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1939–40 Port Vale F.C. season

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Port Vale
1939–40 season
ChairmanFrank Huntbach
StadiumThe Old Recreation Ground
Football League Third Division South22nd (1 Point) – season abandoned
Football League West League8th (22 Points)
Football League War CupPreliminary Round
(knocked out by Walsall)
Staffordshire Senior CupFirst Round
(knocked out by West Bromwich Albion)
Top goalscorerLeague: Jack Roberts (13)
All: Jack Roberts (14)
Highest home attendance6,000 vs. Everton, 6 April 1940
Lowest home attendance1,000 vs. New Brighton, 13 May 1940
Average home league attendance2,568
Biggest win6–1 vs. Crewe Alexandra, 21 October 1939
Biggest defeat0–7 and 1–8

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.[1] All competitive football was suspended upon the breakout of war in Europe, just two games into the regular season. These two games were expunged form official records and the regional war leagues which replaced them are not recognised by the Football League and thus not included in official records. Port Vale went on to finish eighth in the West League of the regional wartime league.

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 assistant trainer as well as a player, with the club deciding to do without a manager in favour of a selection committee. A goalless draw on the opening day down at Brighton & Hove Albion was followed by a 1–0 home defeat to Exeter City, but match number three against Northampton Town was cancelled after war was declared and the government prohibited all sports gatherings.[1] The Football League was formally cancelled and the footballing authorities looked at alternative arrangements.[1] Permission was granted for football to take place in Stoke-on-Trent and friendlies took place as during this time.[1]

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.[1] 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.[1] 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.[1]

League table

Third Division South

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
18 Northampton Town 3 1 0 2 2 12 0.167 2
19 Aldershot 3 0 1 2 3 5 0.600 1
20 Swindon Town 3 0 1 2 2 4 0.500 1
21 Bristol Rovers 3 0 1 2 2 7 0.286 1
22 Port Vale 2 0 1 1 0 1 0.000 1
Source: [citation needed]

West Regional Championship

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Stoke City 22 13 5 4 57 41 1.390 31
2 Liverpool 22 12 5 5 66 40 1.650 29
3 Everton 22 12 4 6 64 33 1.939 28
4 Manchester United 22 14 0 8 74 41 1.805 28
5 Manchester City 22 12 4 6 73 41 1.780 28
6 Wrexham 22 10 5 7 45 50 0.900 25
7 New Brighton 22 10 3 9 55 52 1.058 23
8 Port Vale 22 10 2 10 52 56 0.929 22
9 Chester 22 7 5 10 40 51 0.784 19
10 Crewe Alexandra 22 6 1 15 44 79 0.557 13
11 Stockport County 22 4 3 15 45 79 0.570 11
12 Tranmere Rovers 22 2 3 17 41 93 0.441 7
Source: [citation needed]

Results

Port Vale's score comes first

Round12
GroundAH
ResultDL
Position1222
Source: Statto[2]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Football League Third Division South

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
26 August 1939 Brighton & Hove Albion A 0–0 8,172
2 September 1939 Exeter City H 0–1 5,102

Football League West (War) League

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
21 October 1939 Crewe Alexandra H 6–1 2,100 P.Griffiths (2), Tunnicliffe (2), Nolan, Roberts
28 October 1939 Liverpool A 1–1 4,000 Nolan
11 November 1939 Stockport County A 1–2 3,452 P.Griffiths
18 November 1939 Tranmere Rovers H 6–2 1,745 H.Griffiths (3 [2 pens]), P.Griffiths, Tunnicliffe, Nolan
25 November 1939 Manchester United A 1–8 1,500 Tunnicliffe
2 December 1939 Wrexham H 1–0 1,456 Higgins
9 December 1939 Everton A 1–3 1,000 P.Griffiths
6 January 1940 New Brighton A 2–2 1,500 Tunnicliffe, P.Griffiths
10 February 1940 Crewe Alexandra A 3–1 800 Roberts (2), Cumberlidge
24 February 1940 Liverpool H 3–8 2,039 Sproson, Roberts, P.Griffiths
2 March 1940 Chester A 3–0 1,000 Higgins, Roberts, Tunnicliffe
9 March 1940 Stockport County H 6–2 1,787 Higgins (2), Tunnicliffe (2), P.Griffiths, Roberts
16 March 1940 Tranmere Rovers A 5–1 2,000 Tunnicliffe (2), Roberts (2), Higgins
23 March 1940 Manchester United H 1–3 4,127 Higgins
25 March 1940 Stoke City A 1–5 9,450 Roberts
30 March 1940 Wrexham A 0–1 2,000
6 April 1940 Everton H 2–1 6,000 Griffiths, Higgins
4 May 1940 Chester H 3–1 1,170 Roberts (2), Blunt
6 May 1940 Stoke City H 1–2 3,053 Roberts
11 May 1940 Manchester City H 2–5 1,242 Roberts, Bellis
13 May 1940 New Brighton H 3–0 1,000 Triner (2), Bellis
18 May 1940 Manchester City A 0–7 2,000

Football League (War) Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
Preliminary 13 April 1940 Walsall H 2–2 4,403 H.Griffiths, Roberts
Replay 15 April 1940 Walsall A 0–6 883

Staffordshire Senior Cup

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
1 4 November 1939 West Bromwich Albion A 1–2 2,000 P.Griffiths

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos. Name Football League War League Cups Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK England Arthur Jepson 2 0 21 0 3 0 26 0
GK England Jack Moore 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Harry Griffiths 2 0 16 3 2 0 20 3
DF England Johnny Rowe 2 0 15 0 3 0 20 0
DF England Edwin Blunt 0 0 9 1 1 0 10 1
DF England Jack Griffiths 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
DF England Jimmy Oakes 0 0 7 0 0 0 7 0
DF England Fred Obrey 0 0 10 0 0 0 10 0
DF Scotland Bob Pursell 0 0 13 0 2 0 15 0
DF England Charlie Scrimshaw 0 0 7 0 1 0 8 0
DF England Jess Sproson 0 0 4 1 0 0 4 1
MF England Wilf Smith 2 0 22 0 3 0 27 0
MF England Arthur Cumberlidge 2 0 15 1 2 0 19 1
MF England Alf Bellis 2 0 5 2 0 0 7 2
MF England Don Triner 0 0 5 2 0 0 5 2
MF England George Hannah 2 0 3 0 0 0 5 0
MF England Ronald Beresford 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
MF Scotland Murdoch Dickie 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
MF Wales Phil Griffiths 0 0 22 9 3 1 25 10
MF England Billy Tunnicliffe 0 0 17 10 3 0 20 10
FW England Jack Roberts 2 0 16 13 2 1 20 14
FW England Tom Nolan 0 0 8 3 1 0 9 3
FW England John Sanderson 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW England Bert Flatley 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
FW England Dennis Higgins 0 0 18 7 3 0 21 7
FW England George Morrey 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW England Harry Ware 0 0 6 0 2 0 8 0
FW South Africa Ken Fish 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Top scorers

Place Position Nation Name West (War) League War Cup Staffs Cup Total
1 FW  England Jack Roberts 13 1 0 14
2 MF  England Billy Tunnicliffe 10 0 0 10
MF Wales Wales Phil Griffiths 9 0 1 10
4 FW  England Dennis Higgins 7 0 0 7
5 FW  England Harry Griffiths 3 1 0 4
6 FW  England Tom Nolan 3 0 0 3
7 MF  England Alf Bellis 2 0 0 2
MF  England Don Triner 2 0 0 2
9 DF  England Edwin Blunt 1 0 0 1
MF  England Arthur Cumberlidge 1 0 0 1
DF  England Jess Sproson 1 0 0 1
Own goals 0 0 0 0
TOTALS 52 2 1 55

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref.
May 1939 MF England Murdoch Dickie Crewe Alexandra Free transfer [3]
June 1939 FW England Bert Flatley York City Free transfer [3]
July 1939 FW South Africa Ken Fish Switzerland Young Boys Free transfer [3]
October 1939 MF Wales Phil Griffiths Folkestone Free transfer [3]

Transfers out

Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref.
December 1939 MF England Murdoch Dickie Contract cancelled [3]
February 1940 FW England Tom Nolan Retired [3]

References

Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e f g Kent, Jeff (1990). "Creating Sunshine from the Shadows (1939–1950)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 151–171. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
  2. ^ Port Vale 1939–1940 : Results & Fixtures [dead link]. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
General