1970–71 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1970–71 season

Chairman

Mark Singer
(until February)
Graham Bourne
(February onwards)

Manager

Gordon Lee

Stadium

Vale Park

Football League Third Division

17th (42 Points)

First Round

First Round

Top goalscorer

League: John James (15)
All: John James (15)

Highest home attendance

11,224 vs. Aston Villa (19 October 1970)

Lowest home attendance

3,450 vs. Reading (13 March 1971)

Average home league attendance

5,437

Home colours

← 1969–70

1971–72 →

The 1970–71 season was Port Vale's 59th season of football in the Football League, and their first (seventh overall) season back in the Third Division following their promotion from the Fourth Division.^[1] Gordon Lee led his team to safety in the league, though Vale exited both cup competitions at the first stage.

Overview

Third Division

The pre-season saw the arrival of centre-half Roy Cross (Walsall); inside-forward Brian Horton (Hednesford Town); and full-back Mick Hopkinson (Mansfield Town).^[1]

The season began with two wins, but a run of one win in ten games then followed. In September, four of the five directors resigned, one of them (Len Cliff) stated that "the club is being run by outsiders".^[1] A new board was formed by November.^[1] Meanwhile, on 13 September the club suffered a loss of 7–3 at Gay Meadow to Shrewsbury Town, despite a Bobby Gough hat-trick – the match also saw a sending off, an attempted pitch invasion, and a £35 fine for Gordon Lee for remarks he made to referee Ricky Nicholson.^[1] Tommy McLaren then returned from injury to lead Vale on a four match winning streak that included a 2–0 win over fallen-giants Aston Villa in front of a Burslem crowd of 11,224 fans.^[1] Four straight defeats soon came after this sequence however, as Vale's form was patchy.^[1] In December, Ron Wilson left the club as he emigrated to South Africa due to his son's ill health.^[1] A 1–0 defeat at Villa Park on 16 January was the first of a nine match streak without a victory.^[1] At the end of the month Lee signed John Brodie from Northern Premier League side Bradford Park Avenue for £250.^[1] During this spell forward Sammy Morgan began to be jeered by fans after losing his scoring touch.^[1] He also began studying to be a teacher.^[1] Lee said that "I really feel some of our lads have been singled out by the boo boys. If only they realised that encouragement can lift players, things would be so much better".^[1] In February, Mark Singer resigned as chairman, and was replaced by Graham Bourne.^[1] By then the club were hovering above the relegation zone, but a record of just ten goals conceded in their final twelve games was enough to secure safety, with Brian Horton in good form.^[1]

They finished in seventeenth spot, their 42 points leaving them three clear of relegation.^[1] John James was the top-scorer with fifteen goals.^[1] As a reward for their endeavours, the players were taken on a working holiday to Benidorm, Spain.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a profit of £3,424 was made, the club's first profitable season since 1962–63.^[1] A £19,322 donation from the Sportsmen's Association and the Development Fund helped to reduce the club's total debt to £134,640.^[1] Three players were released: Mick Hopkinson (Boston United); John Green (Northwich Victoria); and John King (Wigan Athletic).^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale were knocked out in the First Round by Fourth Division Notts County 1–0 in a 'physical' encounter at Meadow Lane.^[1]

In the League Cup, Vale were eliminated once again at the first stage, this time Walsall left Burslem with a 1–0 win.

Final league table

Main article: 1970–71 Football League

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Preston North End	46	22	17	7	63	39	1.615	61
2	Fulham	46	24	12	10	68	41	1.659	60
3	Halifax Town	46	22	12	12	74	55	1.345	56
4	Aston Villa	46	19	15	12	54	46	1.174	53
5	Chesterfield	46	17	17	12	66	38	1.737	51
6	Bristol Rovers	46	19	13	14	69	50	1.380	51
7	Mansfield Town	46	18	15	13	64	62	1.032	51
8	Rotherham United	46	17	16	13	64	60	1.067	50
9	Wrexham	46	18	13	15	72	65	1.108	49
10	Torquay United	46	19	11	16	54	57	0.947	49
11	Swansea City	46	15	16	15	59	56	1.054	46
12	Barnsley	46	17	11	18	49	52	0.942	45
13	Shrewsbury Town	46	16	13	17	58	62	0.935	45
14	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	14	16	16	50	47	1.064	44
15	Plymouth Argyle	46	12	19	15	63	63	1.000	43
16	Rochdale	46	14	15	17	61	68	0.897	43
17	Port Vale	46	15	12	19	52	59	0.881	42
18	Tranmere Rovers	46	10	22	14	45	55	0.818	42
19	Bradford City	46	13	14	19	49	62	0.790	40
20	Walsall	46	14	11	21	51	57	0.895	39
21	Reading	46	14	11	21	48	85	0.565	39
22	Bury	46	12	13	21	52	60	0.867	37
23	Doncaster Rovers	46	13	9	24	45	66	0.682	35
24	Gillingham	46	10	13	23	42	67	0.627	33

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	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H
Result	W	W	L	L	W	L	D	L	L	L	D	D	W	W	W	W	D	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	W	L	D	L	D	D	L	D	L	L	W	W	D	L	W	D	L	L	W	D	W	D
Position	1	1	4	10	6	15	14	16	19	18	19	19	17	12	11	9	9	10	14	16	18	16	18	15	12	15	13	15	15	14	18	19	20	20	18	13	15	15	15	16	18	18	16	17	15	17

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Third Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
15 August 1970	Swansea City	A	2–0	10,713	Wilson, Morgan
22 August 1970	Rochdale	H	4–1	6,196	McLaren (2), James, Morris
29 August 1970	Plymouth Argyle	A	1–2	7,753	Morgan
1 September 1970	Bristol Rovers	A	0–3	7,931
5 September 1970	Preston North End	H	1–0	6,954	James (pen)
12 September 1970	Shrewsbury Town	A	3–7	5,856	Gough (3)
19 September 1970	Gillingham	H	1–1	5,178	James
21 September 1970	Chesterfield	H	0–2	5,930
26 September 1970	Walsall	A	1–3	5,456	James (pen)
28 September 1970	Mansfield Town	A	0–2	8,121
3 October 1970	Barnsley	H	1–3	4,490	Gough
10 October 1970	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–0	9,383
17 October 1970	Swansea City	H	4–0	4,962	Gough (2), James, Morris
19 October 1970	Aston Villa	H	2–0	11,224	James, Gough
24 October 1970	Rotherham United	H	1–0	7,215	McLaren
31 October 1970	Bury	A	3–2	3,669	Lacey, Horton, Boulton
7 November 1970	Tranmere Rovers	H	2–2	5,495	Morris, McLaren
9 November 1970	Fulham	H	0–1	8,728
14 November 1970	Reading	A	1–2	5,036	Morris
28 November 1970	Halifax Town	A	0–2	3,404
5 December 1970	Torquay United	H	0–1	4,252
19 December 1970	Rochdale	A	3–0	3,619	James, Summerscales, Morris
26 December 1970	Wrexham	H	0–3	6,303
2 January 1971	Doncaster Rovers	A	2–1	2,997	Cross, Gough
9 January 1971	Mansfield Town	H	2–0	4,412	Morris, James
16 January 1971	Aston Villa	A	0–1	28,933
23 January 1971	Bradford City	A	1–1	4,436	Morris
30 January 1971	Halifax Town	H	0–1	4,059
5 February 1971	Torquay United	A	1–1	6,817	Morris
12 February 1971	Bradford City	H	0–0	4,361
20 February 1971	Fulham	A	1–4	10,389	Green
27 February 1971	Bury	H	0–0	3,805
6 March 1971	Rotherham United	A	1–2	6,866	James
10 March 1971	Chesterfield	A	0–3	7,592
13 March 1971	Reading	H	3–1	3,450	McLaren (2), Morgan
15 March 1971	Doncaster Rovers	H	1–0	4,782	James (pen)
22 March 1971	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–1	3,734	James
27 March 1971	Preston North End	A	0–1	16,591
3 April 1971	Plymouth Argyle	H	2–1	3,518	James, Morgan
10 April 1971	Wrexham	A	1–1	8,186	Boulton
12 April 1971	Shrewsbury Town	H	0–1	5,655
13 April 1971	Barnsley	A	0–1	4,837
17 April 1971	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–1	3,789	Morgan (2)
24 April 1971	Gillingham	A	1–1	2,207	James
26 April 1971	Bristol Rovers	H	2–0	4,525	James (2)
1 May 1971	Walsall	H	1–1	5,758	Lacey

FA Cup

Main article: 1970–71 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	21 November 1970	Notts County	A	0–1	15,965

League Cup

Main article: 1970–71 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	18 August 1970	Walsall	H	0–1	6,605

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Keith Ball	28	0	1	0	1	0	30	0
GK	Stuart Sharratt	18	0	0	0	0	0	18	0
DF	Roy Sproson	6	0	0	0	1	0	7	0
DF	Clint Boulton	45	2	1	0	1	0	47	2
DF	Ron Wilson	16	1	0	0	1	0	17	1
DF	Bill Summerscales	7	1	0	0	0	0	7	1
DF	Roy Cross	42	1	1	0	0	0	43	1
DF	Mick Hopkinson	13	0	1	0	0	0	14	0
DF	John Brodie	19	0	0	0	0	0	19	0
MF	Tommy McLaren	36	6	1	0	1	0	38	6
MF	John Green	25	1	1	0	1	0	27	1
MF	John King	26	0	0	0	1	0	27	0
MF	Brian Horton	39	1	1	0	0	0	40	1
MF	Tony Lacey	44	2	1	0	1	0	46	2
FW	John James	45	15	1	0	1	0	47	15
FW	Mick Morris	46	8	1	0	1	0	48	8
FW	Bobby Gough	36	8	1	0	0	0	37	8
FW	Sammy Morgan	38	6	1	0	1	0	40	6
FW	Bob Mountford	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
John James	15
Mick Morris	8
Bobby Gough	8
Tommy McLaren	6
Sammy Morgan	6
Tony Lacey	2
Clint Boulton	2
Ron Wilson	1
Bill Summerscales
Roy Cross
John Green
Brian Horton

League

Scorer	Goals
John James	15
Mick Morris	8
Bobby Gough	8
Tommy McLaren	6
Sammy Morgan	6
Tony Lacey	2
Clint Boulton	2
Ron Wilson	1
Bill Summerscales
Roy Cross
John Green
Brian Horton

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
June 1970	DF	Roy Cross	Walsall	Free transfer	^[3]
July 1970	DF	Mick Hopkinson	Mansfield Town	Free transfer	^[3]
July 1970	MF	Brian Horton	Hednesford Town	'a pint of shandy'	^[3]
January 1971	DF	John Brodie	Bradford Park Avenue	£250	^[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
December 1970	DF	Ron Wilson	Hellenic	Released	^[3]
May 1971	DF	Mick Hopkinson	Boston United	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1971	MF	John King	Wigan Athletic	Free transfer	^[3]
Summer 1971	MF	John Green	Northwich Victoria	Released	^[3]

References

Specific

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Kent, Jeff (1990). "Surviving on a Shoestring (1969–1979)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 227–257. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
↑ Port Vale 1970–1971 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 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.

Port Vale F.C. seasons

1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 99–1900

1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10

1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20

1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 99–2000

2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20

Port Vale Football Club

History Managers Records Seasons

Grounds	Athletic Ground Old Recreation Ground Vale Park

Players	25+ appearances <25 appearances Player of the Year Winners

Matches	1989 Play-off Final 1993 League Trophy Final 1993 Play-off Final 1996 Anglo-Italian Final 2001 League Trophy Final Potteries derby

1970–71 in English football

« 1969–70

1971–72 »

FA competitions

Football League

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons

First Division	Arsenal Blackpool Burnley Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leeds United Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers Southampton Stoke City Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bristol City Cardiff City Carlisle United Charlton Athletic Hull City Leicester City Leyton Orient Luton Town Middlesbrough Millwall Norwich City Oxford United Portsmouth Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield United Sunderland Swindon Town Watford

Third Division	Aston Villa Barnsley Bradford City Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol Rovers Bury Chesterfield Doncaster Rovers Fulham Gillingham Halifax Town Mansfield Town Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Port Vale Reading Rochdale Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Torquay United Tranmere Rovers Walsall Wrexham

Fourth Division	Aldershot Barrow Bournemouth Brentford Cambridge United Chester Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Darlington Exeter City Grimsby Town Hartlepool United Lincoln City Newport County Northampton Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Peterborough United Scunthorpe United Southend United Southport Stockport County Workington York City

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