Adrian Capes

Adrian Capes

Capes in Port Vale colours.
Personal information
Full name	Adrian Capes
Date of birth	(1873-04-18)18 April 1873
Place of birth	Burton upon Trent, England
Date of death
Place of death	Smallthorne, Stoke-on-Trent, England
Position(s)	Forward
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1894–1896	Burton Wanderers	54	(32)
1896–1898	Nottingham Forest	30	(7)
1898–1900	Burton Swifts	14	(7)
1900–1905	Burslem Port Vale	164	(60)
1905–1907	Stoke	17	(2)
1908–1911	Port Vale	33	(15)
Total		312	(123)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Adrian Capes (18 April 1873 – 29 September 1955), was an English footballer. A forward, he scored a total of 135 goals in 340 league and FA Cup games in a 17-year career with Nottingham Forest, Burton Wanderers, Burton Swifts, Burslem Port Vale, and Stoke. He also played cricket for Staffordshire in the 1900 Minor Counties Cricket Championship. After retiring in 1911, he worked behind the scenes at Port Vale from 1911 to 1934. His brother, Arthur, was also a professional footballer.

Football career

Capes was born in Burton upon Trent and began his career at Second Division club Burton Wanderers, along with his brother Arthur. He and his brother formed a formidable partnership in two seasons with Burton, scoring 66 goals between them. Their efforts helped to bring the club to within four points of champions Liverpool in 1895–96.

This brought the attention of bigger clubs and they both signed for First Division side Nottingham Forest in August 1896. Only Arthur made any impact at the club, whilst Adrian fell out of the first team picture. He scored seven goals in 29 top-flight games in 1896–97, before returning to his hometown the next season with Burton Swifts, back in the Second Division. He made little impact for the Swifts, and featured just once in the 1898–99 season.

Capes signed with Burslem Port Vale in November 1900. He scored 11 goals in 25 matches in the 1900–01 season, ending as the club's top-scorer. He played every league game in the 1901–02 campaign, claiming 14 league and three FA Cup goals. He missed just the one league game in the 1902–03 season, claiming 18 goals throughout the campaign. He bagged two hat-tricks: in a 4–0 win over Stockport County at Edgeley Park on 13 December, and in a 5–1 win over Lincoln City at the Athletic Ground on 24 January. Capes scored 17 goals in the 1903–04 campaign, to finish as the club's top-scorer for the fourth season in a row. However he found the net just four times in his 30 league games in the 1904–05 season, as the Vale struggled in front of goal. He opened the 1905–06 season with just two goals (both against Chesterfield) in 12 league games, and was transferred to nearby Stoke in November 1905, after receiving a recommendation from his brother who had a good two-year spell at the Victoria Ground.

Capes played six First Division matches for Stoke without scoring in the 1905–06 season. He played 13 matches in the 1906–07 campaign, and claimed goals against Everton and Notts County, but left in February 1907 with Stoke heading towards relegation.

After almost two years out of the game, he rejoined phoenix club Port Vale, who were competing in the North Staffordshire & District League, in December 1908. He suffered a knee injury in March 1910 and never really recovered, retiring in the summer of 1911. He had scored 15 goals in 33 league games in his second spell at the club, and won the Staffordshire Junior Cup in 1910. Upon his retirement from playing, Capes served Port Vale as a trainer from 1911 to 1919, and remained in the Vale back-room team until his full retirement in May 1934.

Family

His younger brother, Arthur, played won the FA Cup in 1898 with Nottingham Forest, and also played for Stoke, as well as playing once for England in 1903.

Career statistics

• Sourced from The English National Football Archive

Club	Division	Season	League		FA Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Burton Wanderers	Second Division	1894–95	30	16	5	3	35	19
		1895–96	24	16	0	0	24	16
		Total	54	32	5	3	59	35
Nottingham Forest	First Division	1896–97	29	7	4	0	33	7
		1897–98	1	0	0	0	1	0
		Total	30	7	4	0	34	7
Burton Swifts	Second Division	1897–98	13	7	0	0	13	7
		1898–99	1	0	0	0	1	0
		Total	14	7	0	0	14	7
Burslem Port Vale	Second Division	1900–01	24	10	1	1	25	11
		1901–02	34	14	5	3	39	17
		1902–03	33	16	2	2	35	18
		1903–04	31	14	7	3	38	17
		1904–05	30	4	2	0	32	4
		1905–06	12	2	0	0	12	2
		Total	164	60	17	9	181	69
Stoke	First Division	1905–06	6	0	0	0	6	0
		1906–07	11	2	2	0	13	2
		Total	17	2	2	0	19	2
Port Vale	North Staffs League	1908–09	13	4	0	0	13	4
		1909–10	18	11	0	0	18	11
		1910–11	2	0	0	0	2	0
		Total	33	15	0	0	33	15
Career Total			312	123	28	12	340	135

Honours

with Port Vale

• Staffordshire Junior Cup winner: 1910