1927–28 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1927–28 season
Chairman	Frank Huntbach
Manager	Joe Schofield
Stadium	The Old Recreation Ground
Football League Second Division	9th (44 Points)
FA Cup	Fifth Round
Top goalscorer	League: Wilf Kirkham (13) All: Wilf Kirkham (14)
Highest home attendance	21,071 vs. Stoke City (17 March 1928)
Lowest home attendance	5,371 vs. Blackpool (14 April 1928)
Average home league attendance	11,127
Home colours
← 1926–27 1928–29 →

The 1927–28 season was Port Vale's ninth consecutive season of football (22nd overall) in the Football League.^[1] They finished in ninth place, following three consecutive eighth-placed finishes in the previous campaigns. Vale were once again looking strong in the division, yet unable to find the consistency necessary to win promotion to the top-flight. Top scorer Wilf Kirkham managed 14 goals, a whole 27 short of his previous record-breaking tally. Still one of the most successful season's in their history, they would better this finish on only three occasions over the next 85 years.

For the third season running Billy Briscoe found himself battling against severe injury, this time he fractured a cheekbone but refused to leave the pitch for treatment.^[1]

Chairman Frank Huntbach.

Right-back Jack Maddock made 35 appearances and scored two penalties.

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw the players enjoy an outing at Rhyl, which helped new signings Alf Bennett (Nottingham Forest), David Rollo (Blackburn Rovers), Alex Trotter (South Shields), and Robert Gillespie (Luton Town) settle in.^[1]

The season started terribly, with an opening day draw with Nottingham Forest followed by four consecutive defeats.^[1] The team was changed around, with new signing Rollo dropped from the starting eleven; this helped the Vale to turn things around with convincing wins over Bristol City and Swansea.^[1] Their third 4–0 away loss followed, and more injuries followed, along with cash offers from rival clubs for their best players.^[1] By mid-October a settled side was formed, and the "Valiants" defeated derby rivals Stoke 2–0 in front of a record 31,493 at the Victoria Ground.^[1] Going from strength to strength they travelled to Bloomfield Road and went from 1–0 down to 6–1 up within an amazing 25 minute spell.^[1] Three more victories followed until Christmas saw a downturn in form.^[1] Five consecutive post-Christmas defeats to four promotion candidates ended the Vale's promotion campaign.^[1] In February Wilf Kirkham was eventually rested, and replacement Stewart Littlewood bagged five in two games to end the run of poor results.^[1] Littlewood had previously scored seventy goals for the reserves in just over a season and brought the necessary firepower to help the club surge up the league.^[1] Manager Schofield had something of a headache in choosing either the out-of-form legend Kirkham or consistent Littlewood, and only added to the conundrum by signing Blackpool forward Bert Fishwick.^[1] Following defeats to doomed South Shields and to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, they finished the season with six consecutive clean sheets, though only won three of these games.^[1]

They finished in ninth place with 44 points, almost in exactly the same spot they had finished for the past two seasons. The defence had tightened up, but the attack, and especially top-scorer Kirkham had been somewhat off the boil.^[1] This led to Jack Lowe, Sidney Blunt, and Alex Trotter all being handed free transfers; they left for Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town, and Manchester Central respectively.^[1] Meanwhile, back-up keepers Matthews and Holdcroft were also released, the former went to Halifax Town; however the latter would eventually find himself an England international and FA Cup winner at Preston North End.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, the directors wished to leave The Old Recreation Ground for new and bigger stadia, however attempts to move to the greyhound track at Sun Street were blocked by Stoke City, who claimed the Vale would be too close to them.^[1] Overall the club lost £1,051 on the season, with their income £1,155 lower than the previous campaign.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale breezed past league rivals Barnsley and Third Division North New Brighton with two 3–0 home victories.^[1] Yet they came unstuck at Ewood Park, First Division Blackburn Rovers won 2–1 and would go on to win the final.^[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	42		18	2	1	70	27		7	7	7	30	32		100	59	1.695	+ 41		59
2	Leeds United	42		16	2	3	63	15		9	5	7	35	34		98	49	2.000	+ 49		57
3	Chelsea	42		15	2	4	46	15		8	6	7	29	30		75	45	1.667	+ 30		54
4	Preston North End	42		15	3	3	62	24		7	6	8	38	42		100	66	1.515	+ 34		53
5	Stoke City	42		14	5	2	44	17		8	3	10	34	42		78	59	1.322	+ 19		52
6	Swansea City	42		13	6	2	46	17		5	6	10	29	46		75	63	1.190	+ 12		48
7	Oldham Athletic	42		15	3	3	55	18		4	5	12	20	33		75	51	1.471	+ 24		46
8	West Bromwich Albion	42		10	7	4	50	28		7	5	9	40	42		90	70	1.286	+ 20		46
9	Port Vale	42		11	6	4	45	20		7	2	12	23	37		68	57	1.193	+ 11		44
10	Nottingham Forest	42		10	6	5	54	37		5	4	12	29	47		83	84	0.988	– 1		40
11	Grimsby Town	42		8	6	7	41	41		6	6	9	28	42		69	83	0.831	– 14		40
12	Bristol City	42		11	5	5	42	18		4	4	13	34	61		76	79	0.962	– 3		39
13	Barnsley	42		10	5	6	43	36		4	6	11	22	49		65	85	0.765	– 20		39
14	Hull City	42		9	8	4	25	19		3	7	11	16	35		41	54	0.759	– 13		39
15	Notts County	42		10	4	7	47	26		3	8	10	21	48		68	74	0.919	– 6		38
16	Wolverhampton Wanderers	42		11	5	5	43	31		2	5	14	20	60		63	91	0.692	– 28		36
17	Southampton	42		11	3	7	54	40		3	4	14	14	37		68	77	0.883	– 11		35
18	Reading	42		9	8	4	32	22		2	5	14	21	53		53	75	0.707	– 22		35
19	Blackpool	42		11	3	7	55	43		2	5	14	28	58		83	101	0.822	– 28		34
20	Clapton Orient	42		9	7	5	32	25		2	5	14	23	60		55	85	0.647	– 30		34
21	Fulham	42		12	7	2	46	22		1	0	20	22	67		68	89	0.764	– 21		33
22	South Shields	42		5	5	11	30	41		2	4	15	26	70		56	111	0.505	– 55		23

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

Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A
Result	D	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	W	W	L	D	W	W	D	L	D	L	L	W	W	D	W	D	D
Position	6	17	18	18	21	18	16	18	16	17	16	13	12	12	13	13	11	9	7	6	8	8	11	13	13	12	9	10	11	10	8	8	9	9	12	12	12	10	9	9	9	9

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
27 August 1927	Nottingham Forest	H	2–2	14,524	Lowe, Briscoe
31 August 1927	Bristol City	A	0–4	20,305
3 September 1927	Manchester City	A	0–1	37,583
10 September 1927	Hull City	H	1–2	12,169	Kirkham
17 September 1927	Preston North End	A	0–4	18,127
19 September 1927	Bristol City	H	5–1	11,319	Kirkham (2), Page (2), Briscoe
24 September 1927	Swansea City	H	2–0	10,197	Kirkham (2)
1 October 1927	Fulham	A	0–4	10,560
8 October 1927	Barnsley	H	2–1	10,070	Simms (2)
15 October 1927	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–2	18,026	Gillespie
22 October 1927	Notts County	A	4–2	9,053	Kirkham (2), Anstiss, Trotter
29 October 1927	Southampton	H	4–0	10,679	Gillespie (2), Trotter, Kirkham
5 November 1927	Stoke City	A	2–0	31,493	Anstiss, Kirkham
12 November 1927	Oldham Athletic	H	1–0	10,000	Briscoe
19 November 1927	Grimsby Town	A	0–3	10,119
26 November 1927	Chelsea	H	1–1	14,115	Gillespie
3 December 1927	Blackpool	A	6–1	7,662	Briscoe, Page, Anstiss, Gillespie, o.g., Kirkham
10 December 1927	Reading	H	3–0	8,556	Briscoe, Page, Kirkham
17 December 1927	Clapton Orient	A	1–0	9,287	Gillespie
24 December 1927	West Bromwich Albion	H	4–1	8,216	Simms (3), Gillespie
26 December 1927	Leeds United	H	1–2	18,869	Simms
27 December 1927	Leeds United	A	0–3	32,275
7 January 1928	Manchester City	H	1–2	14,310	Gillespie
21 January 1928	Hull City	A	0–1	7,106
4 February 1928	Swansea City	A	0–2	6,745
6 February 1928	Preston North End	H	2–0	9,492	Littlewood (2)
11 February 1928	Fulham	H	4–1	7,530	Littlewood (3), Page
20 February 1928	Barnsley	A	2–4	5,423	Gillespie (2)
25 February 1928	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	2–2	11,358	Page, Littlewood
3 March 1928	Notts County	H	3–0	9,664	Maddock (pen), Gillespie, Littlewood
10 March 1928	Southampton	A	3–1	9,874	Kirkham, Trotter, Jones
17 March 1928	Stoke City	H	0–0	21,071
24 March 1928	Oldham Athletic	A	1–4	11,809	Simms
31 March 1928	Grimsby Town	H	2–2	9,125	o.g., Simms
6 April 1928	South Shields	H	2–3	11,081	Page, Simms
7 April 1928	Chelsea	A	0–1	39,278
9 April 1928	South Shields	A	1–0	4,444	Fishwick
14 April 1928	Blackpool	H	3–0	5,371	Connelly, Gillespie, Griffiths
21 April 1928	Reading	A	0–0	7,664
26 April 1928	Nottingham Forest	A	2–0	3,713	Page, Kirkham
28 April 1928	Clapton Orient	H	0–0	8,966
5 May 1928	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–0	9,217

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	14 January 1928	Barnsley	H	3–0	13,162	Simms, Page, Maddock (pen)
R4	28 January 1928	New Brighton	H	3–0	10,867	Page, Kirkham, Anstiss
R5	18 February 1928	Blackburn Rovers	A	1–2	43,000	Anstiss

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK George Holdcroft 4 0 0 0 4 0 GK Howard Matthews 14 0 2 0 16 0 GK Alf Bennett 24 0 1 0 25 0 DF Jimmy Oakes 38 0 3 0 41 0 DF Jack Maddock 32 1 3 1 35 2 DF Billy Wootton 12 0 0 0 12 0 DF David Rollo 2 0 0 0 2 0 MF Bob Connelly 42 1 3 0 45 1 MF Roger Jones 8 1 0 0 8 1 MF Jack Lowe 9 1 0 0 9 1 MF Herbert Smith 15 0 1 0 16 0 MF George Whitcombe 14 0 0 0 14 0 MF Vic Rouse 38 0 3 0 41 0 MF Jack Simms 22 9 2 1 24 10 MF Phil Griffiths 11 1 0 0 11 1 MF Bert Fishwick 9 1 0 0 9 1 MF Alex Trotter 16 3 1 0 17 3 FW Tom Page 33 8 3 2 36 10 FW Wilf Kirkham 37 13 3 1 40 14 FW Billy Briscoe 20 5 2 0 22 5 FW Stewart Littlewood 6 7 0 0 7 7 FW Harry Anstiss 29 3 3 2 32 5 FW Robert Gillespie 23 12 2 0 25 12 FW Sam Smith 4 0 0 0 4 0

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Wilf Kirkham 14 Robert Gillespie 12 Tom Page 10 Jack Simms Stewart Littlewood 7 Billy Briscoe 5 Harry Anstiss Alex Trotter 3 Jack Lowe 2 Bob Connelly 1 Jack Maddock Bert Fishwick Phil Griffiths Roger Jones League Scorer Goals Wilf Kirkham 13 Robert Gillespie 12 Jack Simms 9 Tom Page 8 Stewart Littlewood 7 Billy Briscoe 5 Harry Anstiss 3 Alex Trotter Bob Connelly 1 Jack Lowe Jack Maddock Bert Fishwick Phil Griffiths Roger Jones

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
May 1927	GK		Alf Bennett	Nottingham Forest	Free transfer	[3]
May 1927	FW		Robert Gillespie	Luton Town	Free transfer	[3]
May 1927	FW		Sam Smith	Cardiff City	Free transfer	[3]
May 1927	DF		Alex Trotter	South Shields	Free transfer	[3]
June 1927	DF		George Shenton	Blythe Bridge	Free transfer	[3]
August 1927	DF		David Rollo	Blackburn Rovers	Free transfer	[3]
March 1928	FW		Bert Fishwick	Blackpool	Free transfer	[3]
March 1928	MF		Frank Williams	Preston North End	Free transfer	[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
May 1928	MF		Arthur Ecclestone		Released	[3]
May 1928	GK		George Holdcroft	Darlington	Free transfer	[3]
May 1928	MF		Jack Lowe	Oldham Athletic	Free transfer	[3]
May 1928	GK		Howard Matthews	Halifax Town	Free transfer	[3]
May 1928	FW		Sam Smith	Hull City	Free transfer	[3]
May 1928	DF		Alex Trotter	Manchester Central	Free transfer	[3]

References

Specific

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Keeping in Good Company (1919-1929)". The Valiants' Years The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 98–123. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
2. Port Vale 1927–1928 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
3. 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.