1888–89 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

The 1888–89 season was Burslem Port Vale's first season and only season of football in The Combination.[1] The league was abandoned before the fixture list was completed, though Vale were in poor form regardless. They exited the FA Cup, Staffordshire Senior Cup and North Staffordshire Challenge Cup in their opening rounds and also struggled in friendlies, the low point being a 3–1 defeat to village team Oswaldtwistle Rovers at the Athletic Ground.

Burslem Port Vale
1888–89 season
StadiumAthletic Ground
The CombinationAbandoned
FA CupSecond Qualifying Round
(knocked out by Small Heath Alliance)
Staffordshire Senior CupFourth Round
(knocked out by Burton Wanderers)
North Staffordshire Challenge CupSemi-finalists
(knocked out by Leek)
Top goalscorerLeague: Jimmy Ditchfield (8)
All: Jimmy Ditchfield (12)
Highest home attendance5,000 vs. Stoke, 16 February 1889
Average home league attendance2,200
Biggest win6–1 vs. Gainsborough Trinity, 8 September 1888
Biggest defeat1–5 and 2–6

Overview

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The Combination

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Burslem Port Vale prepared for their first-ever league campaign by signings Lewis Ballham from Stoke and Dick Danks from Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, they lost Harry Cookson to South Shore and Bob Ramsay to Stoke.[1] Despite being overweight, forward Billy Reynolds scored the winning goal in the season-opening victory over Birmingham St George's at the Athletic Ground.[1] Though they lost 2–1 at home to Halliwell, they recorded 6–1 and 3–0 home victories over Gainsborough Trinity and South Shore.[1] However, a sequence of away fixtures followed, in which they picked two points on the road all season.[1] Their home form remained steady, though, picking up 16 of a possible 26 points at home.[1]

Cup competitions and friendlies

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Vale's interest in the FA Cup ended early as they were beaten 3–2 at Small Heath Alliance.[1] Their friendlies in the first part of the season were also largely disappointing, losing 4–0 to Preston North End and 8–1 to Blackburn Rovers – both strong sides – but more worryingly they were humbled 4–0 at the little-known side Witton.[1] A 3–1 home defeat to Lancashire village team Oswaldtwistle Rovers on 12 January was embarrassing, one of the worst results in the club's short history as they proved themselves "not worthy of a club their standing" on the day.[1] On 16 February, they fell to a 5–1 defeat at home to Potteries derby rivals Stoke in front of a season-high crowd of 5,000.[1] They managed to beat Burton Wanderers 4–2 in the fourth round of the Staffordshire Senior Cup on 9 March, but were forced to replay the game after the visitors complained about the state of the Athletic Ground pitch; the replay was lost 3–1 as the team reverted to "the old game of a long kick and a sharp rush".[1]

Desperate to turn around their poor form, the club signed "the best centre-forward that ever left Scotland" in 19-year-old Frank McGinnes, who had built up a formidable reputation at Halliwell.[1] They travelled to Anfield on 20 April and recorded a 1–0 victory over Everton, but the season petered out with defeat to Leek in the semi-finals of the North Staffordshire Challenge Cup and a 7–1 thumping after fielding a weakened side at Bootle.[1] The Combination league collapsed, but the team's poor form meant they were not invited to compete in either the new Football Alliance.[1] The club management resolved to strengthen the team and had to be content with friendlies for the following campaign.[1]

Results

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Burslem Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

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Win Draw Loss

The Combination

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
1 September 1888 Birmingham St George's H 2–1 3,500 Ditchfield, Reynolds
3 September 1888 Halliwell H 1–2 3,000 Ditchfield
8 September 1888 Gainsborough Trinity H 6–1 2,500 Sproston (2), Ditchfield, Reynolds, Randles, Danks
17 September 1888 South Shore H 3–0 2,000 rush, Ditchfield, Sproston
29 September 1888 Walsall Town Swifts A 0–1 2,000
13 October 1888 Notts Rangers H 1–2 rush
20 October 1888 Crewe Alexandra A 1–4 3,000 Reynolds
22 October 1888 Leek A 3–5 3,000
3 November 1888 Birmingham St George's A 3–3 200 Danks, Ballham, Poulson
10 November 1888 Newton Heath H 1–1 1,500 scrimmage
12 November 1888 Leek H 4–1 2,000 Ditchfield (3), Poulson
17 November 1888 Long Eaton Rangers A 1–3 Ditchfield
24 November 1888 Walsall Town Swifts H 1–2 2,000 Poulson
1 December 1888 Lincoln City H 2–1 1,500 Ballham (2)
15 December 1888 Halliwell A 1–5 small scrimmage
22 December 1888 Lincoln City A 0–1 1,500
24 December 1888 Gainsborough Trinity A 1–1 fair Ballham
25 December 1888 Grimsby Town A 2–6 1,500
29 December 1888 Crewe Alexandra H 1–3 2,500 Randles
5 January 1889 Notts Rangers A 1–4 Reynolds
19 January 1889 Newton Heath A 0–3 2,500
26 January 1889 Long Eaton Rangers H 1–1 moderate McHarg
2 February 1889 Northwich Victoria A 1–2
11 March 1889 Northwich Victoria H 1–0 several hundred
16 March 1889 South Shore A 0–3 not very big
6 April 1889 Grimsby Town H 2–1 1,500 Ballham (2)

FA Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
2Q 27 October 1888 Small Heath Alliance A 2–3 scrimmage, o.g.

Staffordshire Senior Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
4 9 March 1889 Burton Wanderers H 4–2 1,500 Sproston (2), Ballham (2)
Replay 23 March 1889 Burton Wanderers H 1–3 2,000 Elson

North Staffordshire Challenge Cup

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Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
SF 4 May 1889 Leek N 2–3 Danks, Stokes

Friendlies

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Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
15 September 1888 Derby St Luke's H 1–1 2,000 rush
22 September 1888 Blackburn Park Road H 3–4 1,500 Randles (2), Sproston
24 September 1888 Preston North End H 0–4 3,000
1 October 1888 Burnley H 2–0 1,400 Reynolds, Randles
6 October 1888 Witton A 0–4
15 October 1888 Bolton Wanderers H 3–1 2,000 o.g., Stokes, Ditchfield
29 October 1888 Blackburn Rovers H 1–8 3,000 Ballham
8 December 1888 Rotherham Town A 2–3 3,000 Reynolds, other
10 December 1888 Everton H 2–2 2,000 Ballham, o.g.
12 January 1889 Oswaldtwistle Rovers H 1–3 small Ditchfield
16 February 1889 Stoke H 1–5 5,000 Vessey
2 March 1889 Stoke A 2–4
30 March 1889 Leek A 1–1 Ditchfield
15 April 1889 Halliwell H 1–2 Ballham
20 April 1889 Everton A 1–0 8,000 Reynolds
22 April 1889 Witton H 1–2 2,500 o.g.
29 April 1889 Crewe Alexandra H 0–0
14 May 1889 Bootle A 1–7 1,500 Ditchfield

Player statistics

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Appearances and goals

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Pos. Name League Staffordshire Cup Challenge Cup Friendlies Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
GK   Arthur Broomhall 5 0 2 0 1 0 9 0 16 0
GK Joseph Mawdesley 9 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 12 0
GK Meakin 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
GK Millward 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
GK W Morgan 6 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 10 0
DF   George Bateman 18 0 2 0 0 0 14 0 34 0
DF E Chadwick 11 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 14 0
DF T Marriott 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
DF G Martin 4 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 10 0
DF Matthews 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
DF   W. E. Powell 6 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 11 0
DF   Albert Skinner 12 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 16 0
DF Udall 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0
DF Underwood 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
DF G Wardle 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
MF   Billy Elson 19 0 2 1 1 0 17 0 39 1
MF   Fred Farrington 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF Kirkham 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
MF Locker 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
MF G McHarg 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
MF   Billy Poulson 19 3 2 0 1 0 17 0 39 3
MF   Jos Randles 18 2 0 0 0 0 9 3 27 5
MF Robinson 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0
MF Jack Shields 20 0 2 0 1 0 17 0 40 0
MF   Charlie Simpson 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
MF J.H. Sproston 9 3 2 2 1 0 4 1 16 6
MF   John Surtees 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 2 0
MF H Wardle 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
FW   Lewis Ballham 16 6 2 2 1 0 12 3 31 11
FW   Dick Danks 15 2 0 0 1 z 9 0 25 3
FW   Jimmy Ditchfield 18 8 2 0 1 0 17 4 38 12
FW   Frank McGinnes 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 0
FW Oxley 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
FW   Ernie Payne 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 3 0
FW   Billy Reynolds 14 4 0 0 0 0 14 3 28 7
FW Fred Stokes 4 0 2 0 1 1 7 1 14 2
FW Vessey 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1
FW F Wood 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0

Top scorers

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Place Position Nation Name The Combination FA Cup Other Total
1 FW   England Jimmy Ditchfield 8 0 4 12
2 FW   England Lewis Ballham 6 0 5 11
3 FW   England Billy Reynolds 4 0 3 7
4 MF J.H. Sproston 3 0 3 6
5 MF   England Jos Randles 2 0 3 5
6 MF   England Billy Poulson 3 0 0 3
FW   England Dick Danks 2 0 0 3
8 FW Fred Stokes 0 0 2 2
9 MF G McHarg 1 0 0 1
FW Vessey 0 0 1 1
MF   England Billy Elson 0 0 1 1
Own goals 0 1 3 4
Scrimmage 2 1 0 3
TOTALS 31 2 25 58

Transfers

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Transfers in

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Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref.
Summer 1888 GK   Arthur Broomhall Stoke Free transfer [2]
Summer 1888 DF Udall Free transfer [2]
Summer 1888 FW F Wood Free transfer [2]
Autumn 1888 FW   Lewis Ballham Stoke Free transfer [2]
Autumn 1888 MF   Fred Farrington Free transfer [2]
Autumn 1888 DF E Chadwick Free transfer [2]
September 1888 GK Joseph Mawdesley Free transfer [2]
December 1888 MF G McHarg Free transfer [2]
1889 DF Matthews Free transfer [2]
January 1889 GK Meakin Free transfer [2]
April 1889 MF   Fred Farrington Halliwell Free transfer [2]

Transfers out

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Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref.
December 1888 DF Jack Shields Quit [2]
Summer 1889 DF E Chadwick Released [2]
Summer 1889 GK Joseph Mawdesley Released [2]
Summer 1889 GK Meakin Released [2]
Summer 1889 MF G McHarg Burslem Port Vale Released [2]
Summer 1889 GK W Morgan Released [2]
Summer 1889 MF Robinson Released [2]
Summer 1889 MF J.H. Sproston Released [2]
Summer 1889 MF   John Surtees Released [2]
Summer 1889 DF Udall Released [2]
Summer 1889 FW F Wood Free transfer [2]

References

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Specific
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Kent, Jeff (1990). "Trying to make the Grade (1888-1898)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 26–50. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.
General