1916–17 Port Vale F.C. season

March 2015 March 2015 Port Vale 1916–17 Tom Holford Frank Huntbach Old Recreation Ground Football League Lancashire Section 15th (21 points) Lancashire Section Subsidiary Tournament 3rd (5 points) Jack Needham (10) Jack Needham (12) 12,000 vs. Stoke, 7 April 1917 2,017 vs. Oldham Athletic, 25 November 1917 5,386 11–1 vs. Blackpool, 18 November 1916 0–4 (twice), 1–5 and 2–6 1917–18 The 1916–17 season was Port Vale's first season of football after going into abeyance during World War I.Kent Jeff The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale Witan Books 1990 71–97 The Hard Road Back (1907–1919) 0-9508981-4-7 They competed in the Football League Lancashire Section (Northern Group Principal Competition) under manager-secretary Tom Holford and chairman Frank Huntbach, at the Old Recreation Ground. In their World War I campaign, the club finished 15th with 21 points from 30 matches (7 wins, 7 draws, 16 losses), scoring 50 goals and conceding 60. Vale's cup form was modest: they placed 3rd in the Lancashire Section subsidiary tournament (5 points), and did not feature in national cup competitions. Their season was highlighted by an extraordinary 11–1 home victory over Blackpool — the club's largest winning margin of the era — while they suffered several heavy losses. Forward Jack Needham led the scoring charts, topping both league and seasonal tallies with 10 league goals and 12 in all competitions. Attendance figures varied significantly: a season-high crowd of 12,000 watched Vale face Potteries derby rivals Stoke on 7 April 1917, while the average attendance was approximately 5,386. Overall, the 1916–17 campaign represented a transitional period for Port Vale, balancing the resumption of competitive football with the challenges of wartime rebuilding amid fierce regional competition. Overview Following a year in effective hibernation, the club reinstated first-team football after chairman Frank Huntbach "realised that the war workers needed recreation as much as ever and as long as the players were men working for the war effort, no harm could be done". The club was fortunate to gain admittance to the Football League's Lancashire Region, allowing them to compete with clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester City and Preston North End. Manager Tom Holford re-signed Teddy Bateup, Edgar Bentley, Jim Bennett, Jack Shelton, Joe Brough and Jock Cameron to give some continuation of the team that had competed well in The Central League. However, attempts to re-sign former top-scorer Chris Young failed as he opted to stay with Grimsby Town. Vale started the league campaign well with a 2–2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford and a 0–0 draw with Liverpool at the Old Recreation Ground. The squad was boosted by the arrivals of Ted Collins and Jack Needham, who signed after their club Wolverhampton Wanderers shut down operations. The pair "showed their true regard for the game" by turning up to play Stockport County on 16 September despite working until 6 am earlier that day; however, former Valeite Bob Suart inspired County to a 5–3 win. Two more draws followed, including a 0–0 draw at Stoke, though this was then followed by five defeats in six games. The 13th game of the campaign proved unlucky for visitors Blackpool, as Vale recorded their first victory by a remarkable 11–1 scoreline, with Jack Needham, Holford, James Wootton, Albert Broadhurst and George Shelton all claiming two goals each, supplemented by a single strike for Albert Groves. They then beat Oldham Athletic 4–0, before dropping into a losing streak of seven defeats in nine games to prove the Blackpool result as an anomaly as the club dropped to last place. They recovered to lose only three of their final eight games, though the final day victory over Manchester United proved "a farce" as the visitors only turned up with four players and had to loan the other seven to make up a full team. Vale finished in 15th place with 21 points from 30 games, whilst Needham finished as the top-scorer with ten goals. A six-match Subsidiary Tournament concluded the season, with the Vale going unbeaten at home against Stoke, Manchester City and Manchester United. They recorded a 3–2 victory over Stoke and beat United 5–2 after being helped by guest player Billy Meredith. The club's annual meeting revealed a profit of £692 as the gate receipts of £2,582 were well above the playing wages of £649. Wartime football was profitable but had its unique challenges, with Holdford, Brough, Needham, Bentley and Jack Shelton all needing replacing at the end of the season as they were conscripted. Results WinDrawLoss Football League Lancashire Section League table main WDL Q 2 y y PTV 14 OLD Oldham Athletic PTV Port Vale BLP Blackpool 8 6 16 36 65 7 7 16 50 60 6 7 17 44 80 complete Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Matches 1 2 September 1916 Manchester United 2–2 D Burslem Port Vale Woodcock Colclough Brough Old Trafford Old Trafford 5,000 2 9 September 1916 Burslem Port Vale 0–0 D https://www.11v11.com/matches/port-vale-v-liverpool-09-september-1916-292750/ Liverpool Old Recreation Ground Hanley 6,000 3 16 September 1916 Stockport County 5–3 L Burslem Port Vale Needham Brough Bentley (pen) Edgeley Park Stockport 3,000 4 23 September 1916 Burslem Port Vale 2–2 D Bury G.Shelton Brough Old Recreation Ground Hanley 5,000 5 30 September 1916 Stoke 0–0 D Burslem Port Vale Victoria Ground Stoke-upon-Trent very large 6 7 October 1916 Burslem Port Vale 1–3 L Southport Central Needham Old Recreation Ground Hanley 4,000 7 14 October 1916 Blackburn Rovers 4–0 L Burslem Port Vale Ewood Park Blackburn 3,000 8 21 October 1916 Burslem Port Vale 0–1 L Manchester City P. Fairclough Old Recreation Ground Hanley 6,000 9 28 October 1916 Everton 3–1 L Burslem Port Vale G.Shelton Goodison Park Walton, Liverpool 10 4 November 1916 Burslem Port Vale 1–1 D Rochdale G.Shelton Old Recreation Ground Hanley 11 11 November 1916 Bolton Wanderers 3–2 L Burslem Port Vale Colclough Leese Burnden Park Bolton 3,176 12 18 November 1916 Burslem Port Vale 11–1 W Blackpool Needham Holford Wootton Broadhurst G.Shelton Groves Old Recreation Ground Hanley 13 25 November 1916 Burslem Port Vale 4–0 W Oldham Athletic G.Shelton Wootton Needham Old Recreation Ground Hanley 2,017 14 2 December 1916 Preston North End 2–1 L Burslem Port Vale Groves Deepdale Preston, Lancashire 15 9 December 1916 Burslem Port Vale 2–6 L Burnley Colclough Wootton Old Recreation Ground Hanley 4,000 16 23 December 1916 Liverpool 5–1 L https://www.11v11.com/matches/liverpool-v-port-vale-23-december-1916-292765/ Burslem Port Vale Bennett 4 12 30 49 MacKinlay 47 Colclough Anfield Liverpool 2,000 17 30 December 1916 Burslem Port Vale 1–2 L Stockport County Holford Old Recreation Ground Hanley 18 6 January 1917 Bury 1–3 W Burslem Port Vale Griffiths Needham Gigg Lane Bury, Greater Manchester 1,000 19 13 January 1917 Burslem Port Vale 1–2 L Stoke Griffiths Whittingham Harrison Old Recreation Ground Hanley 10,000 20 20 January 1917 Southport Central 3–1 L Burslem Port Vale Bentley (pen) Ash Lane Southport 500 21 27 January 1917 Burslem Port Vale 3–1 W Blackburn Rovers Needham Old Recreation Ground Hanley 22 3 February 1917 Manchester City 2–0 L Burslem Port Vale Barnes Hyde Road Gorton 6,000 23 10 February 1917 Burslem Port Vale 1–1 D Everton Lockett Old Recreation Ground Hanley 24 17 February 1917 Rochdale 1–3 W Burslem Port Vale Lockett Bentley (pen) Spotland Stadium Rochdale 1,000 25 24 February 1917 Burslem Port Vale 2–0 W Bolton Wanderers Needham Bentley (pen) Old Recreation Ground Hanley 5,000 26 3 March 1917 Blackpool 4–0 L Burslem Port Vale Bloomfield Road Blackpool 2,000 27 10 March 1917 Oldham Athletic 3–0 L Burslem Port Vale Boundary Park Oldham 1,572 28 17 March 1917 Burslem Port Vale 1–1 D Preston North End Lockett Old Recreation Ground Hanley 3,000 29 24 March 1917 Burnley 1–0 L Burslem Port Vale Turf Moor Burnley 1,000 30 6 April 1917 Burslem Port Vale 3–0 W Manchester United Brough Broadhurst Old Recreation Ground Hanley 4,000 Lancashire Section Subsidiary Tournament League table main WDL Q 2 y y PTV 2 STK Stoke PTV Port Vale MC Manchester City 3 0 3 11 6 2 1 3 9 12 1 2 3 3 11 complete Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Matches 1 31 March 1917 Manchester City 1–0 L Burslem Port Vale Wynn Hyde Road Gorton 7,000 2 7 April 1917 Burslem Port Vale 3–2 W Stoke Needham Brough Holford Whittingham Old Recreation Ground Hanley 12,000 3 9 April 1917 Manchester United 5–1 L Burslem Port Vale Anderson Travis Brough Old Trafford Old Trafford 8,000 4 14 April 1917 Burslem Port Vale 0–0 D Manchester City Old Recreation Ground Hanley 5,000 5 21 April 1917 Stoke 2–0 L Burslem Port Vale Herbert Howell Victoria Ground Stoke-upon-Trent 6 28 April 1917 Burslem Port Vale 5–2 W Manchester United Bridgett Groves Needham Holford McMenemy Woodcock Old Recreation Ground Hanley 4,000 Squad statistics Appearances and goals Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward League Subsidiary GK ENG Teddy Bateup 4 0 0 0 GK ENG William Connell 1 0 0 0 GK ENG John Powell 26 0 6 0 FB ENG Edgar Bentley 28 4 0 0 FB SCO Jock Cameron 12 0 5 0 FB ENG Ted Collins 22 0 5 0 FB ENG Tom Davies 2 0 0 0 FB ENG Eli Fletcher 0 0 1 0 FB ENG George Holmes 1 0 1 0 FB ENG Harry Leese 1 1 0 0 FB ENG Tom Lyons 2 0 0 0 HB ENG Jim Bennett 10 0 0 0 HB ENG G Arrowsmith 9 0 3 0 HB ENG Joe Butterworth 1 0 1 0 HB ENG S Colclough 11 4 0 0 HB WAL 1807 Albert Groves 18 2 5 1 HB ENG Clem Heath 2 0 0 0 HB ENG Tom Holford 22 3 6 2 HB ENG Bobby McNeal 3 0 0 0 HB ENG B Phillips 4 0 1 0 HB ENG Freddy Price 1 0 2 0 FW ENG W Agar 1 0 0 0 FW ENG Joe Brough 12 5 4 2 FW ENG Jack Cockcroft 0 0 1 0 FW ENG Archie Dyke 1 0 0 0 FW ENG Arthur Bridgett 0 0 1 2 FW ENG Albert Broadhurst 16 3 2 0 FW ENG John Griffiths 3 3 0 0 FW ENG Shirley Hubbard 1 0 0 0 FW ENG Aaron Lockett 10 4 1 0 FW WAL 1807 Billy Meredith 0 0 1 0 FW ENG Jack Needham 22 10 5 2 FW ENG George Shelton 24 7 6 0 FW ENG Jack Shelton 30 0 6 0 FW ENG Joe Smith 6 0 0 0 FW ENG Billy Spooner 3 0 0 0 FW ENG James Wootton 17 4 0 0 FW ENG Chris Young 1 0 0 0 |- |colspan="14"|Players who featured but departed the club during the season: FW ENG W Biddulph 1 0 0 0 FW ENG E Bourne 2 0 0 0 |} Top scorers PlacePositionNationNameLeagueSubsidiaryTotal1FWEnglandJack Needham102122FWEnglandGeorge Shelton707–FWEnglandJoe Brough5274HBEnglandTom Holford3255FBEnglandEdgar Bentley404–HBEnglandS Colclough404–FWEnglandJames Wootton404–FWEnglandAaron Lockett4049FWEnglandJohn Griffiths303–FWEnglandAlbert Broadhurst303–HBWales 1807Albert Groves21312FWEnglandArthur Bridgett02213FBEnglandHarry Leese101TOTALS50959 Transfers Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. August 1916 HB ENG G Arrowsmith Shelton United Free transfer Kent Jeff Port Vale Personalities Witan Books 1996 0-9529152-0-0 August 1916 HB ENG S Colclough Goldenhill Warriers Free transfer August 1916 FB ENG George Holmes Leek Alexandra Free transfer August 1916 FW ENG Aaron Lockett Audley Free transfer August 1916 HB ENG B Phillips Shelton United Free transfer August 1916 FW ENG George Shelton Wellington Town Free transfer August 1916 FW ENG Billy Spooner Brighton & Hove Albion Free transfer Autumn 1916 FW ENG Albert Broadhurst Free transfer January 1917 FB ENG Tom Lyons Aston Villa Free transfer March 1917 FB ENG Tom Davies Free transfer Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. 1917 FW ENG W Biddulph Released 1917 FW ENG E Bourne Released Summer 1917 HB ENG S Colclough Released Summer 1917 FW ENG Aaron Lockett Audley Free transfer 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