1964–65 Port Vale F.C. season

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
Port Vale
1964–65 season
Chairman Tom Talbot
Manager Freddie Steele
(until February)
Jackie Mudie
(February onwards)
Stadium Vale Park
Football League Third Division 22nd (32 Points)
FA Cup Second Round
League Cup First Round
Top goalscorer League: Albert Cheesebrough (7)
All: Albert Cheesebrough (7)
Highest home attendance 8,190 vs. Colchester United (29 August 1964)
Lowest home attendance 3,071 vs. Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic (13 February 1965)
Average home league attendance 5,508
Home colours

The 1964–65 season was Port Vale's 53rd season of football in the Football League, and their sixth season in the Third Division.[1] They went on a club record streak of 13 home games without a clean sheet from 26 September to 15 March. After an awful start to the season that saw the club bottom of the league, manager Freddie Steele left the club in February, and was replaced by one of his players, Jackie Mudie. A mini-revival under Mudie was not enough to prevent relegation at the end of the season, as the club finished five points adrift of safety in 22nd place. Their 41 goals scored in 46 league games was the worst record in the Football League, as Albert Cheesebrough managed to become the club's top-scorer with only seven goals.

Overview

Third Division

The pre-season saw manager Freddie Steele attempt to sign legendary Spurs striker Bobby Smith, this audacious attempt failed partly due to the financially precarious situation the club found itself in after the previous season.[1] Instead Steele signed Ron Andrew from Stoke City for £3,000, as well as goalkeeper Reg Davies from Leyton Orient.[1]

The season began with a 4–1 beating at Borough Park from Workington after Tony Richards found himself sidelined following an insect bite.[1] They went on to pick up just three points in their next six league games. The fans were already showing their disappointment in the team twenty minutes before the end of the first home game – a 2–1 defeat to Colchester United.[1] Ken Hancock and Jackie Mudie were both dropped following this game.[1] Richards made his return only to suffer a knee injury which required surgery, thereby keeping him out of action for the rest of the campaign.[1] On 5 September Billy Bingham had played his last game, as he broke his leg in a 4–0 beating by Brentford at Griffin Park.[1] Two successive mid-September 1–0 victories (both goals scored by Albert Cheesebrough) were rare bright rays of sunshine for the "Valiants".[1] A 'punchless' and 'guileless' run of twelve games without a win followed, which saw the club drop to third from bottom, as attendances tailed off accordingly.[1] Cheeseborough also picked up an injury, whilst Mudie found he was now unable to play on hard surfaces.[1] Reserves filled the gaps in the first eleven as at Vale Park 'the loud mouths on the terraces certainly did a good job [of] hindering Stan Trafford' on his home debut on 17 October.[1] Goals in short-supply, numerous players were tried in the centre-forward role, to no avail.[1]

On 21 November, Vale picked up their third league win of the campaign, beating lowly Barnsley 2–0 at Oakwell.[1] Youth players continued to be drafted in as Vale finished the year with four straight league defeats, picking up injuries and sendings off along the way.[1] In December, Hancock was sold to Ipswich Town for £10,000.[1] A 2–1 victory over promotion-chasers Brentford on 2 January failed to spark a revival, partly due to the fact that the Bees were forced to play almost the entire match with ten players and an outside player in goal following an injury to Chic Brodie.[1] Steele tried to play a settled team, but that proved to be as unsuccessful as when he switched the team round constantly.[1] By the end of the month the club were bottom of the league and morale was low.[1] In mid-February, the club four points short of safety, Steele left the club 'by mutual consent', as Jackie Mudie was appointed caretaker manager.[1] Following a 4–0 hammering from Gillingham, Mudie signed veteran stopper Jimmy O'Neill from Darlington, and the former Ireland international seemed to improve the team, as just two defeats in eight games followed.[1] Mudie instilled discipline into the team, and so was made manager on a permanent basis on 3 March.[1] He then ensured Reg Davies was transferred to Leyton Orient.[1] He tried and failed to re-sign Terry Harkin from Crewe Alexandra.[1] One win in their final six games doomed the Vale to relegation, just as survival seemed possible.[1] Only 3,521 witnessed a final day victory over Walsall.[1]

They finished in twenty-second position, their 32 points five short of safety.[1] Losing ten home games, they also recorded just two wins on their travels.[1] No team in the top four divisions scored fewer than Vale's 41 goals, as Cheeseborough took the honour of top-scorer with a mere seven goals – this was the lowest total for a Vale top-scorer in a Football League season since Meshach Dean scored six in 1892–93 (in a 22 game league season).[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a £15,497 was recorded despite a donation of £16,320 from the Sportsmen's Association, the Development Fund, and the social club.[1] The average home attendance was a mere 5,508, almost half that of the previous season.[1] Gate receipts had plummeted to just £24,117, compared to a wage bill of £41,092; meanwhile a £6,250 profit was made on transfers.[1] A clear-out of players could not be avoided, as twelve were handed free transfers, including: Billy Bingham (retired); Stan Steele (left the country); Ron Smith (Southport); Ron Andrew (retired); Tim Rawlings (Nuneaton Borough); Stan Trafford (retired); and Albert Cheesebrough (joined Mansfield Town for free, although Vale had wanted £5,000 for him).[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale made 'an inglorious passage' past amateurs Hendon of the Isthmian League with a difficult 2–1 victory.[1] Fourth Division Millwall proved to be too tough an opponent in the Second Round however, as the "Lions" picked a 'decisive' 4–0 win at The Den.[1]

In the League Cup, once again the club exited at the first hurdle, this time going down 1–0 to Luton Town at home.

Final league table

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

P W D L F A GA Pts
1 Carlisle United 46 25 10 11 76 53 1.434 60
2 Bristol City 46 24 11 11 92 55 1.673 59
3 Mansfield Town 46 24 11 11 95 61 1.557 59
4 Hull City 46 23 12 11 91 57 1.596 58
5 Brentford 46 24 9 13 83 55 1.509 57
6 Bristol Rovers 46 20 15 11 82 58 1.414 55
7 Gillingham 46 23 9 14 70 50 1.400 55
8 Peterborough United 46 22 7 17 85 74 1.149 51
9 Watford 46 17 16 13 71 64 1.109 50
10 Grimsby Town 46 16 17 13 68 67 1.015 49
11 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 46 18 11 17 72 63 1.143 47
12 Southend United 46 19 8 19 78 71 1.099 46
13 Reading 46 16 14 16 70 70 1.000 46
14 Queens Park Rangers 46 17 12 17 72 80 0.900 46
15 Workington 46 17 12 17 58 69 0.841 46
16 Shrewsbury Town 46 15 12 19 76 84 0.905 42
17 Exeter City 46 12 17 17 51 52 0.981 41
18 Scunthorpe United 46 14 12 20 65 72 0.903 40
19 Walsall 46 15 7 24 55 80 0.688 37
20 Oldham Athletic 46 13 10 23 61 83 0.735 36
21 Luton Town 46 11 11 24 51 94 0.543 33
22 Port Vale 46 9 14 23 41 76 0.539 32
23 Colchester United 46 10 10 26 50 89 0.562 30
24 Barnsley 46 9 11 26 54 90 0.600 29

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

Sourced from Statto.[2]

Football League Third Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
22 August 1964 Workington A 1–4 5,228 Andrew
24 August 1964 Carlisle United A 1–1 11,809 Cheesebrough
29 August 1964 Colchester United H 1–2 8,190 Poole
31 August 1964 Carlisle United H 1–3 8,003 Cheesebrough
5 September 1964 Brentford A 0–4 8,397
9 September 1964 Luton Town A 1–1 11,649 Poole
12 September 1964 Bristol Rovers H 1–1 7,571 Steele
14 September 1964 Luton Town H 1–0 6,381 Cheesebrough
19 September 1964 Oldham Athletic A 1–0 9,575 Cheesebrough
26 September 1964 Exeter City H 0–1 7,006
28 September 1964 Mansfield Town A 2–2 10,709 Porter, Mitchell
3 October 1964 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic A 0–3 8,609
5 October 1964 Mansfield Town H 2–2 4,247 Rowland, Cheesebrough
10 October 1964 Gillingham A 0–2 8,839
12 October 1964 Peterborough United A 2–2 9,878 Miles (2)
17 October 1964 Bristol City H 1–2 5,564 Miles
19 October 1964 Peterborough United H 0–1 6,110
23 October 1964 Queens Park Rangers A 1–3 4,489 Machin
26 October 1964 Watford H 2–2 5,271 Machin, Rawlings
31 October 1964 Shrewsbury Town H 1–1 6,363 Mitchell
7 November 1964 Reading A 1–1 7,360 Mudie
21 November 1964 Barnsley A 2–0 5,288 Porter, Smith
28 November 1964 Scunthorpe United H 0–1 4,620
19 December 1964 Colchester United A 0–2 2,528
26 December 1964 Hull City H 0–3 6,099
28 December 1964 Hull City A 0–4 12,468
2 January 1965 Brentford H 2–1 4,533 Miles, Mudie
8 January 1965 Southend United H 2–2 4,852 Rowland (pen), Miles
16 January 1965 Bristol Rovers A 0–4 10,011
30 January 1965 Walsall A 0–0 7,324
6 February 1965 Exeter City A 1–2 5,465 Poole
13 February 1965 Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic H 1–2 3,071 Mitchell
20 February 1965 Gillingham H 0–4 4,203
27 February 1965 Bristol City A 0–3 8,552
13 March 1965 Shrewsbury Town A 0–0 5,546
15 March 1965 Oldham Athletic H 2–1 5,057 Cheesebrough, Trafford
20 March 1965 Reading H 2–0 4,162 Machin, Steele
26 March 1965 Southend United A 1–2 6,017 Cheesebrough
29 March 1965 Workington H 2–0 7,175 Steele, Rowland
3 April 1965 Barnsley H 2–0 6,311 o.g., Machin
9 April 1965 Scunthorpe United A 0–0 3,894
16 April 1965 Grimsby Town A 0–2 8,325
17 April 1965 Queens Park Rangers H 0–0 4,816
20 April 1965 Grimsby Town H 2–3 3,569 Rowland (2)
24 April 1965 Watford A 0–1 7,627
26 April 1965 Walsall H 2–1 3,521 Boulton, Bannister

FA Cup

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 14 November 1964 Hendon H 2–1 8,039 Smith, Mitchell
R2 5 December 1964 Millwall A 0–4 7,521

League Cup

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 7 September 1964 Luton Town H 0–1 5,111

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 1.30 1.31 1.32 1.33 1.34 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. Port Vale 1964–1965 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.