1904–05 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

Burslem Port Vale

1904–05 season
Chairman	Robert Audley
Manager	Sam Gleaves
Stadium	Athletic Ground
Football League Second Division	16th (27 Points)
FA Cup	Sixth Qualification Round (knocked out by Barnsley)
Birmingham Senior Cup	Semi-final (knocked out by West Bromwich Albion)
Staffordshire Senior Cup	First Round (knocked out by Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Top goalscorer	League: Dick Allman (8) All: Dick Allman (8)
Highest home attendance	5,000 vs Manchester United, 3 September 1904
Lowest home attendance	500 vs Bradford City, 21 January 1905 vs, Doncaster Rovers, 18 March 1905
Average home league attendance	2,536+
Biggest win	3–0 vs. Grimsby Town, 5 November 1904
Biggest defeat	1–8 vs. Liverpool, 8 April 1905
Home colours
← 1903–04 1905–06 →

The 1904–05 season was Burslem Port Vale's seventh consecutive season (11th overall) of football in the English Football League.^[1] A poor season, the club had to apply (successfully) for re-election. The club had to continue their policy of selling their best players to survive.

An extremely poor defence saw some embarrassing scorelines away from home, and the lack of a consistent goalscorer was also a cause for concern.

Overview

Second Division

A rather quiet pre-season saw no signings of note, however, past player, outside-right Dick Evans re-signed from Southampton in September.^[1] This return was ended in his second game of the season – a Staffordshire Senior Cup defeat to Wolves – when he suffered a career-ending injury.^[1]

The first game of the season saw 5,000 turn up to witness a 2–2 draw with Manchester United, this positive start soon ended as despite going their first four games unbeaten, the club had to wait until their ninth match for their first victory. On 5 November 1904, the club's record 29 away games without a win streak came to an end with a 3–0 victory at Grimsby Town.^[1] The next match saw Liverpool win 2–1 thanks to a goal that never actually crossed the line – the referee had to leave the pitch under escort.^[1] Following the sale of key players in December, the form of the "Valeites" took a hit as from 4 December to the end of February they recorded just two victories – both against West Bromwich Albion.^[1] This run included heavy defeats at Manchester United and Burnley. In February the club's revival was helped by new signing Robert Carter, as six of the last seven home games were wins.^[1] Despite this they still suffered on their travels, taking an 8–1 hammering at Anfield.

The club finished in sixteenth place, though their 27 points saw them just one point off Blackpool, and six points off seventh place. Burton United and Doncaster Rovers both finished well below Vale, and at the end of the season both Vale and Burton were re-elected.^[1]

Dick Allman was top scorer with a pitiful eight goals, though scoring proved to be a team effort to give Vale a reasonable total of 47 league goals. However, in defensive terms the season was awful, their 72 conceded would always guarantee a battle against dropping into the lottery of the re-election zones.

Allman left for Reading at the season's end.^[1] Harry Croxton was an ever-present, and other regulars included goalkeeper Harry Cotton, and outfielders Sam Whittingham, Joseph Holyhead, George Price, and Adrian Capes. Manager Sam Gleaves stepped down at the end of the season, and was given the position of director, his replacement was former player Tommy Clare.^[1]

Finances

The financial outlook was as grim as ever, as directors were forced to sell Ernest Mullineux and Tom Simpson to Bury for £600 and £200 respectively.^[1] This gave the club a season profit of £140, and reduced club debt to just £33, however, gate receipts had fallen by £150.^[1]

Cup competitions

The club came up against tough competition in both county cup competitions, losing 1–0 to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the First Round of the Staffordshire Senior Cup.^[1] They found rather more success in the Birmingham Senior Cup, where Vale defeated rivals Stoke with a Tom Simpson hat-trick at home, following a goalless draw at the Victoria Ground.^[1] This achievement was less significant due to a slight from Stoke, who only sent out their reserve team.^[1] Following this success the club lost in the semi-final to Second Division rivals West Bromwich Albion.^[1] The club yet again failed to qualify for the FA Cup, losing narrowly to Barnsley in the qualification stages.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
14	Leicester Fosse	34	11	7	16	40	55	0.727	29
15	Blackpool	34	9	10	15	36	48	0.750	28
16	Burslem Port Vale	34	10	7	17	47	72	0.653	27	Re-elected
17	Burton United[a]	34	8	4	22	30	84	0.357	20
18	Doncaster Rovers[b]	34	3	2	29	23	81	0.284	8	Failed re-election

Results

Burslem Port Vale's score comes first

Football League Second Division

Results by matchday

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
3 September 1904	Manchester United	H	2–2	5,000	Bowen, Allman
5 September 1904	Blackpool	H	2–2		Capes, Eardley
10 September 1904	Glossop	A	0–0	4,000
17 September 1904	Chesterfield Town	H	0–0	3,500
24 September 1904	Bradford City	A	1–2	10,000	Holyhead
1 October 1904	Lincoln City	H	0–1
8 October 1904	Leicester Fosse	A	0–3	3,000
15 October 1904	Barnsley	H	0–2	3,000
29 October 1904	Burnley	H	3–1	1,500	Simpson (2), Mountford
5 November 1904	Grimsby Town	A	3–0	2,500	Mountford, Simpson, Price
12 November 1904	Liverpool	H	1–2	3,000	Price
19 November 1904	Doncaster Rovers	H	2–2	1,800	Eardley, o.g.
3 December 1904	Burton United	A	3–2		Eardley (2), Simpson
17 December 1904	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–2	3,000	Whittingham
24 December 1904	Bristol City	A	2–4	6,000	Allman (2)
26 December 1904	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–0	3,000	Allman
31 December 1904	Manchester United	A	1–6	15,000	Price
7 January 1905	Glossop	H	0–1	2,000
21 January 1905	Bradford City	H	1–1	1,000	Croxton
28 January 1905	Lincoln City	A	3–3	3,000	Croxton, Capes, Cope
11 February 1905	Barnsley	A	0–3
18 February 1905	West Bromwich Albion	H	3–2	3,500	Carter (2), Allman
25 February 1905	Burnley	A	0–5	1,000
4 March 1905	Grimsby Town	H	2–0	2,000	Capes, Whittingham
11 March 1905	Blackpool	A	0–3	1,400
18 March 1905	Doncaster Rovers	H	2–0	1,000	Price, Whittingham
25 March 1905	Gainsborough Trinity	A	0–1
1 April 1905	Burton United	H	4–2		Allman, Price, Carter, Mountford
3 April 1905	Leicester Fosse	H	1–3	2,000	Allman
8 April 1905	Liverpool	A	1–8	14,000	Croxton
15 April 1905	Bolton Wanderers	A	1–3	12,000	Horrocks
21 April 1905	Gainsborough Trinity	H	3–2	3,000	Horrocks, Carter, Thomas
22 April 1905	Bristol City	H	3–2	2,000	Allman, Capes, Carter
24 April 1905	Chesterfield Town	A	1–2	4,000	Price

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
6Q	10 December 1904	Barnsley	A	0–0	2,000
6Q Replay	15 December 1904	Barnsley	H	1–2		Loverseed

Birmingham Senior Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	26 September 1904	Stoke	A	0–0
Replay	3 October 1904	Stoke	H	3–1		Simpson (3)
SF	22 October 1904	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–2	3,000	Price

Staffordshire Senior Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	12 September 1903	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–1	handful

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Harry Cotton	31	0	2	0	3	0	36	0
GK	Arthur Box	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
DF	Ernest Mullineux	13	0	0	0	4	0	17	0
DF	James Hamilton	23	0	2	0	0	0	25	0
DF	William Cope	22	1	2	0	1	0	25	1
DF	Thomas Reaney	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Bert Eardley	16	4	2	0	1	0	19	4
MF	Harry Croxton	34	3	2	0	4	0	40	3
MF	Sam Whittingham	31	3	2	0	4	0	37	3
MF	William Bradbury	3	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
MF	Joseph Holyhead	33	1	2	0	3	0	38	1
MF	Vic Horrocks	4	2	0	0	0	0	4	2
MF	Ben Jones	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Albert Cook	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
MF	Robert Carter	14	5	0	0	0	0	14	5
MF	George Bowen	6	1	0	0	1	0	7	1
FW	George Price	29	6	2	0	3	1	34	7
FW	Adrian Capes	30	4	2	0	3	0	35	4
FW	Tom Simpson	10	4	0	0	3	3	13	7
FW	William Loverseed	2	0	2	1	1	0	5	1
FW	Dick Allman	27	8	0	0	2	0	29	8
FW	Harry Mountford	24	3	2	0	2	0	28	3
FW	William Thomas	2	1	0	0	0	0	2	1
FW	Edward Williams	5	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
FW	Enoch Rowley	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Dick Evans	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
FW	W. Edwards	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Second Division	FA Cup	Other	Total
1	FW	England	Dick Allman	8	0	0	8
2	FW		Tom Simpson	4	0	3	7
–	FW	England	George Price	6	0	1	7
4	MF	England	Robert Carter	5	0	0	5
5	FW	England	Adrian Capes	4	0	0	4
–	MF	England	Bert Eardley	4	0	0	4
7	FW	England	Harry Mountford	3	0	0	3
–	MF	England	Sam Whittingham	3	0	0	3
–	MF	England	Harry Croxton	3	0	0	3
10	MF	England	Vic Horrocks	2	0	0	2
11	MF	England	George Bowen	1	0	0	1
–	DF	England	William Cope	1	0	0	1
–	MF	England	Joseph Holyhead	1	0	0	1
–	FW	England	William Thomas	1	0	0	1
–	FW	England	William Loverseed	0	1	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	1	0	0	1
			TOTALS	47	1	4	52

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1904	MF		Robert Carter	Selbourne	Free transfer	[3]
August 1904	MF		George Bowen	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free transfer	[3]
August 1904	GK		Arthur Box	Stoke	Free transfer	[3]
August 1904	DF		William Cope	Mount Pleasant	Free transfer	[3]
August 1904	FW		W. Edwards	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	[3]
August 1904	MF		Ben Jones	Alsagers Bank Church	Free transfer	[3]
August 1904	DF		Thomas Reaney	Bridgetown Amateurs	Free transfer	[3]
September 1904	FW		Dick Evans	Southampton	Free transfer	[3]
September 1904	FW		Enoch Rowley	Biddulph	Free transfer	[3]
April 1905	MF		Vic Horrocks	Goldenhill United	Free transfer	[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1904	FW		Dick Evans	Retired		[3]
December 1904	DF		Ernest Mullineux	Bury	£600	[3]
December 1904	FW		Tom Simpson	Bury	£200	[3]
May 1905	FW		Dick Allman	Reading	Free transfer	[3]
Summer 1905	MF		George Bowen		Released	[3]
Summer 1905	GK		Harry Cotton	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	[3]
Summer 1905	FW		Sam Howshall	Salisbury City	Free transfer	[3]
Summer 1905	FW		William Loverseed		Released	[3]
Summer 1905	DF		W. H. Machin		Released	[3]
Summer 1905	DF		Thomas Reaney		Released	[3]
Summer 1905	FW		Enoch Rowley		Released	[3]
Summer 1905	FW		Edward Williams		Released	[3]

References

Specific

General

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