1947–48 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1947–48 season
Chairman	William Holdcroft
Manager	Gordon Hodgson
Stadium	The Old Recreation Ground
Football League Third Division South	8th (43 Points)
FA Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Ronnie Allen (13) All: Ronnie Allen (13)
Highest home attendance	18,147 vs. Notts County (28 February 1948)
Lowest home attendance	5,602 vs. Exeter City (24 April 1948)
Average home league attendance	13,569
Home colours
← 1946–47 1948–49 →

The 1947–48 season was Port Vale's 36th season of football in the Football League, and their third full season in the Third Division South.^[1] Gaining just three of their sixteen victories away from home, they were very much a club of two teams. Manager Gordon Hodgson continued his policy of developing young players, whilst work on the new stadium continued. Their club record run without failing to score reached 33 games, ending on 13 March 1948, having begun on 19 October 1946.

Manager Gordon Hodgson during his playing days.

Overview

Third Division South

The pre-season saw the arrival of outside-right John Currie from Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.^[1] The total number of players at the club was 81, though the vast majority of these amateurs who never played for the first team.^[1] Standing season tickets were reduced to £3 13s, in an attempt to boost support.^[1]

The season began with a 1–1 draw with Bristol Rovers in front of 15,714 supporters, followed four days later by a 2–1 win at Carrow Road.^[1] Following this the Vale were exceptional at home but poor away, as their unbeaten run at home reached fifteen games.^[1] Their home form was exemplified by 6–4 and 7–0 wins over Aldershot and Watford respectively, in which Ronnie Allen scored a hat-trick in both games, and Morris Jones score a hat-trick past Aldershot.^[1] The defence seeming too weak for a promotion push, Harry Hubbick was signed from Bolton Wanderers in October.^[1] The Sentinel's "Placer" complained of the weakened passing of the post-war generation, in both the Vale side and in footballers in general.^[1] In November Morris Jones was sold to Swindon Town for £2,500, having handed in a transfer request.^[1] Gordon Hodgson searched for new attacking talents, leaving his players to relax with games of table tennis, darts, and reading material.^[1] On Christmas day a 5–0 win was recorded over Brighton & Hove Albion, with defender Tommy Cheadle put into the centre-forward role.^[1] This marked the start of an eight match unbeaten run which took the "Valiants" into fourth place by the end of January.^[1]

Hodgson's policy of youth over experience led many older players to hand in transfer requests.^[1] In January Alf Bellis was traded to Bury in exchange for Walter Keeley and 'a substantial fee'.^[1] A 5–0 thrashing at muddy Plainmoor from Torquay United in February was followed by a win over Swindon Town which was disturbed by a dog on the pitch, whilst the week after came a draw in three inches of snow at Southend United.^[1] The club's promotion hopes faded with a defeat by Notts County at the Rec, England star Tommy Lawton scoring the winner.^[1] In preparation for next season Joe Dale was signed from Manchester United for £1,000.^[1] The last game of the season attracted 5,602 spectators – the lowest total of the season – ironically this was against Exeter City, their opponents in the highest attended home game of the previous campaign. This low attendance was partly blamed on the FA Cup final, which was broadcast at the same time.^[1]

They finished in eighth place with 43 points, thereby barely improving on the previous season.^[1] Ronnie Allen was the top-scorer with just thirteen goals. Scoring was very much a team effort.

Finances

On the financial side, a loss of £1,292 was reported – mainly due to a transfer debit.^[1] Gate receipts had increased to £26,666 and the wage bill had risen drastically to £13,647.^[1] Cash was needed for the ongoing construction of 'The Wembley of the North', and so schemes such as the '100 Club' were introduced, offering supporters a seat for life at the stadium at a cost of £100.^[1] Meanwhile Norman Hallam departed in the summer, who left the area to become a Methodist Minister in Carlisle.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale fell at the first hurdle, losing 2–1 to Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in a below-par performance.^[1]

Final league table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Queens Park Rangers	42	26	9	7	74	37	2.000	61
2	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	42	24	9	9	76	35	2.171	57
3	Walsall	42	21	9	12	70	40	1.750	51
4	Ipswich Town	42	23	3	16	67	61	1.098	49
5	Swansea Town	42	18	12	12	70	52	1.346	48
6	Notts County	42	19	8	15	68	59	1.153	46
7	Bristol City	42	18	7	17	77	65	1.185	43
8	Port Vale	42	16	11	15	63	54	1.167	43
9	Southend United	42	15	13	14	51	58	0.879	43
10	Reading	42	15	11	16	56	58	0.966	41
11	Exeter City	42	15	11	16	55	63	0.873	41
12	Newport County	42	14	13	15	61	73	0.836	41
13	Crystal Palace	42	13	13	16	49	49	1.000	39
14	Northampton Town	42	14	11	17	58	72	0.806	39
15	Watford	42	14	10	18	57	79	0.722	38
16	Swindon Town	42	10	16	16	41	46	0.891	36
17	Leyton Orient	42	13	10	19	51	73	0.699	36
18	Torquay United	42	11	13	18	63	62	1.016	35
19	Aldershot	42	10	15	17	45	67	0.672	35
20	Bristol Rovers	42	13	8	21	71	75	0.947	34
21	Norwich City	42	13	8	21	61	76	0.803	34
22	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	11	12	19	43	73	0.589	34

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; 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	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	D	W	L	W	W	D	L	W	D	L	W	L	D	L	W	L	W	W	L	W	D	W	W	D	W	W	L	W	D	L	L	W	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	D	D	D
Position	12	4	10	6	4	4	9	3	5	7	7	8	9	11	9	10	8	8	11	7	9	8	6	6	5	4	4	4	4	4	5	4	6	6	5	6	7	6	6	7	8	8

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Third Division South

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
23 August 1947	Bristol Rovers	H	1–1	15,714	Pointon
27 August 1947	Norwich City	A	2–1	22,024	Cheadle, Smith
30 August 1947	Northampton Town	A	1–4	9,404	Smith
1 September 1947	Norwich City	H	2–0	11,688	Pointon, Smith
6 September 1947	Aldershot	H	6–4	13,840	Allen (3), Jones (3)
10 September 1947	Watford	A	1–1	8,802	Hallam
13 September 1947	Crystal Palace	A	0–2	15,063
15 September 1947	Watford	H	7–0	12,232	Allen (3), Hallam (2), Smith (2)
20 September 1947	Torquay United	H	1–1	17,092	Bellis
27 September 1947	Swindon Town	A	0–1	16,828
4 October 1947	Southend United	H	2–1	15,106	Allen, Smith
11 October 1947	Notts County	A	1–2	20,172	Bellis
18 October 1947	Swansea Town	H	1–1	14,355	Smith
25 October 1947	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	A	0–3	17,025
1 November 1947	Ipswich Town	H	4–1	14,878	Martin (2), Allen, Pointon
8 November 1947	Bristol City	A	1–2	27,740	Allen
15 November 1947	Reading	H	1–0	13,305	Smith
22 November 1947	Walsall	A	2–1	15,309	Bellis, Allen
20 December 1947	Bristol Rovers	A	1–2	11,651	Martin
25 December 1947	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	5–0	11,431	Cheadle (2), McGarry, Martin, Triner
27 December 1947	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2–2	7,329	Cheadle, Martin
3 January 1948	Northampton Town	H	1–0	12,905	Bellis
10 January 1948	Leyton Orient	H	3–0	12,225	Keeley (2), Cheadle
17 January 1948	Aldershot	A	1–1	4,459	Cheadle
24 January 1948	Newport County	H	4–1	10,816	Pointon (2), Keeley, Martin (pen)
31 January 1948	Crystal Palace	H	4–1	13,419	Cheadle (2), Allen, Pointon
7 February 1948	Torquay United	A	0–5	6,067
14 February 1948	Swindon Town	H	1–0	14,263	Pointon
21 February 1948	Southend United	A	1–1	3,961	Martin
28 February 1948	Notts County	H	1–2	18,147	Allen
6 March 1948	Swansea Town	A	0–2	18,180
13 March 1948	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	H	2–1	15,221	Allen, Martin
20 March 1948	Ipswich Town	A	1–2	11,100	Pointon
26 March 1948	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–2	17,889
27 March 1948	Bristol City	H	1–0	12,541	Pointon
29 March 1948	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–2	24,053	Pointon
3 April 1948	Reading	A	0–2	12,293
7 April 1948	Exeter City	A	0–0	7,653
10 April 1948	Walsall	H	0–1	12,282
17 April 1948	Leyton Orient	A	0–0	12,430
24 April 1948	Exeter City	H	1–1	5,602	Smith
1 May 1948	Newport County	A	0–0	8,309

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	29 November 1947	Crystal Palace	A	1–2	13,000	Smith

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK George Heppell 39 0 1 0 40 0 DF Basil Hayward 24 0 0 0 24 0 DF Tommy Cheadle 23 8 0 0 23 8 DF Garth Butler 39 0 1 0 40 0 DF Bob Pursell 7 0 0 0 7 0 DF Harry Hubbick 30 0 1 0 31 0 MF Alf Bellis 17 4 1 0 18 4 MF Wilf Smith 1 0 0 0 1 0 MF Don Triner 2 1 0 0 2 1 MF Jimmy Todd 24 0 0 0 24 0 MF Alan Martin 42 8 1 0 43 8 MF Bill McGarry 26 1 1 0 27 1 MF Eric Eastwood 18 0 1 0 19 0 MF Norman Hallam 29 3 1 0 30 3 MF Walter Keeley 16 3 0 0 16 3 MF Joe Dale 3 0 0 0 3 0 MF John Currie 9 0 0 0 9 0 MF Ted Shore 3 0 0 0 3 0 FW Jack Smith 26 9 1 1 27 10 FW Bill Pointon 29 10 1 0 30 10 FW Morris Jones 14 3 0 0 14 3 FW Ronnie Allen 38 13 1 0 39 13 FW Eric Prince 3 0 0 0 3 0

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Ronnie Allen 13 Bill Pointon 10 Jack Smith Alan Martin 8 Tommy Cheadle Alf Bellis 4 Morris Jones 3 Norman Hallam Walter Keeley Bill McGarry 1 Don Triner League Scorer Goals Ronnie Allen 13 Bill Pointon 10 Jack Smith 9 Alan Martin 8 Tommy Cheadle Alf Bellis 4 Morris Jones 3 Norman Hallam Walter Keeley Bill McGarry 1 Don Triner

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
June 1947	FW		Len Barber	Bury	Free transfer	[3]
June 1947	MF		John Currie	Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic	Free transfer	[3]
October 1947	DF		Harry Hubbick	Bolton Wanderers	£1,000	[3]
January 1948	MF		Walter Keeley	Bury	Exchange	[3]
April 1948	MF		Joe Dale	Manchester United	£1,000	[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
November 1947	FW		Morris Jones	Swindon Town	£2,500	[3]
January 1948	MF		Alf Bellis	Bury	'Substantial'	[3]
February 1948	FW		Eric Prince	Macclesfield Town	Released	[3]
Summer 1948	MF		John Currie		Released	[3]
Summer 1948	MF		Ted Shore	Coventry City	Released	[3]
Summer 1948	FW		Jack Smith	Congleton Town	'Free transfer	[3]
Summer 1948	MF		Don Triner	Witton Albion	Released	[3]

References

Specific

1. 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 1947–1948 : 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.