1924–25 Port Vale F.C. season

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw the arrival of three new players: veteran Everton goalkeeper Tom Fern, young half-back Sidney Blunt, and winger Billy Tempest made the leap from Stoke to Vale.

The season started with a lose-one-win-one sequence of six games; significantly, the final game of this sequence was a 1–0 win over Stoke at the Victoria Ground, Bob Connelly scoring the goal. The "Valiants" followed this with five games without a win, and "a certain section of the crowd" became "prone to gibe and jeer at mistakes", which had a noticeable effect on the side's confidence. Goals were a problem, and so the directors decided to sell full-back Len Birks to Sheffield United for 'a substantial sum', promising to spend the money on forwards. They duly signed Alfred Strange from Portsmouth. On 11 October, Vale fell to a 4–1 defeat at Derby County after Tom Fern was forced off in the first half due to injury.

The team bobbed along at mid-table and, on 20 December, were expected to be turned over by promotion-chasing Manchester United; however, Vale managed to record a 2–1 win. The difficult games continued, as two games in as many days came against eventual champions Leicester City; they were thumped 7–0 at Filbert Street on Christmas Day. Johnny Duncan scored six of the "Foxes" seven goals (a Leicester record). A 3–0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers was blamed on a slippery surface that caused at times comic falls from the players.

The second half of the season would be a brilliant one for the club. They won ten of their first 13 league games of 1925, including a 2–0 win over Stoke at the Old Recreation Ground – former "Potter" Tempest getting a goal against his former employers. On 7 February, the players presented secretary-manager Joe Schofield with a gold-mounted walking stick to celebrate his five years in charge, though they went on to be beaten 3–0 by South Shields. They did, though record a 2–1 home win over league leaders Derby County seven days later despite losing Ernest Collinge to a dislocated left arm. Four clean sheets followed, which was then followed by a 4–2 victory over Clapton Orient to take the team into fifth place.

Whilst on the South Coast of England the players were rewarded for their hard work with a relaxing holiday, seeing sights such as the Isle of Wight, the Southampton docks, HMS Victory, the Newbury races, and music hall star Gertie Gitana performing at the theatre. Following this, manager Joe Schofield took advantage of a comfortable league position by experimenting with his starting eleven. Just four points were picked up from their last nine games, this included a 1–0 defeat at Stamford Bridge in front of 30,000 and a 4–0 defeat at Old Trafford in front of 40,000. However, Kirkham did bag his third hat-trick of the season against Stockport County.

At the end of the season, Vale picked up a club record 42 Football League points, with Kirkham scoring 26 league goals. Outside of Kirkham, however, the club were finding difficulties in front of goal and had to be much more prolific to challenge for promotion. They were 15 points off the top two and eight points clear of the bottom two.

Jack Lowe was an ever-present in both league and cup, whereas Kirkham and Briscoe each missed just one game. Fern, Connelly, and Blunt were also highly consistent. At the end of the campaign, all of the first-team performers were retained.

Finances

The club finally found itself on a sound financial footing, making a record £4,469 profit on the campaign. The club debt went down to £134, and the club decided to purchase the Old Recreation Ground outright, putting down a deposit of £2,250.

FA Cup

In the FA Cup, the Vale managed to qualify for the first round for the first time since 1921–22. Kirkham and Briscoe scored a combined total of ten goals in the games against Midland League Boston and Central Alliance side Alfreton, with Strange contributing three. Kirkham scored his first career hat-trick away at Alfreton. This set up a difficult encounter with First Division club Aston Villa at Villa Park, the first competitive meeting between the two clubs. Vale were easily outclassed in the second half, despite leading 1–0 at the break, and finished the game with a 7–2 defeat after Billy Walker and Len Capewell scored three and four goals respectively.

Results

Football League Second Division

Main article: 1924–25 Football League

League table

Results by matchday

Matches

FA Cup

Main article: 1924–25 FA Cup

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

:Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

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Top scorers

Transfers

Transfers in

Transfers out

References

;Specific

;General

References

1. Kent, Jeff. (1990). "The Valiants' Years The Story Of Port Vale". Witan Books.
2. Twydell, Dave. (1997). "Rejected F.C. of Scotland Volume 3:The Rest".
3. "Game #1282".
4. [http://www.statto.com/football/teams/port-vale/1924-1925/results Port Vale 1924–1925 : Results & Fixtures] {{Webarchive. link. (4 March 2016 . Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.)
5. Kent, Jeff. (1996). "Port Vale Personalities". Witan Books.