1933–34 Port Vale F.C. season

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Port Vale
1933–34 season
Chairman Frank Huntbach
Manager Tom Holford
Stadium The Old Recreation Ground
Football League Second Division 8th (45 Points)
FA Cup Third Round
Welsh Cup Semi-final
Top goalscorer League: Tom Nolan (22)
All: Tom Nolan (22)
Highest home attendance 14,216 vs. Blackpool (20 January 1934)
Lowest home attendance 2,990 vs. Nottingham Forest (5 May 1934)
Average home league attendance 10,051
Home colours
← 1932–33 1934–35 →

The 1933–34 season was Port Vale's 28th season of football in the Football League, and their fourth successive season (27th overall) in the Second Division.[1] Finishing eighth in the second tier with 45 points, they would not reach such a peak again until 1996–97. It was their joint-second best ever finish after the 1930–31 season, along with the 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, and 1996–97 campaigns.

A strong defence and two lengthy series of good results raised belief and expectation of promotion to the top-flight for the first time in the club's history. However two runs of poor results dashed such hopes, resulting in what would be a downward slide that would last until the end of World War II. After pushing for promotion, the club's directors were forced to initiate a cull of players at the season's end.

File:Tom Holford.JPG
Manager Tom Holford.
Chairman Frank Huntbach stated that an average attendance of 12,000 was needed to bring the club forward, and also hit out against the Hanley traders.[1]

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw the arrival of ten new professionals, six of which were forwards.[1] The most significant newcomers were Trevor Rhodes (Bradford Park Avenue), Jack Vickers (Charlton Athletic), as well as Ken Gunn and Billy Tabram (both from Swansea Town).[1]

The season started excellently with ten wins in the opening fifteen matches. At the end of this run Sydney Dickinson was brought in from Bradford Park Avenue, though the Vale then went on to lose five of their next six matches, conceding sixteen goals and scoring just three.[1] The slide was halted with a 1–0 Boxing day victory over Lincoln City in which top-scorer Tom Nolan became one of only two Vale players sent off in the period between 1918 and 1947.[1] The result nevertheless kept the club within a point of the promotion places.[1] This was supplemented by seven of a possible eight points in their next four games, including victories at The Dell and Valley Parade.[1]

Their run ended on 5 February at The Old Recreation Ground with a 1–0 defeat to eventual champions Grimsby Town.[1] From this point the promotion campaign completely collapsed, with a 4–0 loss soon coming to Welsh strugglers Swansea.[1] New signing Jack Blackwell from Charlton couldn't reverse the trend despite helping the side to their biggest win of the season with a 5–1 thrashing of Millwall the following week.[1] A fortnight later and a 2–0 win over promotion chasing Preston North End meant promotion was back on the cards for the "Valiants".[1] The Sentinel's "Placer" commented that Vale had the easiest remaining fixtures of the chasing pack and thus had a "great chance of ascending to the First Division for the first time in their career".[1]

Their remaining eleven games yielded a return of merely seven points, lacking a reserve side, fatigue had set into the first team.[1] One significant defeat came at Old Trafford, which helped Manchester United avoid relegation to the third tier for what would have been the only time in their history. Young Fred Mitcheson did make a name for himself however, scoring a hat-trick in his debut in a 4–0 win over Plymouth Argyle.[1]

They finished in eighth position, gaining 45 points from 42 games.[1] Seven more points were required to match promoted Preston North End, though they finished twelve points clear of relegated Millwall. Billy Tabram had helped secure the Vale's defence, their 55 goals conceded the lowest in the division behind Preston.[1] Attacking wise, their 60 goals were a poor return for a top-of-the-table club, with 33 of these coming from Tom Nolan (22) and Trevor Rhodes (11).[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a loss of £2,771 was announced despite strict economic budgeting.[1] Gate receipts had risen slowly to £11,868, though a rare transfer deficit was made, and expenses had risen sharply.[1] The club announced that it would consider offers for any of its players, blaming the fans for a lack of enthusiasm, exemplified by an attendance of 2,990 (raising just £136) for the end-of-season clash with Nottingham Forest, despite having recently built a stand with cover for 15,000 spectators.[1] The upshot of this was the release of a massive fifteen players, a list which included: Bill Cope, Sydney Dickinson, Len Armitage, and Jimmy McGrath.[1] Billy Tabram was also sold to Hull City for a large fee, whilst Fred Mills' transfer to Leeds United and George Poyser's move to Brentford also brought in some much needed cash.[1] In the boardroom, Adrian Capes announced his retirement.[1] It was, according to historian Jeff Kent, "the end of an era".[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, defeat came in the Third Round to Third Division South side Charlton Athletic at The Valley despite 'special training' measures beforehand.[1]

For the first and only time the club also entered the Welsh Cup.[2] Vale lost out to Bristol City at the semi-final stage.

Final league table

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Main article: 1933–34 Football League
Pos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GA GD Pts
1 Grimsby Town 42 15 3 3 62 28 12 2 7 41 31 103 59 1.746 + 44 59
2 Preston North End 42 15 3 3 47 20 8 3 10 24 32 71 52 1.365 + 19 52
3 Bolton Wanderers 42 14 2 5 45 22 7 7 7 34 33 79 55 1.436 + 24 51
4 Brentford 42 15 2 4 52 24 7 5 9 33 36 85 60 1.417 + 25 51
5 Bradford Park Avenue 42 16 2 3 63 27 7 1 13 23 40 86 67 1.284 + 19 49
6 Bradford City 42 14 4 3 46 25 6 2 13 27 42 73 67 1.090 + 6 46
7 West Ham United 42 13 3 5 51 28 4 8 9 27 42 78 70 1.114 + 8 45
8 Port Vale 42 14 4 3 39 14 5 3 13 21 41 60 55 1.091 + 5 45
9 Oldham Athletic 42 12 5 4 48 28 5 5 11 24 32 72 60 1.200 + 12 44
10 Plymouth Argyle 42 12 7 2 43 20 3 6 12 26 50 69 70 0.986 – 1 43
11 Blackpool 42 10 8 3 39 27 5 5 11 23 37 62 64 0.969 – 2 43
12 Bury 42 12 4 5 43 31 5 5 11 27 42 70 73 0.959 – 3 43
13 Burnley 42 14 2 5 40 29 4 4 13 20 43 60 72 0.833 – 12 42
14 Southampton 42 15 2 4 40 21 0 6 15 14 37 54 58 0.931 – 4 38
15 Hull City 42 11 4 6 33 20 2 8 11 19 48 52 68 0.765 – 16 38
16 Fulham 42 13 3 5 29 17 2 4 15 19 50 48 67 0.716 – 19 37
17 Nottingham Forest 42 11 4 6 50 27 2 5 14 23 47 73 74 0.986 – 1 35
18 Notts County 42 9 7 5 32 22 3 4 14 21 40 53 62 0.855 – 9 35
19 Swansea Town 42 10 9 2 36 19 0 6 15 15 41 51 60 0.850 – 9 35
20 Manchester United 42 9 3 9 29 33 5 3 13 30 52 59 85 0.694 – 26 34
21 Millwall 42 8 8 5 21 17 3 3 15 18 51 39 68 0.574 – 29 33
22 Lincoln City 42 7 7 7 31 23 2 1 18 13 52 44 75 0.587 – 31 26

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against;
GA = Goal average; 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
Ground A H H A A H A A H A H A H A H A H A H A A H H A H A H H A H A H A H H A A H A H A H
Result L W W L W W W L W W W D W D W L L L D L L W D W W W L D L W D W L L W L L D L W L W
Position 18 10 7 12 5 4 1 6 2 2 1 1 1 2 2 2 3 4 4 6 8 6 6 4 3 2 3 3 6 5 4 3 5 6 5 6 8 7 9 6 8 8

Sourced from Statto.[3]

Football League Second Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
26 August 1933 Fulham A 0–3 21,070
28 August 1933 Bury H 4–1 8,416 Nolan (3), McGrath
2 September 1933 Southampton H 2–1 11,237 Gunn (2)
9 September 1933 Blackpool A 0–1 16,988
11 September 1933 Bury A 3–0 6,197 Rhodes, Gunn, Tabram
16 September 1933 Bradford City H 3–1 11,453 Rhodes, Morton, Nolan
23 September 1933 Grimsby Town A 2–1 10,505 Nolan, Morton
30 September 1933 Notts County A 2–3 15,364 Nolan (2)
7 October 1933 Swansea Town H 1–0 9,478 Rhodes
14 October 1933 Millwall A 3–0 12,045 Gunn, Rhodes, Nolan
21 October 1933 Bradford Park Avenue H 3–1 13,122 Nolan (2), Morton
28 October 1933 Preston North End A 0–0 14,160
4 November 1933 Oldham Athletic H 2–0 12,228 Nolan, Rhodes
11 November 1933 Burnley A 0–0 13,445
18 November 1933 Brentford H 1–0 11,349 Gunn
25 November 1933 Bolton Wanderers A 0–3 14,925
2 December 1933 Manchester United H 2–3 10,316 Nolan, Rhodes
9 December 1933 Plymouth Argyle A 0–3 13,672
16 December 1933 West Ham United H 0–0 6,610
23 December 1933 Nottingham Forest A 1–6 9,239 Rhodes
25 December 1933 Lincoln City A 0–1 11,584
26 December 1933 Lincoln City H 1–0 13,910 Nolan
30 December 1933 Fulham H 2–2 8,151 Gunn, Rhodes
6 January 1934 Southampton A 4–1 9,987 Rhodes (3), Morton
20 January 1934 Blackpool H 1–0 14,216 McGrath
27 January 1934 Bradford City A 2–1 12,719 Dickinson, Mills
5 February 1934 Grimsby Town H 0–1 12,662
10 February 1934 Notts County H 0–0 10,645
22 February 1934 Swansea Town A 0–4 5,764
24 February 1934 Millwall H 5–1 8,578 Blackwell (2), Gunn, Mills, Nolan
3 March 1934 Bradford Park Avenue A 2–2 11,548 Gunn, Dickinson
10 March 1934 Preston North End H 2–0 12,972 Morton (2)
17 March 1934 Oldham Athletic A 1–5 5,900 Nolan
24 March 1934 Burnley H 0–2 7,367
30 March 1934 Hull City H 3–0 10,502 Nolan (3)
31 March 1934 Brentford A 0–2 19,758
2 April 1934 Hull City A 1–2 13,333 Blackwell
7 April 1934 Bolton Wanderers H 0–0 9,923
14 April 1934 Manchester United A 0–2 14,777
21 April 1934 Plymouth Argyle H 4–0 4,956 Mitcheson (3), Nolan
28 April 1934 West Ham United A 0–1 9,893
5 May 1934 Nottingham Forest H 3–1 2,990 Nolan (3)

FA Cup

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Main article: 1933–34 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R3 13 January 1934 Charlton Athletic A 0–2 18,821

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 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. ↑ Port Vale 1933–1934 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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