1959–60 Port Vale F.C. season

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Port Vale
1959–60 season
Chairman Fred Burgess
Manager Norman Low
Stadium Vale Park
Football League Third Division 14th (46 Points)
FA Cup Fifth Round
Supporters' Clubs' Trophy Runners–up
Top goalscorer League: Graham Barnett (14)
All: Graham Barnett (17)
Highest home attendance 49,768 vs. Aston Villa (20 February 1960)
Lowest home attendance 5,514 vs. Swindon Town (30 April 1960)
Average home league attendance 10,733
Home colours
← 1958–59 1960–61 →

The 1958–59 season was Port Vale's 48th season of football in the Football League, and their first season in the Third Division following their promotion from the Fourth Division.[1] Progressing to the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, there they set a Vale Park and club-record attendance of 49,768, in a 2–1 defeat by Aston Villa on 20 February. In the first of a short-lived Supporters' Clubs' Trophy, they lost to rivals Stoke City 5–3 on aggregate; whilst in the league they finished a respectable fourteenth, thirteen points from both promotion and relegation.

Overview

Third Division

The pre-season saw the arrival of Morgan Hunt from Norwich City for a four-figure fee, and outside-left Cliff Portwood from Preston North End for £750.[1]

The season began with a 3–2 win over Reading at Elm Park, Norman Low having selected a first eleven without any of the new signings.[1] However, after a 1–0 win over Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Vale began to struggle, picking up just a point in their next six games.[1] Low tried to sign Stanley Matthews, still going strong aged 44 for Blackpool, but a deal could not be reached.[1] On 5 September, Tranmere Rovers beat Vale 6–0 at Prenton Park after Roy Sproson left the field in the first half with a gashed leg.[1] Low then traded John Cunliffe and £2,000 to Stoke City in exchange for winger Harry Oscroft and centre-half Peter Ford.[1] An improvement took place, and despite trouble in front of goal, the team won seven successive games at Burslem.[1] In October, Jack Wilkinson was sold to Exeter City for £2,500, having lost his place in the starting eleven.[1] On 28 December, Vale recorded a 7–0 win over Halifax Town, causing The Sentinel's "T.G.F." to remark that "rarely have the opposition been so completely outplayed".[1]

In March, Graham Barnett was sold to Tranmere Rovers for £5,000, having lost his form.[1] The "Valiants" continued to perform well at home, but lose on their travels.[1] The departure of top-scorer Barnett meant the club 'urgently needed a top-class inside-forward'.[1] This was proven with a run of just four goals in seven matches, culminating in only two points and dashed hopes of promotion.[1] In danger of relegation, the players rallied to win seven points from the final five games.[1] The penultimate match was a 6–3 loss to Mansfield Town at Field Mill, whilst Vale then destroyed Swindon Town 6–1 in front of a season-low Vale Park crowd of 5,514.[1]

They finished in fourteenth spot with 46 points, a good finish for a club just promoted.[1] Stan Steele had put in his third successive ever-present season, whilst Barnett was the top-scorer despite leaving in March.[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a £1,454 loss was announced despite a £10,352 donation from the Sportsmen's Association.[1] Gate receipts had risen by £1,680 due to the Aston Villa game, however average home attendance was down by around 2,000.[1] Wages also increased by a more considerable £7,064, though there was a transfer credit of £3,500.[1] There were 22 players retained, Roy Pritchard and Morgan Hunt were not amongst them, leaving for Wellington Town and Boston United respectively.[1]

In May, the club took a five-match tour of Czechoslovakia.[1] They experienced a culture shock, playing with a smaller, 'half-inflated' ball, and finding referees much more strict. However the tour was a success and much enjoyed by the players and their hosts.[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale eased past Dorchester Town of the Western League 2–1 after Graham Barnett injured Dorchester's keeper.[2] In the next round Vale beat Queens Park Rangers 2–1 in a replay,[1] after a fifty-yard strike from David Raine helped them to a 3–3 draw in the original match.[3] In the Third Round, they met Second Division high-flyers Cardiff City at Ninian Park, and were not concerned as Graham Barnett responded to Low's warning that the Wales captain faced them by saying "So fucking what? My mother could play for Wales".[4] They beat Cardiff 2–0 with a solid performance.[1] Drawn against Scunthorpe United at Glanford Park, 'the defence took the honours' in a 1–0 win.[1] The Fifth Round draw saw Vale face a home tie with Aston Villa, another second tier club. A still-standing club-record attendance of 49,768 turned up for the game on 20 February, resulting in £8,500 worth of gate receipts for the Vale.[1] Brian Jackson gave Vale a 36th-minute lead, but the "Villans" came back to win the match with six minutes to spare.[1]

In the Supporters' Clubs' Trophy, Vale lost to Stoke 5–3 on aggregate.[1]

Final league table

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Main article: 1959–60 Football League
P W D L F A GA Pts
1 Southampton 46 26 9 11 106 75 1.413 61
2 Norwich City 46 24 11 11 82 54 1.519 59
3 Shrewsbury Town 46 18 16 12 97 75 1.293 52
4 Grimsby Town 46 18 16 12 87 70 1.243 52
5 Coventry City 46 21 10 15 78 63 1.238 52
6 Brentford 46 21 9 16 78 61 1.279 51
7 Bury 46 21 9 16 64 51 1.255 51
8 Queens Park Rangers 46 18 13 15 73 54 1.352 49
9 Colchester United 46 18 11 17 83 74 1.122 47
10 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 17 13 16 72 72 1.000 47
11 Reading 46 18 10 18 84 77 1.091 46
12 Southend United 46 19 8 19 76 74 1.027 46
13 Newport County 46 20 6 20 80 79 1.013 46
14 Port Vale 46 19 8 19 80 79 1.013 46
15 Halifax Town 46 18 10 18 70 72 0.972 46
16 Swindon Town 46 19 8 19 69 78 0.885 46
17 Barnsley 46 15 14 17 65 66 0.985 44
18 Chesterfield 46 18 7 21 71 84 0.845 43
19 Bradford City 46 15 12 19 66 74 0.892 42
20 Tranmere Rovers 46 14 13 19 72 75 0.960 41
21 York City 46 13 12 21 57 73 0.781 38
22 Mansfield Town 46 15 6 25 81 112 0.723 36
23 Wrexham 46 14 8 24 68 101 0.673 36
24 Accrington Stanley 46 11 5 30 57 123 0.463 27

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 H A A H A A H H A A H H H A H A H H A A H A H A H H A H H A A H A A H A H A A H H A A H
Result W W L L L D L L W W L L W W W L W L W L D W W D W L D W L W D L W W D L D L L L L W W D L W
Position 9 2 8 15 17 16 18 19 17 16 17 18 18 16 16 16 16 16 15 16 16 14 13 12 9 10 11 10 12 10 11 11 10 7 7 9 11 12 13 16 17 14 11 14 15 14

Sourced from Statto.[5]

Football League Third Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
22 August 1959 Reading A 3–2 14,917 Barnett (2), Poole
24 August 1959 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic H 1–0 18,037 Barnett
29 August 1959 Shrewsbury Town H 0–3 18,607
2 September 1959 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic A 0–3 11,689
5 September 1959 Tranmere Rovers A 0–6 11,635
7 September 1959 Southampton H 1–1 13,906 Poole
12 September 1959 Norwich City A 1–5 27,041 Poole
16 September 1959 Southampton A 2–3 17,009 Barnett, Steele
19 September 1959 Brentford H 3–1 12,817 Steele (2), Barnett
21 September 1959 Barnsley H 1–0 10,886 Sproson
26 September 1959 Colchester United A 1–3 7,822 Poole
30 September 1959 Barnsley A 0–1 7,870
3 October 1959 Southend United H 3–1 12,008 Leake, Steele, Jackson
10 October 1959 Accrington Stanley H 2–0 10,712 Jackson (pen), Barnett
12 October 1959 Mansfield Town H 4–1 9,230 Jackson, Oscroft, Barnett, Wilkinson
19 October 1959 Newport County A 3–4 7,996 Whalley (2), Barnett
24 October 1959 Chesterfield H 3–1 7,946 Oscroft, Barnett, Steele
31 October 1959 Wrexham A 0–1 8,150
7 November 1959 York City H 2–0 8,425 Oscroft, o.g.
21 November 1959 Bradford City H 0–2 9,924
28 November 1959 Queens Park Rangers A 2–2 8,775 Poole (2)
12 December 1959 Swindon Town A 3–2 7,716 Barnett, Jackson, Portwood
19 December 1959 Reading H 4–1 6,723 Poole (2), Jackson, Portwood
26 December 1959 Halifax Town A 1–1 6,175 Steele
28 December 1959 Halifax Town H 7–0 9,664 Barnett (4), Jackson (2), Poole
2 January 1960 Shrewsbury Town A 1–2 9,754 Steele
16 January 1960 Tranmere Rovers H 1–1 9,706 Poole
23 January 1960 Norwich City H 2–1 11,040 Steele, Miles
6 February 1960 Brentford A 0–2 10,141
10 February 1960 Grimsby Town H 2–1 22,987 Portwood (2)
13 February 1960 Colchester United H 1–1 10,248 Donaldson
22 February 1960 Southend United A 1–2 6,534 Steele
27 February 1960 Accrington Stanley A 3–1 3,109 Donaldson (2), Steele
5 March 1960 Newport County H 2–1 9,073 Donaldson, Jackson
7 March 1960 Coventry City A 1–1 15,549 Leake
12 March 1960 Chesterfield A 1–4 6,152 o.g.
19 March 1960 Queens Park Rangers H 0–0 7,049
26 March 1960 York City A 0–2 6,415
2 April 1960 Coventry City H 0–1 7,686
9 April 1960 Bradford City A 1–3 5,986 Poole
15 April 1960 Bury A 1–3 6,397 Hall
16 April 1960 Wrexham H 3–1 6,798 Archer (2), Portwood
18 April 1960 Bury H 3–0 7,875 Portwood (2), Poole
23 April 1960 Grimsby Town A 1–1 8,413 Hall
25 April 1960 Mansfield Town A 3–6 4,970 Portwood, Archer, Kinsey
30 April 1960 Swindon Town H 6–1 5,514 Oscroft (4), o.g., Portwood

FA Cup

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Main article: 1959–60 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 14 November 1959 Dorchester Town A 2–1 4,100 Poole, Barnett
R2 5 December 1959 Queens Park Rangers A 3–3 11,143 Portwood, Leake, Raine
R2 Replay 7 December 1959 Queens Park Rangers H 2–1 9,544 Barnett (2)
R3 9 January 1960 Cardiff City A 2–0 25,588 Steele, Portwood
R4 30 January 1960 Scunthorpe United A 1–0 14,043 Portwood
R5 20 February 1960 Aston Villa H 1–2 49,768 Jackson (pen)

Player statistics

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 1.19 1.20 1.21 1.22 1.23 1.24 1.25 1.26 1.27 1.28 1.29 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Port Vale 1959–1960 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
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