1983–84 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1983–84 season
Chairman	Jim Lloyd
Manager	John McGrath (until December) John Rudge (December onwards)
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Third Division	23rd (43 Points)
FA Cup	First Round
League Cup	Second Round
League Trophy	Second Round
Player of the Year	Eamonn O'Keefe
Top goalscorer	League: Eamonn O'Keefe (10) All: Eamonn O'Keefe (11)
Highest home attendance	19,855 vs. Manchester United (3 October 1983)
Lowest home attendance	2,299 vs. Millwall (14 May 1984)
Average home league attendance	4,023
Home colours
← 1982–83 1984–85 →

The 1983–84 season was Port Vale's 72nd season of football in the Football League, and first (15th overall) back in the Third Division following their promotion from the Fourth Division.^[1] The club suffered a horrendous start, and John McGrath lost his job before Christmas; he was replaced by his assistant John Rudge. Rudge instigated an immense turnaround in results, but Vale still ended up relegated, six points shy of safety. Ireland international Eamonn O'Keefe was top-scorer and Player of the Year, and young Mark Bright showed his potential, though left at the end of the season.

Overview

Third Division

The pre-season saw John McGrath pay Wigan Athletic £10,000 for Ireland international Eamonn O'Keefe.^[1] He also brought in three players on free transfers: Tommy Gore (Bury), Gary Pollard (Chesterfield), and Chris Pearce (Rochdale).^[1] The club reported record season ticket sales, however several players refused to sign new contracts.^[1] As a result, Barry Siddall, Russell Bromage, Geoff Hunter, and Terry Armstrong remained on weekly contracts.^[1]

The season began with McGrath's new attacking tactics failing miserably, despite a 2–0 win over Bristol Rovers in the fourth game of the programme.^[1] Fifteen league games without a win followed, keeping the club rooted at the foot of the table.^[1] The Sentinel's Chris Harper commented that "Vale cannot go on being applauded off the park as entertaining losers."^[1] Phil Sproson noted that the ongoing contract problems caused unrest in the camp.^[1] Siddall handed in his notice, whilst Bob Newton and £8,000 were traded to Chesterfield for the services of Martin Henderson.^[1] Bromage walked out on the club after they refused to give him a contract lasting beyond two years.^[1] On 31 October, McGrath had to use 41-year-old coach Alan Oakes in a 1–0 defeat to Plymouth Argyle.^[1] Chairman Jim Lloyd then blocked McGrath's attempt to sign defender Ken Fogarty, showing how little confidence the board had in their manager.^[1] McGrath complained in the media, only to be 'gagged', instructed only to speak to the media on team affairs.^[1] Supporters began organizing demonstrations against Lloyd, and in favour of McGrath.^[1] In November Siddall and Bromage returned to sign new contracts.^[1] Steve Fox was suspended by the club for a fortnight after he refused to play in defence, and on 26 November Burnley thrashed Vale 7–0 at Turf Moor in front of Granada TV cameras.^[1] Starting December nine points adrift of safety, paying the third-highest wage bill in the division (£9,000 a week), and home gate receipts down to around £3,000, McGrath was suspended on full pay.^[1] The club received a flood of letters in protest, 'some just abusive', but McGrath left permanently after being compensated financially.^[1]

John Rudge was appointed caretaker-manager, and made his first signing by taking midfielder Kevin Young on loan from Burnley.^[1] His side were defeated 4–0 at Deepdale by Preston North End, and finished the game with just nine men.^[1] By now thirteen points short of safety, and seven points from their nearest competitors, The Sentinel's Chris Harper believed them to be 'the poorest side in the Third Division by quite a long chalk'.^[1] The revival started the next day, with a 2–0 win over Sheffield United the first of four straight home wins that cut the gap to safety down to only four points.^[1] O'Keefe and Henderson formed a potent striking partnership, whilst Young added balance to the midfield.^[1] Jim Steel was sold off to Wrexham for £10,000.^[1] Rudge said the battle to avoid relegation was as difficult a job as 'trying to climb Everest in a pair of pumps'.^[1] Struggling again in February, their 4–2 win over Newport County lifted them off the bottom spot.^[1] Following a 4–3 win over Brentford on 3 March, Rudge was appointed as manager until the end of the season.^[1] He took Millwall's Andy Massey on loan, but failed to re-sign Bob Newton.^[1] On 19 March, Vale defeated fellow strugglers Southend United 2–1 at Roots Hall, their first away game of the league campaign, it took them out of the relegation zone.^[1] The job only got more difficult for Rudge however, as an injury crisis developed, and the team went nine games with just one victory.^[1] Young striker Mark Bright scored five times in the final six games, yet relegation was all but confirmed despite a 1–0 win over promotion-chasing Hull City.^[1] Just 2,299 turned up at Vale Park for a final day 1–0 victory over Millwall, yet a pitch invasion still ensued, with the invaders chanting "We'll be back".^[1]

They finished in 23rd place, ahead only of Exeter City.^[1] Only Exeter and Wigan Athletic scored fewer, and only Exeter conceded more goals.^[1] Player of the Year Eamonn O'Keefe was top-scorer with eleven goals, yet it was Mark Bright who was a revelation.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a £50,601 profit was recorded with donations from the Development Fund of £146,177 and an income of £73,023 from the open market rents.^[1] Wages had been cut back to £310,542, whilst gate receipts rose to £180,504.^[1] The club's shirt sponsors were PMT. Steve Fox left for Chester City and Gary Pollard joined Mansfield Town.^[1] However Mark Bright signed with Leicester City against Rudge's wishes, and a tribunal handed Vale £33,333 and top-up clauses.^[1] O'Keefe also requested a transfer, as he felt he would receive no further international caps playing in the fourth tier.^[1] Mick Cullerton, then Vale's commercial manager, later claimed that vast wage disparities in the squad caused discontent and reduced club morale.^[2]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale were eliminated at the First Round by Lincoln City.

In the League Cup, Vale 'ran riot' over Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground to go through to the Second Round 8–2 on aggregate.^[1] Coming up against Ron Atkinson's Manchester United, they were defeated 1–0 at home despite 'a workmanlike performance', and beaten 2–0 at Old Trafford in a 'credible' game.^[1] The home leg in Burslem saw a crowd of 19,855 – the highest crowd since the visit of West Ham United in 1973.^[1] This raised £45,873 in gate receipts for the club.^[1] However a fifty-strong gang of Manchester thugs caused chaos in Burslem town centre, stabbing a man from Brown Edge.^[1]

In the League Trophy, Vale beat Fourth Division Hereford United 1–0 at Edgar Street. They were then beaten 2–0 at the Memorial Stadium by Bristol Rovers.

Final league table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Oxford United	46	28	11	7	91	50	+41	95
2	Wimbledon	46	26	9	11	97	76	+21	87
3	Sheffield United	46	24	11	11	86	53	+33	83
4	Hull City	46	23	14	9	71	38	+33	83
5	Bristol Rovers	46	22	13	11	68	54	+14	79
6	Walsall	46	22	9	15	68	61	+7	75
7	Bradford City	46	20	11	15	73	65	+8	71
8	Gillingham	46	20	10	16	74	69	+5	70
9	Millwall	46	18	13	15	71	65	+6	67
10	Bolton Wanderers	46	18	10	18	56	60	-4	64
11	Orient	46	18	9	19	71	81	-10	63
12	Burnley	46	16	14	16	76	61	+15	62
13	Newport County	46	16	14	16	58	75	-17	62
14	Lincoln City	46	17	10	19	59	62	-3	61
15	Wigan Athletic	46	16	13	17	46	56	-10	61
16	Preston North End	46	15	11	20	66	66	+0	56
17	Bournemouth	46	16	7	23	63	73	-10	55
18	Rotherham United	46	15	9	22	57	64	-7	54
19	Plymouth Argyle	46	13	12	21	56	62	-6	51
20	Brentford	46	11	16	19	69	79	-10	49
21	Scunthorpe United	46	9	19	18	54	73	-19	46
22	Southend United	46	10	14	22	55	76	-21	44
23	Port Vale	46	11	10	25	51	83	-32	43
24	Exeter City	46	6	15	25	50	84	-34	33

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	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	D	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	W	D	W	L	D	L	W	L	W	D	L	W	L	L	W	D	D	D	L	L	D	W	L	W
Position	13	17	18	16	18	21	19	21	23	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	24	23	23	22	21	21	20	21	22	22	22	22	23	23	23	23	23	23	23

Sourced from Statto.^[3]

Football League Third Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
27 August 1983	Scunthorpe United	H	0–0	4,565
3 September 1983	Rotherham United	A	1–2	4,847	O'Keefe
6 September 1983	Millwall	A	2–3	4,061	Steel (2)
10 September 1983	Bristol Rovers	H	2–0	4,308	Sproson, Steel
17 September 1983	Wimbledon	A	2–4	2,690	Newton (2)
24 September 1983	Bradford City	H	1–2	4,879	Fox
26 September 1983	Wigan Athletic	H	1–1	4,655	Bromage
1 October 1983	Walsall	A	0–2	3,757
14 October 1983	Orient	A	0–3	3,207
18 October 1983	Brentford	A	1–3	3,903	Henderson
22 October 1983	Bolton Wanderers	H	1–2	4,269	Tartt
29 October 1983	Newport County	A	1–2	3,829	Ridley
31 October 1983	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–1	3,466
5 November 1983	Exeter City	A	1–1	3,301	Armstrong
12 November 1983	Oxford United	H	1–3	3,927	O'Keefe
26 November 1983	Burnley	A	0–7	6,385
3 December 1983	Gillingham	H	0–1	3,086
17 December 1983	Lincoln City	H	0–1	2,861
26 December 1983	Preston North End	A	0–4	5,617
27 December 1983	Sheffield United	H	2–0	7,034	O'Keefe, Young
31 December 1983	Hull City	A	0–1	8,736
2 January 1984	Bournemouth	H	2–1	4,008	O'Keefe, Henderson
21 January 1984	Wimbledon	H	2–0	3,627	O'Keefe, Bright
28 January 1984	Bristol Rovers	A	0–0	6,142
30 January 1984	Southend United	H	2–1	3,636	Henderson, Ridley
4 February 1984	Walsall	H	0–2	6,966
11 February 1984	Bradford City	A	2–2	5,435	Henderson, Gore (pen)
14 February 1984	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–3	3,552
18 February 1984	Newport County	H	4–2	3,437	Henderson, Tartt, Young, Bright
25 February 1984	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–2	5,818
3 March 1984	Brentford	H	4–3	3,704	O'Keefe (2), Gore (pen), Fox
5 March 1984	Exeter City	H	2–2	4,338	Henderson, Young
10 March 1984	Oxford United	A	0–2	7,858
19 March 1984	Southend United	A	2–1	2,596	Bright, O'Keefe
31 March 1984	Wigan Athletic	A	0–3	3,163
2 April 1984	Rotherham United	H	2–3	3,705	O'Keefe, Massey (pen)
9 April 1984	Orient	H	2–0	3,169	Henderson, Hunter
14 April 1984	Gillingham	A	1–1	3,323	Bright
17 April 1984	Scunthorpe United	A	1–1	2,952	Sproson
21 April 1984	Preston North End	H	1–1	3,574	O'Keefe (pen)
24 April 1984	Sheffield United	A	1–3	14,385	Bright
28 April 1984	Burnley	H	2–3	3,061	Bright, Young
5 May 1984	Bournemouth	A	1–1	3,305	Bright
7 May 1984	Hull City	H	1–0	3,958	Bright
12 May 1984	Lincoln City	A	2–3	1,372	Bright, Armstrong
14 May 1984	Millwall	H	1–0	2,299	Fox

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	19 November 1983	Lincoln City	H	1–2	3,647	Bright

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	31 August 1983	Wrexham	H	3–1	3,916	Sproson (2), O'Keefe (pen)
R1 2nd Leg	13 September 1983	Wrexham	A	5–1	2,903	Newton (2), Hunter, Gore, Steel
R2 1st Leg	3 October 1983	Manchester United	H	0–1	19,855
R2 2nd Leg	26 October 1983	Manchester United	A	0–2	23,589

League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	22 February 1984	Hereford United	A	1–0	1,605	Tartt
R2	13 March 1984	Bristol Rovers	A	0–2	2,597

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup League Cup League Trophy Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK Barry Siddall 39 0 1 0 3 0 2 0 45 0 GK Chris Pearce 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 DF Phil Sproson 38 2 0 0 4 2 2 0 44 4 DF Wayne Cegielski 39 0 0 3 0 0 1 0 43 0 DF Max Thompson 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 DF Gary Pollard 18 0 1 0 1 0 2 0 22 0 MF Russell Bromage 38 1 0 0 3 0 1 0 42 1 MF Terry Armstrong 19 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 21 2 MF Colin Tartt 22 2 1 0 4 0 2 1 29 3 MF Geoff Hunter 42 1 1 0 4 1 2 0 49 2 MF John Ridley 30 2 1 0 2 0 2 0 35 2 MF Robbie Earle 12 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 13 0 MF Steve Fox 40 3 1 0 4 0 2 0 47 3 MF Winston White 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 MF Kevin Young 28 4 0 0 0 0 2 0 30 4 MF Andy Massey 4 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 1 MF Alan Oakes 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 MF Tommy Gore 36 2 1 0 4 1 2 0 43 3 FW Andy Shankland 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 FW Mark Bright 26 9 1 1 2 0 2 0 31 10 FW Jim Steel 15 3 1 0 3 1 0 0 19 4 FW Bob Newton 7 2 0 0 2 2 0 0 9 4 FW Eamonn O'Keefe 37 10 1 0 4 1 1 0 43 11 FW Martin Henderson 27 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 28 7

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Eamonn O'Keefe 11 Mark Bright 10 Martin Henderson 7 Kevin Young 4 Phil Sproson Jim Steel Bob Newton Steve Fox 3 Tommy Gore Colin Tartt John Ridley 2 Geoff Hunter Terry Armstrong Andy Massey 1 Russell Bromage League Scorer Goals Eamonn O'Keefe 10 Mark Bright 9 Martin Henderson 7 Kevin Young 4 Jim Steel 3 Steve Fox Bob Newton 2 Phil Sproson Tommy Gore Colin Tartt John Ridley Terry Armstrong Geoff Hunter 1 Andy Massey Russell Bromage

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1983	MF		Alan Oakes	Northwich Victoria	Free transfer	[4]
June 1983	GK		Chris Pearce	Rochdale	Free transfer	[4]
June 1983	DF		Gary Pollard	Chesterfield	Free transfer	[4]
July 1983	MF		Tommy Gore	Bury	Free transfer	[4]
July 1983	MF		Eamonn O'Keefe	Wigan Athletic	£10,000	[4]
October 1983	FW		Martin Henderson	Chesterfield	Exchange	[4]
October 1983	MF		Winston White	Chesterfield	Trial	[4]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1983	FW		Bob Newton	Chesterfield	Free transfer	[4]
October 1983	MF		Winston White	Stockport County	Trial ended	[4]
December 1983	MF		Alan Oakes		Sacked	[4]
January 1984	FW		Jim Steel	Wrexham	£10,000	[4]
1984	MF		Steve Fox	Chester City	Free transfer	[4]
June 1984	FW		Mark Bright	Leicester City	£33,333	[4]
July 1984	DF		Gary Pollard	Mansfield Town	Free transfer	[4]
Summer 1984	FW		Martin Henderson	Spalding United	Sacked	[4]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
November 1983	DF		Max Thompson	Bournemouth	November 1983	[4]
December 1983	MF		Kevin Young	Burnley	End of season	[4]
March 1984	MF		Andy Massey	Millwall	April 1984	[4]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
October 1983	MF		Russell Bromage	Oldham Athletic	October 1983	[4]
October 1983	GK		Barry Siddall	Blackpool	October 1983	[4]

References

Specific

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "From Rags to Riches (1979–1990)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 258–290. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
2. Kent, Jeff (December 1991). Port Vale Tales: A Collection Of Stories, Anecdotes And Memories. Witan Books. p. 87. ISBN 0-9508981-6-3.
3. Port Vale 1983–1984 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
4. 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.