2001–02 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

2001–02 season
Chairman	Bill Bell
Manager	Brian Horton
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Second Division	14th (58 Points)
FA Cup	Second Round
League Cup	Second Round
League Trophy	Area Quarter-finalists
Player of the Year	Mark Goodlad
Top goalscorer	League: Stephen McPhee (11) All: Stephen McPhee (14)
Highest home attendance	10,344 vs. Stoke City (21 October 2001)
Lowest home attendance	2,664 vs. Carlisle United (16 October 2001)
Average home league attendance	5,210
Home colours
← 2000–01 2002–03 →

The 2001–02 season was Port Vale's 90th season of football in the Football League, and second successive season (39th overall) in the Second Division. On the pitch Vale finished in mid-table, whilst exiting both the FA Cup and the League Cup at the Second Round, and the League Trophy at the Area Quarter-finals. Behind the scenes the club was heading for administration.

Striker Chris Killen.

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw Brian Horton sign numerous bit-part players on free transfers: Ashley Dodd (Manchester United); Ian Armstrong (Liverpool); Phil Hardy (an eleven-year Wrexham veteran); Rae Ingram (Macclesfield Town); and Alex Gibson (Stoke City). He also signed Stephen McPhee from Coventry City, who would go on to become a key player for the club.

The season opened with six points from three games, though this was followed by just one point from six games. In September, after failing secure Paul Hall's signature, New Zealand international striker Chris Killen was signed on loan from Manchester City. Simon Osborn also joined from Wolverhampton Wanderers on a one-month contract,^[1] before he moved on to Gillingham. In October, Steve Torpey was allowed to join Scarborough on a one-month loan. Arriving in Burslem was Sean McClare, who joined on a one-month loan from Barnsley,^[2] before signing permanently when the loan deal finished. Frenchman Johan Gallon also had a trial at the club, but was not offered a contract. On 21 October, Vale played rivals Stoke City, and McPhee scored for Vale, before Chris Iwelumo buried a late equaliser for the "Potters".^[3] The next month Danny Webber was taken in on loan from Manchester United.^[4] Vale continued through the Christmas period in inconsistent form, despite the arrival of 36-year-old John Durnin.^[5] In January, Mvondo Atangana became the first Cameroonian to play for the Vale, when he joined on loan from Dundee United – he would only play two games before picking up a serious injury.^[6] Meanwhile, Richard Burgess was allowed to join Nuneaton Borough permanently. Vale then went on a sequence of seven wins in eight games to shoot up the table, including a 1–0 win over Stoke at the Britannia Stadium thanks to a Micky Cummins header,^[7] as Horton was named Manager of the Month.^[8] This run raised hopes of a play-off bid.^[9] It also encouraged chairman Bill Bell to offer new contracts to the management team (Horton, Grew, Foyle and Glover), as well as seven players. Horton was also awarded the Manager of the Month award for February. Vale finished in poor form however, winning just one of their final eleven games.

Vale finished in fourteenth place with 58 points, quite some distance from either the play-offs or the relegation zone. The team lost 14 of their 23 league games away from home. Stoke finished nine places and 22 points above the Vale, and won promotion via the play-offs, never to meet the Vale again for the rest of the decade. McPhee hit fourteen goals to become the club's top-scorer, with Brooker and Cummins close behind in the scoring charts. Cummins was also an ever-present. Overworked goalkeeper Mark Goodlad was voted Player of the Year.

At the end of the season numerous players were allowed to leave on a free transfers: Sagi Burton (Crewe Alexandra); George O'Callaghan (Cork City); Danny Maye (Southend United); Paul Donnelly (Stone Dominoes); Steve Torpey (Prescot Cables); and Phil Hardy. Durnin also turned his hand to coaching, and was appointed as the club's under-17 coach.^[10]

Finances

The collapse of ITV Digital cost the club £400,000 in revenue.^[11] Chairman Bill Bell announced a 30% cut in the players' wage budget at the end of the campaign.^[11] These ominous warnings belied a financial crisis that would hit the club hard the following season.^[11] In August, former chairman Jim Lloyd returned to the club as a director. The next month, Chief Executive Dave Jolley was sacked. A Charles Machin led consortium made a £1 million bid for the club in December, but were turned away by Bill Bell, who claimed that Valiant2001 "won't last three months". Later in the month former commercial director Neil Hughes was arrested for fraud for allegedly stealing £20,000 from the club; he denied the offence. The club's debt stood at £1.7 million in February. The next month the Football Association's compliance unit began an investigation into the club, but found no wrongdoing. The club's shirt sponsors were Tunstall Assurance.

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale avoided losing to a non-league club for the second successive season by beating Aylesbury United 3–0 at Vale Park.^[12] They exited at the Second Round after a 3–0 defeat to Cardiff City at Ninian Park.^[13]

In the League Cup, for the second consecutive season Vale faced Third Division Chesterfield in the First Round, this time however the two-legged format was scrapped in favour of a standard knock-out tournament structure. Vale progressed with a 2–1 win thanks to a brace from McPhee. It was a bad-tempered affair, with three sendings-off.^[14] Facing Premier League Charlton Athletic at The Valley in the Second Round, Alan Curbishley's men eliminated the Vale with a 2–0 win.

In the League Trophy, Vale advanced past Carlisle United and Rochdale to reach the Area Quarter-finals. where they faced Hull City at Boothferry Park. The "Tigers" eliminated the "Valiants" with a 2–1 win.^[15]

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1.	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	25	15	6	66	42	+24	90
2.	Reading	46	23	15	8	70	43	+27	84
3.	Brentford	46	24	11	11	77	43	+34	83
4.	Cardiff City	46	23	14	9	75	50	+25	83
5.	Stoke City	46	23	11	12	67	40	+27	80
6.	Huddersfield Town	46	21	15	10	65	47	+18	78
7.	Bristol City	46	21	10	15	68	53	+15	73
8.	Queens Park Rangers	46	19	14	13	60	49	+11	71
9.	Oldham Athletic	46	18	16	12	77	65	+12	70
10.	Wigan Athletic	46	16	16	14	66	51	+15	64
11.	Wycombe Wanderers	46	17	13	16	58	64	-6	64
12.	Tranmere Rovers	46	16	15	15	63	60	+3	63
13.	Swindon Town	46	15	14	17	46	56	-10	59
14.	Port Vale	46	16	10	20	51	62	-11	58
15.	Colchester United	46	15	12	19	65	76	-11	57
16.	Blackpool	46	14	14	18	66	69	-3	56
17.	Peterborough United	46	15	10	21	64	59	+5	55
18.	Chesterfield	46	13	13	20	53	65	-12	52
19.	Notts County	46	13	11	22	59	71	-12	50
20.	Northampton Town	46	14	7	25	54	79	-25	49
21.	Bournemouth	46	10	14	22	56	71	-15	44
22.	Bury	46	11	11	24	43	75	-32	44
23.	Wrexham	46	11	10	25	56	89	-33	43
24.	Cambridge United	46	7	13	26	47	93	-46	34

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	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	W	L	W	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	L	W	D	D	L	W	W	L	D	D	D	L	L	W	W	L	L	W	W	W	D	W	W	W	W	L	L	L	D	L	D	W	L	D	L	L
Position	3	10	6	11	13	15	15	19	19	18	19	16	18	17	18	17	17	17	17	17	18	19	19	17	16	16	17	16	14	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	13	13	13	14

Sourced from Statto.^[16]

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
11 August 2001	Notts County	H	4–2	6,076	O'Callaghan (2), McPhee, Dodd
18 August 2001	Brentford	A	0–2	4,561
25 August 2001	Peterborough United	H	4–1	4,925	Hardy, Cummins, Brooker, McPhee
27 August 2001	Colchester United	A	0–2	3,611
1 September 2001	Reading	H	0–2	5,196
8 September 2001	Bristol City	A	1–1	12,560	O'Callaghan
15 September 2001	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–4	9,295	Brooker
18 September 2001	Swindon Town	H	0–2	3,737
22 September 2001	Northampton Town	H	0–1	4,419
25 September 2001	Wrexham	A	3–1	3,091	McPhee (2), Killen
29 September 2001	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1–3	5,714	Killen
5 October 2001	Cambridge United	H	5–0	4,119	Killen (2), Cummins, Armstrong, Brooker
13 October 2001	Chesterfield	A	1–1	4,348	Brooker
21 October 2001	Stoke City	H	1–1	10,344	McPhee
24 October 2001	Cardiff City	H	0–2	4,552
27 October 2001	Wigan Athletic	A	1–0	5,634	Killen
3 November 2001	Bury	H	1–0	4,688	Killen
10 November 2001	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–1	6,648
20 November 2001	Bournemouth	A	0–0	4,428
24 November 2001	Huddersfield Town	H	1–1	5,026	Cummins
1 December 2001	Blackpool	H	1–1	5,390	Cummins
15 December 2001	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–3	7,859	Cummins
21 December 2001	Oldham Athletic	A	0–2	4,317
26 December 2001	Bristol City	H	1–0	5,682	McPhee
29 December 2001	Colchester United	H	3–1	4,444	Armstrong, Rowland, Brooker
1 January 2002	Reading	A	0–2	10,743
8 January 2002	Peterborough United	A	0–3	3,747
12 January 2002	Brentford	H	2–1	4,588	McPhee (pen), Armstrong
19 January 2002	Notts County	A	3–1	6,006	Brooker (2), McPhee (pen)
22 January 2002	Oldham Athletic	H	3–2	4,408	McClare, Brooker, McPhee
2 February 2002	Wycombe Wanderers	H	1–1	4,737	Durnin
10 February 2002	Stoke City	A	1–0	23,019	Cummins
13 February 2002	Cambridge United	A	1–0	2,379	McPhee
16 February 2002	Chesterfield	H	4–1	5,529	Cummins (2), Bridge-Wilkinson (2)
23 February 2002	Queens Park Rangers	H	1–0	6,228	Bridge-Wilkinson
26 February 2002	Northampton Town	A	0–1	5,155
2 March 2002	Swindon Town	A	0–3	5,867
5 March 2002	Wrexham	H	1–3	4,436	McPhee
9 March 2002	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–1	4,630	Bridge-Wilkinson
16 March 2002	Blackpool	A	0–4	7,811
23 March 2002	Bury	A	1–1	3,700	Bridge-Wilkinson
30 March 2002	Wigan Athletic	H	1–0	4,359	Brooker
1 April 2002	Cardiff City	A	0–1	15,556
6 April 2002	Bournemouth	H	0–0	3,514
13 April 2002	Huddersfield Town	A	1–2	12,270	Bridge-Wilkinson
20 April 2002	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	0–1	8,812

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	17 November 2001	Aylesbury United	H	3–0	4,956	Burgess, Cummins, Brooker
R2	8 December 2001	Cardiff City	A	0–3	9,650

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	21 August 2001	Chesterfield	H	2–1	2,723	McPhee (2)
R2	12 September 2001	Charlton Athletic	A	0–2	7,247

League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 October 2001	Carlisle United	H	2–1	2,664	Armstrong, Brooker
R2	30 October 2001	Rochdale	A	2–1	1,639	Burton (pen), Armstrong
RQF	4 December 2001	Hull City	A	1–2	5,326	McPhee

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 1 Mark Goodlad 43 0 2 0 2 0 3 0 50 0 DF 2 Matt Carragher 41 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 47 0 DF 3 Phil Hardy 8 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 10 1 MF 4 Sean McClare 23 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 25 1 DF 5 Michael Walsh 28 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 29 0 DF 6 Sagi Burton 37 0 2 0 1 0 2 1 42 1 MF 7 Neil Brisco 37 0 1 0 2 0 3 0 43 0 MF 8 Micky Cummins 46 8 2 1 2 0 3 0 53 9 FW 9 Steve Brooker 41 9 2 1 2 0 3 1 48 11 FW 10 Stephen McPhee 44 11 2 0 2 0 3 1 51 14 MF 11 Marc Bridge-Wilkinson 19 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 6 GK 12 Dean Delany 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 FW 13 Chris Gowan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DF 14 Rae Ingram 22 0 2 0 2 0 2 0 28 0 MF 16 Ashley Dodd 9 1 2 0 1 0 1 0 13 1 MF 17 Ian Armstrong 31 3 1 0 0 0 2 2 34 5 MF 18 George O'Callaghan 11 3 1 0 2 0 2 0 15 3 DF 19 Alex Gibson 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 DF 20 Paul Donnelly 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 8 0 DF 21 Liam Burns 34 0 2 0 1 0 2 0 39 0 MF 22 Paul Taylor 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 DF 23 Steve Rowland 25 1 2 0 0 0 2 0 29 1 MF 24 Ben Simpson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 MF 25 Danny Maye 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 FW 26 Billy Paynter 7 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 DF 27 Paul Byrne 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 MF 28 Chris Birchall 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 MF 30 John Durnin 19 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 1 MF Simon Osborn 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 8 0 FW Richard Burgess 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 3 1 FW Danny Webber 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 FW Steve Torpey 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 FW Chris Killen 9 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 10 6 FW Mvondo Atangana 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Stephen McPhee 14 Steve Brooker 11 Micky Cummins 9 Chris Killen 6 Marc Bridge-Wilkinson Ian Armstrong 5 George O'Callaghan 3 Steve Rowland 1 Phil Hardy Sean McClare John Durnin Ashley Dodd Sagi Burton Richard Burgess League Scorer Goals Stephen McPhee 11 Steve Brooker 9 Micky Cummins 8 Chris Killen 6 Marc Bridge-Wilkinson Ian Armstrong 3 George O'Callaghan Steve Rowland 1 Phil Hardy Sean McClare John Durnin Ashley Dodd

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
May 2001	MF		Ashley Dodd	Manchester United	Free transfer	[17]
June 2001	DF		Alex Gibson	Stoke City	Free transfer	[17]
June 2001	DF		Phil Hardy	Wrexham	Free transfer	[17]
June 2001	DF		Rae Ingram	Macclesfield Town	Free transfer	[17]
July 2001	FW		Stephen McPhee	Coventry City	Free transfer	[17]
August 2001	MF		Chris Birchall		Free transfer	[17]
August 2001	MF		Danny Maye		Free transfer	[17]
August 2001	DF		Steve Rowland		Free transfer	[17]
August 2001	FW		Steve Torpey	Liverpool	Free transfer	[17]
Summer 2001	MF		Ian Armstrong	Liverpool	Free transfer	[17]
September 2001	MF		Simon Osborn	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free transfer	[17]
29 November 2001	MF		Sean McClare	Barnsley	Free transfer	[17]
December 2001	MF		John Durnin	Rhyl	Free transfer	[17]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
October 2001	MF		Simon Osborn	Gillingham	Free transfer	[17]
January 2002	FW		Richard Burgess	Nuneaton Borough	Free transfer	[17]
April 2002	MF		Ashley Dodd	Moor Green	Free transfer	[17]
April 2002	DF		Phil Hardy		Released	[17]
May 2002	MF		George O'Callaghan	Cork City	Free transfer	[17]
May 2002	FW		Steve Torpey	Prescot Cables	Free transfer	[17]
June 2002	MF		Danny Maye	Southend United	Free transfer	[17]
July 2002	DF		Paul Donnelly	Stone Dominoes	Free transfer	[17]
July 2002	DF		Alex Gibson	Stafford Rangers	Free transfer	[17]
August 2002	DF		Sagi Burton	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	[17]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
23 September 2001	FW		Chris Killen	Manchester City	23 November 2001	[17]
19 October 2001	MF		Sean McClare	Barnsley	28 November 2001	[17]
23 November 2001	FW		Danny Webber	Manchester United	31 December 2001	[17]
18 January 2002	FW		Mvondo Atangana	Dundee United	18 February 2002	[17]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
15 October 2001	FW		Steve Torpey	Scarborough	15 November 2001	[17]

References

Specific

1. "Vale sign Osborn". BBC Sport. 5 September 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
2. "McClare's loan extension hope". BBC Sport. 26 November 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
3. "Port Vale 1-1 Stoke". BBC Sport. 21 October 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
4. "Webber joins Vale on loan". BBC Sport. 29 November 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
5. "Vale offer Durnin a chance". BBC Sport. 18 December 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
6. "Atangana blow for Vale". BBC Sport. 5 February 2002. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
7. "Stoke 0-1 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 10 February 2002. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
8. "Horton Rewarded for Fab Feb". LMA. Retrieved 12 April 2012.
9. "Port Vale push on". BBC Sport. 21 February 2002. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
10. "Durnin lands Vale role". BBC Sport. 22 May 2002. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
11. "Clubs in Crisis". BBC Inside Out. 21 October 2002. Retrieved 8 November 2011.
12. "Port Vale 3-0 Aylesbury". BBC Sport. 17 November 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
13. "Cardiff 3-0 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 8 December 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
14. "Port Vale 2-1 Chesterfield". BBC Sport. 21 August 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
15. "Hull 2-1 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 4 December 2001. Retrieved 18 January 2011.
16. Port Vale 2001–2002 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
17. "Port Vale FC Club Details | Transfers | Soccer Base". www.soccerbase.com. Retrieved 7 October 2016.

General

• Soccerbase