1898–99 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

Burslem Port Vale
1898–99 season
Chairman	Robert Audley
Manager	Sam Gleaves
Stadium	Athletic Ground
Football League Second Division	9th (39 Points)
FA Cup	Fifth Qualifying Round
Birmingham Senior Cup	Runners-up
Staffordshire Senior Cup	Semi-final
Top goalscorer	League: James Peake (11); All: James Peake (17)
Highest home attendance	12,000 vs Manchester City (1 April 1899)
Lowest home attendance	1,000 vs Gainsborough Trinity (26 November 1898)
Average home league attendance	4,500+
	Home colours
	Home colours
	1899–1900 →

The 1898–99 season was Burslem Port Vale's fifth season of football in the Football League; it followed a two season absence, which the club spent in the Midland Football League.^[1] A solid return to the Football League, they finished in mid-table. They had the strongest defence in the division as they conceded less goals than any other team in the division. It was instead a lack of firepower in front of goal that prevented a push for promotion.

Winning their opening six league games, just two points gained from their final five games ensured a top two position was out of their reach. Safety from the lottery of re-election was never in doubt though, as they finished nineteen points above the re-election places. Over the next eight seasons they never bettered their league finish of 1898–99, though they twice equalled it.

Winger Billy Heames would stay with *the Vale* for the next five seasons.

Overview

Second Division

Their FA Cup win over First Division champions Sheffield United in 1897–98 won Vale the respect (and votes) they needed to win re-election to the Football League for 1898–99.^[1]^[2] To ensure a competitive campaign they signed striker Howard Harvey from Aston Villa for £50.^[1] Winning their opening six league games, the semi-professional side conceded just one goal in this run. However Tommy Clare broke a leg at their final win of the streak of six, and their run ended at Newton Heath the following week – the team badly missed Clare.^[1] Their fading hopes of promotion were bolstered by four wins in January, including a 6–1 win over Blackpool aided by a four goal haul from James Peake.^[1] Yet they finished the season with two points from five games, dropping into ninth place – their lowest position all season.^[1]

Of the two clubs that failed to gain re-election, Darwen, who picked up a League record eighteen consecutive defeats, played regional football for the rest of their existence; whereas Blackpool gained re-election at the end of the following season, and never lost their League status again.

Right-half Lucien Boullemier was an ever-present throughout the campaign, with goalkeeper Herbert Birchenough missing just one game.^[1] Winger Billy Heames and forward Howard Harvey rarely missed a game between them.^[1]

Finances

Financially, the club lost £300 over the season.^[1]

Cup competitions

Defending champions of the Staffordshire Senior Cup, Vale reached the semi-final, where they lost 4–0 to Walsall in a replay.^[1] In the Birmingham Senior Cup, they defeated Walsall in the semi-final, in a replay, going on to lose 4–0 to Aston Villa in the final.^[1] In the FA Cup they were turned over 7–0 at Small Heath in the qualification rounds.^[1]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	F	A	GA	GD	Pts
1	Manchester City	34	15	1	1	64	10	8	5	4	28	25	92	35	2.629	+ 47	52
2	Glossop North End	34	12	1	4	48	13	8	5	4	28	25	76	38	2.000	+ 38	46
3	Leicester Fosse	34	12	5	0	35	12	6	4	7	29	30	64	42	1.524	+ 22	45
4	Newton Heath	34	12	4	1	51	14	7	1	9	16	29	67	43	1.558	+ 24	43
5	New Brighton Tower	34	13	2	2	48	13	5	5	7	23	39	71	52	1.365	+ 9	43
6	Walsall	34	12	5	0	64	11	3	7	7	15	25	79	36	2.194	+ 43	42
7	Woolwich Arsenal	34	14	2	1	55	10	4	3	10	17	31	72	41	1.756	+ 31	41
8	Small Heath	34	14	1	2	66	17	3	6	8	19	33	85	50	1.700	+ 35	41
9	Burslem Port Vale	34	12	2	3	35	12	5	3	9	21	22	56	34	1.647	+ 22	39
10	Grimsby Town	34	10	3	4	39	17	5	2	10	32	43	71	60	1.183	+ 11	35
11	Barnsley	34	11	4	2	44	18	1	3	13	8	38	52	56	0.929	– 4	31
12	Lincoln City	34	10	5	2	31	16	2	2	13	20	40	51	56	0.911	– 5	31
13	Burton Swifts	34	7	5	5	35	25	3	3	11	16	45	51	70	0.729	– 19	28
14	Gainsborough Trinity	34	8	4	5	40	22	2	1	14	16	50	56	72	0.778	– 16	25
15	Luton Town	34	8	1	8	37	31	2	2	13	14	64	51	95	0.537	– 44	23
16	Blackpool	34	6	3	8	35	30	2	1	14	14	60	49	90	0.544	– 31	20
17	Loughborough	34	5	4	8	31	26	1	2	14	7	66	38	92	0.413	– 54	18
18	Darwen	34	2	4	11	16	32	0	1	16	6	109	22	141	0.156	– 119	9

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

Burslem born Danny Simpson never played for any professional club other than Port Vale.

Burslem Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Template:Fb rbr header Template:Fb rbr ground Template:Fb rbr result Template:Fb rbr position fl |} Sourced from Statto.^[3]

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
3 September 1898	Barnsley	H	2–0	4,000	Peake, Evans
5 September 1898	Woolwich Arsenal	H	3–0	5,000	Evans (2), unknown
10 September 1898	Small Heath	A	2–1	5,500	Evans, Peake
17 September 1898	Loughborough	H	3–0	5,000	Peake (2), Simpson
24 September 1898	Blackpool	A	4–0	1,000	Peake (2), Harvey, Beech
1 October 1898	Grimsby Town	H	2–0	6,000	Simpson, Evans
8 October 1898	Newton Heath	A	1–2	10,000	Simpson
15 October 1898	New Brighton Tower	H	0–0	5,000
22 October 1898	Lincoln City	A	0–1	4,000
5 November 1898	Luton Town	A	1–0	2,000	Evans
12 November 1898	Leicester Fosse	H	0–2	4,000
26 November 1898	Gainsborough Trinity	H	2–1	1,000	Evans, Harvey
3 December 1898	Manchester City	A	1–3	6,000	Peake
17 December 1898	Walsall	A	1–1	3,000	Evans
24 December 1898	Burton Swifts	H	4–1	2,000	Beckett (2), Harvey, Beech
31 December 1898	Barnsley	A	1–2	1,000	Evans
2 January 1899	Darwen	A	3–1	400	Harvey (2), Mitchell
7 January 1899	Small Heath	H	1–0	5,000	Beckett
14 January 1899	Loughborough	A	3–0	2,000	Evans, Harvey, Beckett
21 January 1899	Blackpool	H	6–1		Peake (4), Beech, Beckett
28 January 1899	Burton Swifts	A	0–2	500
4 February 1899	Newton Heath	H	1–0	6,000	Belfield
11 February 1899	New Brighton Tower	A	0–1	2,000
18 February 1899	Lincoln City	H	2–1	3,000	Harvey, Beech
21 February 1899	Grimsby Town	A	1–3	2,500	Beckett
25 February 1899	Woolwich Arsenal	A	0–1	6,000
4 March 1899	Luton Town	H	4–1	4,000	McDonald (3), Simpson
11 March 1899	Leicester Fosse	A	1–1	9,000	Harvey
18 March 1899	Darwen	H	3–1		Harvey, Beckett, McDonald
25 March 1899	Gainsborough Trinity	A	2–3		Simpson, Beckett
1 April 1899	Manchester City	H	1–1	12,000	Heames
3 April 1899	Glossop North End	H	1–2	4,000	Beckett
8 April 1899	Glossop North End	A	0–0	3,500
15 April 1899	Walsall	H	0–1	1,500

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
3Q	29 October 1898	Wellington Town	H	5–0	1,000	Peake (2), Evans (2), Price
4Q	19 November 1898	Burton Wanderers	H	3–0	1,500	Peake, Simpson, Harvey
5Q	10 December 1898	Small Heath	A	0–7	7,000

Birmingham Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	19 December 1898	Leicester Fosse	H	5–0	800	Harvey (2), McDonald (2), rush
BYE
BYE
SF	13 March 1899	Walsall	N	1–1	4,000	McDonald
Replay	20 March 1899	Walsall	N	2–0	1,000	Harvey, Mitchell
Final	27 March 1899	Aston Villa	A	0–4	3,634

Staffordshire Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	19 September 1898	Burton Wanderers	H	1–1	3,000+	Peake
Replay	26 September 1898	Burton Wanderers	A	4–0	4,000	Peake, Evans, Spilsbury, Simpson
SF	21 November 1898	Walsall	H	1–1	2,000	Peake
Replay	26 December 1898	Walsall	A	0–4	7,000

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Herbert Birchenough	33	0	3	0	8	0	44	0
DF	S.E. Bayley	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Jim Beech	31	4	3	0	6	0	40	4
DF	Lucien Boullemier	34	0	3	0	8	0	45	0
DF	John Bowman	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
DF	Tommy Clare	13	0	0	0	3	0	16	0
DF	George Hulme	8	0	2	0	3	0	13	0
DF	Tom McFarlane	22	0	1	0	4	0	27	0
DF	Henry Platt	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Thomas Spilsbury	15	0	2	0	4	1	21	1
DF	Frank Stokes	3	0	0	0	2	0	5	0
MF	Billy Heames	33	1	3	0	7	0	43	1
MF	Charles Hodgkinson	6	0	0	0	4	0	10	0
MF	Ted McDonald	30	4	2	0	7	3	39	7
FW	Danny Simpson	17	5	2	1	3	1	22	7
FW	George Price	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1
FW	James Peake	22	11	3	3	3	3	28	17
FW	Frank Mitchell	4	1	1	0	3	1	8	2
FW	Tommy Lander	16	0	1	0	5	0	22	0
FW	Howard Harvey	32	9	2	1	7	3	41	13
FW	Dick Evans	23	10	3	2	4	1	30	13
FW	R.H. Capener	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Fred Belfield	5	1	0	0	1	0	6	1
FW	Ernest Beckett	21	9	0	0	5	0	26	9

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
James Peake	17
Howard Harvey	13
Dick Evans	13
Ernest Beckett	9
Ted McDonald	7
Danny Simpson	7
Jim Beech	4
Frank Mitchell	2
Billy Heames	1
Fred Belfield
George Price
Thomas Spilsbury

League

Scorer	Goals
James Peake	11
Dick Evans	10
Ernest Beckett	9
Howard Harvey	9
Danny Simpson	5
Jim Beech	4
Ted McDonald	4
Billy Heames	1
Fred Belfield
Frank Mitchell

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
June 1898	FW	Howard Harvey	Aston Villa	£50	^[4]
Summer 1898	DF	Tommy Clare	Manchester City	Free transfer	^[4]
August 1898	FW	Ernest Beckett	Newcastle Swifts	Free transfer	^[4]
August 1898	FW	R.H. Capener		Free transfer	^[4]
August 1898	DF	Tom McFarlane	Hibernian	Free transfer	^[4]
October 1898	DF	Frank Stokes)	Burslem Park	Free transfer	^[4]
February 1899	DF	John Bowman	Burslem Park	Free transfer	^[4]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1899	FW	James Peake	Millwall Athletic	Free transfer	^[4]
Summer 1899	FW	Ernest Beckett		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	MF	Fred Belfield		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	DF	John Bowman	Stoke	Free transfer	^[4]
Summer 1899	FW	R.H. Capener		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	FW	Dick Evans	Reading	Free transfer	^[4]
Summer 1899	MF	Charles Hodgkinson		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	DF	George Hulme		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	FW	Frank Mitchell		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	DF	Henry Platt		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	MF	Jos Randles		Retired	^[4]

References

Specific

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Kent, Jeff (1990). "The Hopeless Struggle (1898-1907)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 50–70. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
^ "Vale revel in FA Cup glory". The Sentinel. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
^ Port Vale 1898–1899 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

General

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

[Kent-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Kent, Jeff (1990). "The Hopeless Struggle (1898-1907)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 50–70. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.

[2] "Vale revel in FA Cup glory". The Sentinel. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.

[3] Port Vale 1898–1899 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

[transfers-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Port Vale F.C. seasons
1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00
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 1999–00
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
2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27 2027–28 2028–29 2029–30

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