG Arthur Jepson 2 0 21 0 3 0 GK ENG Jack Moore 0 0 1 0 0 0 FB ENG Jack Griffiths 0 0 1 0 0 0 FB ENG Jimmy Oakes 0 0 7 0 0 0 FB SCO Bob Pursell 0 0 13 0 2 0 FB ENG Johnny Rowe 2 0 15 0 3 0 FB ENG Charlie Scrimshaw 0 0 7 0 1 0 HB ENG Edwin Blunt 0 0 9 1 1 0 HB ENG Harry Griffiths 2 0 16 3 2 0 HB ENG George Hannah 2 0 3 0 0 0 HB ENG Fred Obrey 0 0 10 0 0 0 HB ENG Wilf Smith 2 0 22 0 3 0 FW ENG Alf Bellis 2 0 5 2 0 0 FW ENG Ronald Beresford 0 0 0 0 1 0 FW ENG Arthur Cumberlidge 2 0 15 1 2 0 FW RSA 1928 Ken Fish 0 0 0 0 0 0 FW ENG Bert Flatley 2 0 0 0 0 0 FW WAL 1807 Phil Griffiths 0 0 22 9 3 1 FW ENG Dennis Higgins 0 0 18 7 3 0 FW ENG George Morrey 0 0 1 0 0 0 FW ENG Jack Roberts 2 0 16 13 2 1 FW ENG John Sanderson 2 0 0 0 0 0 FW ENG Jess Sproson 0 0 4 1 0 0 FW ENG Don Triner 0 0 5 2 0 0 FW ENG Billy Tunnicliffe 0 0 17 10 3 0 FW ENG Harry Ware 0 0 6 0 2 0 |- |colspan="14"|Players who featured but departed the club during the season: FW SCO Murdoch Dickie 2 0 0 0 0 0 FW ENG Tom Nolan 0 0 8 3 1 0 |} Top scorers PlacePositionNationNameWest (War) LeagueWar CupStaffs CupTotal1FWEnglandJack Roberts1310142FWEnglandBilly Tunnicliffe100010–FWWales 1807Phil Griffiths901104FWEnglandDennis Higgins70075FWEnglandHarry Griffiths31046FWEnglandTom Nolan30037FWEnglandAlf Bellis2002–FWEnglandDon Triner20029HBEnglandEdwin Blunt1001–FWEnglandArthur Cumberlidge1001–DFEnglandJess Sproson1001–––Own goals0000TOTALS522155 Transfers Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. May 1939 FW ENG Murdoch Dickie Crewe Alexandra Free transfer Kent Jeff Port Vale Personalities Witan Books 1996 0-9529152-0-0 June 1939 FW ENG Bert Flatley York City Free transfer July 1939 FW RSA 1928 Ken Fish SUI Young Boys Free transfer October 1939 FW WAL 1807 Phil Griffiths Folkestone Free transfer Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. December 1939 FW ENG Murdoch Dickie Contract cancelled February 1940 FW ENG Tom Nolan Retired References Specific General Kent Jeff The Port Vale Record 1879-1993 Witan Books 1993 0-9508981-9-8 Category:Port Vale F.C. seasons Port Vale