1976–77 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1976–77 season
Chairman	Mark Singer
Manager	Roy Sproson
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Third Division	19th (38 Points)
FA Cup	Fifth Round
League Cup	First Round
Debenhams Cup	Runners-up
Player of the Year	David Harris
Top goalscorer	League: Ken Beamish (12) All: Ken Beamish (18)
Highest home attendance	18,068 vs. Burnley (29 January 1977)
Lowest home attendance	2,984 vs. Portsmouth (2 April 1977)
Average home league attendance	4,356
Home colours
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

The 1976–77 season was Port Vale's 65th season of football in the Football League, and their seventh successive season (13th overall) in the Third Division.^[1] In the FA Cup, Vale reached the Fifth Round for the first time since 1961–62, after progressing past two Second Division clubs. There they were knocked out by Aston Villa at Villa Park in front of nearly fifty thousand spectators. Back in the league, Vale struggled to get by with an average home attendance of 4,356, and finished nineteenth, just three points from safety. Entered into the Debenhams Cup, they lost 4–3 to Chester.

Overview

Third Division

The pre-season saw manager Roy Sproson add two youngsters to his squad: forward Kevin Kennerley (Burnley) and defender Ian Osborne (Birmingham City).^[1] The battle with Stoke-on-Trent City Council continued over the legality of Vale's market trading operation.^[1] The club were also in trouble with The Football Association, who fined them £400 for the 47 bookings received in the previous campaign.^[1] Vale decided to crack down on player indiscipline by fining players £25 for dissent and £50 for violence.^[1] As 'a piece of good business' which 'could not be turned down', the club also sold star defender Terry Lees to Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam for £25,000.^[1] Another late signing was Geoff Davies, who had returned from a spell in the United States.^[1]

The season opened with a loss, a draw, and then a 2–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.^[1] Then only one point was gained in the next six matches.^[1] To bolster the side in came Stoke City's veteran defender Eric Skeels, who was also returning from a spell in the USA.^[1] Mick Cullerton then severed a cartilage, which meant five months out of action for the star striker.^[1] To replace him Sproson signed Blackburn Rovers' Ken Beamish (£12,000) and Wigan Athletic's John Rogers ('a small fee').^[1] The club also made other clubs aware that they would listen to any offers for players, but there was little in the way of interest.^[1] In October, former England and Wolves defender Bobby Thomson was another player returning from the States.^[1] Signing with the Vale, he impressed so much that he was made club captain in his first week at Vale Park.^[1] A club record run of 42 away games without a clean sheet began on 18 December, and would last until 30 September 1978. The first of this run was a 1–1 draw with Rotherham United at Millmoor, after this match "Millers" boss Jimmy McGuigan stated that Vale showed 'the worst exhibition of football thuggery I have ever seen'.^[1] Even though the defence struggled away from home, Beamish did not, as he scored his first ten goals for the club away from Burslem.^[1] In a 4–2 win over Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on 3 January, Beamish scored a hat-trick.^[1] Later in the month Geoff Davies had his contract cancelled by mutual consent.^[1]

Vale's form tailed off, though Terry Alcock returned briefly to play a handful of games.^[1] Thomson also returned to the USA, Ray Williams was transferred to Northwich Victoria for 'a small fee', and Colin Tartt was sold to Chesterfield for £15,000.^[1] In their places were new signings Alan Lamb (£5,000 from Preston North End) and Peter Sutcliffe (£3,000 from Stockport County), whilst a fit again Cullerton was like a new signing.^[1] The club had drifted into the bottom four, but a six match unbeaten run with a prolific Cullerton took them to safety.^[1] In the background was an ongoing power struggle in the boardroom.^[1] In late-March they then received a 6–2 beating at Wrexham and then a 4–0 beating from Chesterfield at Saltergate.^[1] The club suffered an injury crisis in April, with both Keith Chadwick and John Brodie having been forced to retire through injury.^[1] Relegation was avoided however with six points from the final five games.^[1] The final game of the season was against Rotherham United, who needed a six goal win margin to gain promotion.^[1] The match saw three penalties, three bookings and crowd trouble, though United were four goals ahead they failed to find the remaining two, and instead the "Valiants" scored a late goal.^[1]

They finished in nineteenth place with 38 points, three points above the drop.^[1] Their 47 goals scored tally was lower only than Grimsby's tally.^[1] They only recorded two victories on their travels.^[1] At the end of the season was the short-lived Debenhams Cup competition, Vale lost 4–3 to Chester over two legs, but still received a runners-up prize of £5,000.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a loss of £5,959 was made despite a donation of £23,860 from the Development Fund.^[1] Gate receipts had risen to £60,115, however wages and signing-on fees had risen to £139,012.^[1] The bank overdraft stood at £15,000, though the club's total debt stood at £123,863.^[1] On the coaching front, Roy Chapman was replaced by Colin Harper.^[1] Meanwhile three players were handed free transfers: ten year club veteran Tommy McLaren (Telford United), Eric Skeels (Leek Town), and Ian Osborne (Hillingdon Borough).^[1] Also John Rogers was sold to Altrincham for £2,000.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale advanced past Fourth Division Southport with a John Rogers brace at Haig Avenue. A 3–0 win over Barnsley then put Vale into the Third Round, where they came up against Second Division Hull City. After a 1–1 draw at Boothferry Park, Vale knocked the "Tigers" out with a 3–1 win at Vale Park. The "Valiants" beat Burnley – another second tier team – in the Fourth Round with a 2–1 home win. The Fifth Round held First Division Aston Villa at Villa Park. Villa won 3–0 in front of a crowd of 46,872. The score was 'flattering' to the "Villans" as they scored two late goals. The match was shown on television.^[1]

In the League Cup, Welsh club Wrexham knocked the Vale out 2–1 on aggregate, following a 1–1 draw in Burslem and a 1–0 win at the Racecourse Ground.

Final league table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Mansfield Town	46	28	8	10	78	42	+36	64
2	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	25	11	10	83	40	+43	61
3	Crystal Palace	46	23	13	10	68	40	+28	59
4	Rotherham United	46	22	15	9	69	44	+25	59
5	Wrexham	46	24	10	12	80	54	+26	58
6	Preston North End	46	21	12	13	64	43	+21	54
7	Bury	46	23	8	15	64	59	+5	54
8	Sheffield Wednesday	46	22	9	15	65	55	+10	53
9	Lincoln City	46	19	14	13	77	70	+7	52
10	Shrewsbury Town	46	18	11	17	65	59	+6	47
11	Swindon Town	46	15	15	16	68	75	-7	45
12	Gillingham	46	16	12	18	55	64	-9	44
13	Chester	46	18	8	20	48	58	-10	44
14	Tranmere Rovers	46	13	17	16	51	53	-2	43
15	Walsall	46	13	15	18	57	65	-8	41
16	Peterborough United	46	13	15	18	55	65	-10	41
17	Oxford United	46	12	15	19	55	65	-10	39
18	Chesterfield	46	14	10	22	56	64	-8	38
19	Port Vale	46	11	16	19	47	71	-24	38
20	Portsmouth	46	11	14	21	53	70	-17	36
21	Reading	46	13	9	24	49	73	-24	35
22	Northampton Town	46	13	8	25	60	75	-15	34
23	Grimsby Town	46	12	9	25	45	69	-24	33
24	York City	46	10	12	24	50	89	-39	32

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; 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	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	L	D	W	L	L	L	D	L	L	W	L	D	D	W	D	L	D	D	D	L	L	W	D	L	W	L	D	W	D	D	D	W	L	W	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	W	W	D	D	L
Position	18	17	7	18	20	23	20	23	23	18	22	21	21	18	18	19	19	19	21	21	22	20	21	22	19	19	21	21	20	18	17	17	19	17	17	18	16	17	19	21	21	19	18	19	18	19

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Third Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
21 August 1976	Swindon Town	A	0–1	6,336
23 August 1976	Chesterfield	H	1–1	4,056	Williams
28 August 1976	Sheffield Wednesday	H	2–0	5,033	Cullerton, Tartt
4 September 1976	Lincoln City	A	0–2	6,059
11 September 1976	Gillingham	H	1–2	3,015	Tartt
14 September 1976	Preston North End	A	0–4	6,592
18 September 1976	Reading	A	1–1	7,104	Brownbill
25 September 1976	Shrewsbury Town	H	1–2	4,180	Beech
2 October 1976	Walsall	A	1–3	5,459	Skeels
8 October 1976	Northampton Town	H	2–1	3,962	Brownbill, Rogers
16 October 1976	Wrexham	H	2–3	5,347	Cullerton, Tartt
23 October 1976	Portsmouth	A	1–1	7,456	Beamish
25 October 1976	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–1	3,578	Beamish
30 October 1976	Grimsby Town	H	2–0	3,714	Rogers (2)
1 November 1976	Preston North End	H	0–0	4,686
6 November 1976	York City	A	0–1	2,153
13 November 1976	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–2	6,449	Williams, Bailey
27 November 1976	Oxford United	A	0–0	4,015
18 December 1976	Rotherham United	A	1–1	5,012	Beamish
27 December 1976	Bury	H	0–1	5,862
28 December 1976	Mansfield Town	A	1–2	7,977	Beamish
3 January 1977	Grimsby Town	A	4–2	5,870	Beamish (3), Kennerley
22 January 1977	Swindon Town	H	2–2	4,446	Beech, Ridley
1 February 1977	Crystal Palace	A	0–2	11,149
5 February 1977	Sheffield Wednesday	A	2–1	13,105	Beamish, Rogers
7 February 1977	York City	H	0–2	4,683
19 February 1977	Gillingham	A	1–1	5,084	Rogers
28 February 1977	Reading	H	1–0	4,212	Beech
5 March 1977	Shrewsbury Town	A	1–1	4,236	Rogers
7 March 1977	Peterborough United	H	1–1	4,417	Cullerton
11 March 1977	Walsall	H	0–0	4,819
14 March 1977	Chester	H	1–0	4,451	Cullerton (pen)
19 March 1977	Northampton Town	A	0–3	5,808
21 March 1977	Lincoln City	H	1–0	3,987	Cullerton
24 March 1977	Wrexham	A	2–6	6,383	Beamish (2)
30 March 1977	Chesterfield	A	0–4	3,426
2 April 1977	Portsmouth	H	1–0	2,984	Cullerton
8 April 1977	Bury	A	0–3	5,619
9 April 1977	Mansfield Town	H	1–4	4,389	Beech
16 April 1977	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–1	3,188	Dulson
23 April 1977	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–1	23,482
26 April 1977	Crystal Palace	H	4–1	3,990	o.g., Cullerton, Sutcliffe, Beamish
30 April 1977	Oxford United	H	2–1	4,058	Bailey, o.g.
4 May 1977	Peterborough United	A	1–1	3,883	Cullerton
7 May 1977	Chester	A	1–1	2,978	Beamish
14 May 1977	Rotherham United	H	1–4	4,271	Cullerton (pen)

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	20 November 1976	Southport	A	2–1	4,102	Rogers (2)
R2	11 December 1976	Barnsley	H	3–0	5,451	Williams, Griffiths, Beamish
R3	8 January 1977	Hull City	A	1–1	9,694	Beamish
R3 Replay	10 January 1977	Hull City	H	3–1	10,668	Beamish (2), Kennerley
R4	29 January 1977	Burnley	H	2–1	18,068	Tartt, Brownbill
R5	26 February 1977	Aston Villa	A	0–3	46,872

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	14 August 1976	Wrexham	H	1–1	3,912	Cullerton (pen)
R1 2nd Leg	18 August 1976	Wrexham	A	0–1	4,320

Debenhams Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
Final 1st Leg	16 May 1977	Chester	H	2–0	3,459	Griffiths, Beamish
Final 2nd Leg	24 May 1977	Chester	A	1–4	3,920	Beamish

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup League Cup Debenhams Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK John Connaughton 38 0 4 0 2 0 0 0 44 0 GK Trevor Dance 8 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 12 0 DF John Brodie 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 DF Neil Griffiths 30 0 6 1 2 0 2 1 40 2 DF David Harris 40 0 6 0 0 0 2 0 48 0 DF Garry Dulson 28 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 29 1 DF Bobby Thomson 18 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 24 0 DF Eric Skeels 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 1 DF Ian Osborne 15 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 17 0 DF Andy Clements 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 DF Terry Alcock 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 MF Tommy McLaren 33 0 4 0 0 0 2 0 39 0 MF Colin Tartt 25 3 4 1 2 0 0 0 31 4 MF John Ridley 35 1 6 0 2 0 2 0 45 1 MF Terry Bailey 39 2 6 0 2 0 2 0 49 2 MF Kenny Beech 27 4 4 0 2 0 2 0 35 4 MF Alan Lamb 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 15 0 MF Peter Sutcliffe 12 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 14 1 MF Kevin Kennerley 23 1 4 1 2 0 1 0 30 2 MF Chris Dangerfield 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 MF Geoff Davies 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 0 FW Ray Williams 21 2 4 1 2 0 0 0 27 3 FW Derek Brownbill 19 2 2 1 2 0 0 0 23 3 FW Mick Cullerton 25 9 0 0 1 1 2 0 28 10 FW John Rogers 26 6 6 2 0 0 2 0 34 8 FW Ken Beamish 37 12 5 4 0 0 2 2 44 18 FW Dean Martin 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Ken Beamish 18 Mick Cullerton 10 John Rogers 8 Kenny Beech 4 Colin Tartt Ray Williams 2 Derek Brownbill Terry Bailey 2 Neil Griffiths Kevin Kennerley Garry Dulson 1 Eric Skeels John Ridley Peter Sutcliffe League Scorer Goals Ken Beamish 12 Mick Cullerton 9 John Rogers 6 Kenny Beech 4 Colin Tartt 3 Ray Williams 2 Derek Brownbill Terry Bailey Kevin Kennerley 1 Garry Dulson Eric Skeels John Ridley Peter Sutcliffe

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1976	MF		Geoff Davies	Chicago Sting	Free transfer	[3]
1976	DF		Ian Osborne	Birmingham City	Free transfer	[3]
May 1976	MF		Kevin Kennerley	Burnley	Free transfer	[3]
July 1976	GK		Trevor Dance		Free transfer	[3]
July 1976	FW		Dean Martin	Stoke City	Trial	[3]
August 1976	MF		Chris Dangerfield	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Trial	[3]
September 1976	FW		Ken Beamish	Blackburn Rovers	£12,000	[3]
September 1976	DF		Eric Skeels	Stoke City	Free transfer	[3]
October 1976	FW		John Rogers	Portland Timbers	Free transfer	[3]
October 1976	DF		Bobby Thomson	Hartford Bicentennials	Free transfer	[3]
February 1977	DF		Terry Alcock	Blackpool	Free transfer	[3]
March 1977	MF		Alan Lamb	Preston North End	£5,000	[3]
March 1977	MF		Peter Sutcliffe	Stockport County	£3,000	[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
August 1976	MF		Chris Dangerfield	Coventry City	Trial ended	[3]
September 1976	FW		Dean Martin	Stoke City	Trial ended	[3]
January 1977	MF		Geoff Davies	San Jose Earthquakes	Free transfer	[3]
March 1977	MF		Keith Chadwick		Retired	[3]
March 1977	MF		Colin Tartt	Chesterfield	£15,000	[3]
March 1977	DF		Bobby Thomson	Hartford Bicentennials	Free transfer	[3]
March 1977	FW		Ray Williams	Northwich Victoria	'small'	[3]
May 1977	MF		Tommy McLaren	Telford United	Free transfer	[3]
May 1977	DF		Ian Osborne	Hillingdon Borough	Free transfer	[3]
May 1977	DF		Trevor Robson		Released	[3]
July 1977	FW		John Rogers	Altrincham	£2,000	[3]
Summer 1977	DF		Eric Skeels	Leek Town	Free transfer	[3]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
February 1977	DF		Andy Clements	Bolton Wanderers	April 1977	[3]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
1976	MF		Geoff Davies	Hartlepool United	1976	[3]
1977	DF		Terry Alcock	Portland Timbers	1977	[3]

References

Specific

1. 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.
2. Port Vale 1976–1977 : 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.