1976–77 Port Vale F.C. season

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Port Vale
1976–77 season
Chairman Mark Singer
Manager Roy Sproson
Stadium Vale Park
Football League Third Division 19th (38 Points)
FA Cup Fifth Round
League Cup First Round
Debenhams Cup Runners-up
Player of the Year David Harris
Top goalscorer League: Ken Beamish (12)
All: Ken Beamish (18)
Highest home attendance 18,068 vs. Burnley (29 January 1977)
Lowest home attendance 2,984 vs. Portsmouth (2 April 1977)
Average home league attendance 4,356
Home colours
← 1975–76 1977–78 →

The 1976–77 season was Port Vale's 65th season of football in the Football League, and their seventh successive season (13th overall) in the Third Division.[1] In the FA Cup, Vale reached the Fifth Round for the first time since 1961–62, after progressing past two Second Division clubs. There they were knocked out by Aston Villa at Villa Park in front of nearly fifty thousand spectators. Back in the league, Vale struggled to get by with an average home attendance of 4,356, and finished nineteenth, just three points from safety. Entered into the Debenhams Cup, they lost 4–3 to Chester.

Overview

Third Division

The pre-season saw manager Roy Sproson add two youngsters to his squad: forward Kevin Kennerley (Burnley) and defender Ian Osborne (Birmingham City).[1] The battle with Stoke-on-Trent City Council continued over the legality of Vale's market trading operation.[1] The club were also in trouble with The Football Association, who fined them £400 for the 47 bookings received in the previous campaign.[1] Vale decided to crack down on player indiscipline by fining players £25 for dissent and £50 for violence.[1] As 'a piece of good business' which 'could not be turned down', the club also sold star defender Terry Lees to Dutch side Sparta Rotterdam for £25,000.[1] Another late signing was Geoff Davies, who had returned from a spell in the United States.[1]

The season opened with a loss, a draw, and then a 2–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.[1] Then only one point was gained in the next six matches.[1] To bolster the side in came Stoke City's veteran defender Eric Skeels, who was also returning from a spell in the USA.[1] Mick Cullerton then severed a cartilage, which meant five months out of action for the star striker.[1] To replace him Sproson signed Blackburn Rovers' Ken Beamish (£12,000) and Wigan Athletic's John Rogers ('a small fee').[1] The club also made other clubs aware that they would listen to any offers for players, but there was little in the way of interest.[1] In October, former England and Wolves defender Bobby Thomson was another player returning from the States.[1] Signing with the Vale, he impressed so much that he was made club captain in his first week at Vale Park.[1] A club record run of 42 away games without a clean sheet began on 18 December, and would last until 30 September 1978. The first of this run was a 1–1 draw with Rotherham United at Millmoor, after this match "Millers" boss Jimmy McGuigan stated that Vale showed 'the worst exhibition of football thuggery I have ever seen'.[1] Even though the defence struggled away from home, Beamish did not, as he scored his first ten goals for the club away from Burslem.[1] In a 4–2 win over Grimsby Town at Blundell Park on 3 January, Beamish scored a hat-trick.[1] Later in the month Geoff Davies had his contract cancelled by mutual consent.[1]

Vale's form tailed off, though Terry Alcock returned briefly to play a handful of games.[1] Thomson also returned to the USA, Ray Williams was transferred to Northwich Victoria for 'a small fee', and Colin Tartt was sold to Chesterfield for £15,000.[1] In their places were new signings Alan Lamb (£5,000 from Preston North End) and Peter Sutcliffe (£3,000 from Stockport County), whilst a fit again Cullerton was like a new signing.[1] The club had drifted into the bottom four, but a six match unbeaten run with a prolific Cullerton took them to safety.[1] In the background was an ongoing power struggle in the boardroom.[1] In late-March they then received a 6–2 beating at Wrexham and then a 4–0 beating from Chesterfield at Saltergate.[1] The club suffered an injury crisis in April, with both Keith Chadwick and John Brodie having been forced to retire through injury.[1] Relegation was avoided however with six points from the final five games.[1] The final game of the season was against Rotherham United, who needed a six goal win margin to gain promotion.[1] The match saw three penalties, three bookings and crowd trouble, though United were four goals ahead they failed to find the remaining two, and instead the "Valiants" scored a late goal.[1]

They finished in nineteenth place with 38 points, three points above the drop.[1] Their 47 goals scored tally was lower only than Grimsby's tally.[1] They only recorded two victories on their travels.[1] At the end of the season was the short-lived Debenhams Cup competition, Vale lost 4–3 to Chester over two legs, but still received a runners-up prize of £5,000.[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a loss of £5,959 was made despite a donation of £23,860 from the Development Fund.[1] Gate receipts had risen to £60,115, however wages and signing-on fees had risen to £139,012.[1] The bank overdraft stood at £15,000, though the club's total debt stood at £123,863.[1] On the coaching front, Roy Chapman was replaced by Colin Harper.[1] Meanwhile three players were handed free transfers: ten year club veteran Tommy McLaren (Telford United), Eric Skeels (Leek Town), and Ian Osborne (Hillingdon Borough).[1] Also John Rogers was sold to Altrincham for £2,000.[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale advanced past Fourth Division Southport with a John Rogers brace at Haig Avenue. A 3–0 win over Barnsley then put Vale into the Third Round, where they came up against Second Division Hull City. After a 1–1 draw at Boothferry Park, Vale knocked the "Tigers" out with a 3–1 win at Vale Park. The "Valiants" beat Burnley – another second tier team – in the Fourth Round with a 2–1 home win. The Fifth Round held First Division Aston Villa at Villa Park. Villa won 3–0 in front of a crowd of 46,872. The score was 'flattering' to the "Villans" as they scored two late goals. The match was shown on television.[1]

In the League Cup, Welsh club Wrexham knocked the Vale out 2–1 on aggregate, following a 1–1 draw in Burslem and a 1–0 win at the Racecourse Ground.

Final league table

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Main article: 1976–77 Football League
P W D L F A GD Pts
1 Mansfield Town 46 28 8 10 78 42 +36 64
2 Brighton & Hove Albion 46 25 11 10 83 40 +43 61
3 Crystal Palace 46 23 13 10 68 40 +28 59
4 Rotherham United 46 22 15 9 69 44 +25 59
5 Wrexham 46 24 10 12 80 54 +26 58
6 Preston North End 46 21 12 13 64 43 +21 54
7 Bury 46 23 8 15 64 59 +5 54
8 Sheffield Wednesday 46 22 9 15 65 55 +10 53
9 Lincoln City 46 19 14 13 77 70 +7 52
10 Shrewsbury Town 46 18 11 17 65 59 +6 47
11 Swindon Town 46 15 15 16 68 75 -7 45
12 Gillingham 46 16 12 18 55 64 -9 44
13 Chester 46 18 8 20 48 58 -10 44
14 Tranmere Rovers 46 13 17 16 51 53 -2 43
15 Walsall 46 13 15 18 57 65 -8 41
16 Peterborough United 46 13 15 18 55 65 -10 41
17 Oxford United 46 12 15 19 55 65 -10 39
18 Chesterfield 46 14 10 22 56 64 -8 38
19 Port Vale 46 11 16 19 47 71 -24 38
20 Portsmouth 46 11 14 21 53 70 -17 36
21 Reading 46 13 9 24 49 73 -24 35
22 Northampton Town 46 13 8 25 60 75 -15 34
23 Grimsby Town 46 12 9 25 45 69 -24 33
24 York City 46 10 12 24 50 89 -39 32

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 A H H A H A A H A H H A A H H A H A A H A A H A A H A H A H H H A H A A H A H H A H H A A H
Result L D W L L L D L L W L D D W D L D D D L L W D L W L D W D D D W L W L L W L L D L W W D D L
Position 18 17 7 18 20 23 20 23 23 18 22 21 21 18 18 19 19 19 21 21 22 20 21 22 19 19 21 21 20 18 17 17 19 17 17 18 16 17 19 21 21 19 18 19 18 19

Sourced from Statto.[2]

Football League Third Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
21 August 1976 Swindon Town A 0–1 6,336
23 August 1976 Chesterfield H 1–1 4,056 Williams
28 August 1976 Sheffield Wednesday H 2–0 5,033 Cullerton, Tartt
4 September 1976 Lincoln City A 0–2 6,059
11 September 1976 Gillingham H 1–2 3,015 Tartt
14 September 1976 Preston North End A 0–4 6,592
18 September 1976 Reading A 1–1 7,104 Brownbill
25 September 1976 Shrewsbury Town H 1–2 4,180 Beech
2 October 1976 Walsall A 1–3 5,459 Skeels
8 October 1976 Northampton Town H 2–1 3,962 Brownbill, Rogers
16 October 1976 Wrexham H 2–3 5,347 Cullerton, Tartt
23 October 1976 Portsmouth A 1–1 7,456 Beamish
25 October 1976 Tranmere Rovers A 1–1 3,578 Beamish
30 October 1976 Grimsby Town H 2–0 3,714 Rogers (2)
1 November 1976 Preston North End H 0–0 4,686
6 November 1976 York City A 0–1 2,153
13 November 1976 Brighton & Hove Albion H 2–2 6,449 Williams, Bailey
27 November 1976 Oxford United A 0–0 4,015
18 December 1976 Rotherham United A 1–1 5,012 Beamish
27 December 1976 Bury H 0–1 5,862
28 December 1976 Mansfield Town A 1–2 7,977 Beamish
3 January 1977 Grimsby Town A 4–2 5,870 Beamish (3), Kennerley
22 January 1977 Swindon Town H 2–2 4,446 Beech, Ridley
1 February 1977 Crystal Palace A 0–2 11,149
5 February 1977 Sheffield Wednesday A 2–1 13,105 Beamish, Rogers
7 February 1977 York City H 0–2 4,683
19 February 1977 Gillingham A 1–1 5,084 Rogers
28 February 1977 Reading H 1–0 4,212 Beech
5 March 1977 Shrewsbury Town A 1–1 4,236 Rogers
7 March 1977 Peterborough United H 1–1 4,417 Cullerton
11 March 1977 Walsall H 0–0 4,819
14 March 1977 Chester H 1–0 4,451 Cullerton (pen)
19 March 1977 Northampton Town A 0–3 5,808
21 March 1977 Lincoln City H 1–0 3,987 Cullerton
24 March 1977 Wrexham A 2–6 6,383 Beamish (2)
30 March 1977 Chesterfield A 0–4 3,426
2 April 1977 Portsmouth H 1–0 2,984 Cullerton
8 April 1977 Bury A 0–3 5,619
9 April 1977 Mansfield Town H 1–4 4,389 Beech
16 April 1977 Tranmere Rovers H 1–1 3,188 Dulson
23 April 1977 Brighton & Hove Albion A 0–1 23,482
26 April 1977 Crystal Palace H 4–1 3,990 o.g., Cullerton, Sutcliffe, Beamish
30 April 1977 Oxford United H 2–1 4,058 Bailey, o.g.
4 May 1977 Peterborough United A 1–1 3,883 Cullerton
7 May 1977 Chester A 1–1 2,978 Beamish
14 May 1977 Rotherham United H 1–4 4,271 Cullerton (pen)

FA Cup

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Main article: 1976–77 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 20 November 1976 Southport A 2–1 4,102 Rogers (2)
R2 11 December 1976 Barnsley H 3–0 5,451 Williams, Griffiths, Beamish
R3 8 January 1977 Hull City A 1–1 9,694 Beamish
R3 Replay 10 January 1977 Hull City H 3–1 10,668 Beamish (2), Kennerley
R4 29 January 1977 Burnley H 2–1 18,068 Tartt, Brownbill
R5 26 February 1977 Aston Villa A 0–3 46,872

League Cup

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Main article: 1976–77 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg 14 August 1976 Wrexham H 1–1 3,912 Cullerton (pen)
R1 2nd Leg 18 August 1976 Wrexham A 0–1 4,320

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 1.35 1.36 1.37 1.38 1.39 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Port Vale 1976–1977 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  • Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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