1898–99 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

Burslem Port Vale
1898–99 season
Chairman	Robert Audley
Secretary	Sam Gleaves
Stadium	Athletic Ground
Football League Second Division	9th (39 Points)
FA Cup	Fifth Qualifying Round; (knocked out by Small Heath)
Birmingham Senior Cup	Runners-up; (knocked out by Aston Villa)
Staffordshire Senior Cup	Semi-final; (knocked out by Walsall)
Top goalscorer	League: James Peake (11); All: James Peake (17)
Highest home attendance	12,000 vs Manchester City, 1 April 1899
Lowest home attendance	1,000 vs Gainsborough Trinity, 26 November 1898
Average home league attendance	4,500+
Biggest win	5–0 (twice) and 6–1
Biggest defeat	0–7 vs. Small Heath, 10 December 1898
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1897–98 1899–1900 →

The 1898–99 season was Burslem Port Vale's fifth season of football in the English Football League; it followed a two-season absence, which the club spent in the Midland Football League.^[1] A solid return to the Football League, they finished in mid-table. They had the strongest defence in the division as they conceded fewer goals than any other team. Instead, a lack of firepower in front of the goal prevented a push for promotion.

Winning their opening six league games, just two points gained from their final five games ensured a top-two position was out of their reach. However, safety from the re-election lottery was never in doubt, as they finished 19 points above the re-election places. Over the next eight seasons, they never bettered their league finish of 1898–99, though they twice equalled it.

Winger Billy Heames would stay with *the Vale* for the next five seasons.

Overview

Second Division

Their FA Cup win over First Division champions Sheffield United in 1897–98 won Vale the respect (and votes) they needed to win re-election to the Football League for 1898–99.^[1]^[2] To ensure a competitive campaign they signed striker Howard Harvey from Aston Villa for £50 to bolster what remained a semi-professional squad with all the players maintaining jobs outside of football.^[1] Winning their opening six league games, Vale conceded just one goal as they built a four-point lead at the top of the table. The 2–0 win over Grimsby Town on 1 October was attended by 6,000 spectators at the Athletic Ground to raise £117 in receipts. However, right-back Tommy Clare broke his leg in the Grimsby game, and the team's form never recovered without the former England international's guidance on the pitch. A top-of-the-table clash with Newton Heath at Bank Street ended in a 2–1 defeat as the home side scored the winning goal with three minutes left to play.^[1]

A goalless draw at home with New Brighton Tower raised £170 in receipts and was the first in a four-game sequence where the Vale scored only once. This solitary goal was enough to claim victory at Luton Town, though, which kept them top of the league. The highly-rated full-back Tom McFarlane made his debut against Leicester Fosse on 12 November, which ended in a 2–0 defeat. Their form remained patchy until they opened the new year with four successive wins. This sequence included a 6–1 win over Blackpool, which was aided by a four-goal haul from James Peake.^[1] A 2–0 loss away at Burton Swifts was blamed on "painfully peculiar" refereeing and the first half loss of Harvey due to injury. Clare then returned to help the team to a 1–0 win over Newton Heath as they reclaimed second place in the league standings.^[1]

The team won consistently at home, but gained only two points from their seven remaining away games. On 25 March, the team came unstuck with Clare playing in goal for a 3–2 defeat at struggling Gainsborough Trinity. A crowd of 12,000 witnessed a 1–1 draw at home to Manchester City with rough play from both sides. A 2–1 home defeat by Glossop North End saw an end to the club's hopes of top-flight football. They drew the return fixture at Glossop without scoring. The season concluded with a 1–0 home defeat to Walsall. Vale finished the season with two points from five games, dropping into ninth place – their lowest position all season.^[1] No team conceded fewer than their 34 league goals.^[1]

Right-half Lucien Boullemier was an ever-present throughout the campaign, with goalkeeper Herbert Birchenough missing just one game.^[1] Winger Billy Heames and forward Howard Harvey rarely missed a game between them.^[1] James Peake, the club's top scorer, left to join Millwall Athletic in the Southern League, whilst Dick Evans signed with Reading. Tommy Clare retired.^[1]

Finances

Financially, the club lost £300 over the season.^[1] It took three attempts to form enough members to hold the Annual general meeting due to a lack of interest.^[1]

Cup competitions

Defending champions of the Staffordshire Senior Cup, Vale overcame Burton Wanderers in a replay after being too overconfident in the original tie. This took them into the semi-final, where they lost 4–0 to Walsall in a replay on Boxing Day.^[1] In the Birmingham Senior Cup, they defeated Walsall in the semi-final, in a replay at Stoney Lane the game was stopped owing to a snowstorm and the Walsall players got changed and began smoking cigars, refusing to continue the game after the storm cleared and so were ruled out of the competition by the Birmingham County Football Association. Vale went on to lose 4–0 to Aston Villa in the final.^[1] In the FA Cup, they were turned over 7–0 at Small Heath in the qualification rounds.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
7	Woolwich Arsenal	34	18	5	11	72	41	1.756	41
8	Small Heath	34	17	7	10	85	50	1.700	41
9	Burslem Port Vale	34	17	5	12	56	34	1.647	39
10	Grimsby Town	34	15	5	14	71	60	1.183	35
11	Barnsley	34	12	7	15	52	56	0.929	31

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored

Results

Burslem born Danny Simpson never played for any professional club other than Port Vale.

Burslem Port Vale's score comes first

Football League Second Division

Results by matchday

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
Ground	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H
Result	W	W	W	W	W	W	L	D	L	W	L	W	L	D	W	L	W	W	W	W	L	W	L	W	L	L	W	D	W	L	D	L	D	L
Position	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	5	5	4	6	6	6	4	3	3	2	4	3	3	4	4	5	4	4	6	6	7	9

Source: Statto^[3]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
3 September 1898	Barnsley	H	2–0	4,000	Peake, Evans
5 September 1898	Woolwich Arsenal	H	3–0	5,000	Evans (2), unknown
10 September 1898	Small Heath	A	2–1	5,500	Evans, Peake
17 September 1898	Loughborough	H	3–0	5,000	Peake (2), Simpson
24 September 1898	Blackpool	A	4–0	1,000	Peake (2), Harvey, Beech
1 October 1898	Grimsby Town	H	2–0	6,000	Simpson, Evans
8 October 1898	Newton Heath	A	1–2	10,000	Simpson
15 October 1898	New Brighton Tower	H	0–0	5,000
22 October 1898	Lincoln City	A	0–1	4,000
5 November 1898	Luton Town	A	1–0	2,000	Evans
12 November 1898	Leicester Fosse	H	0–2	4,000
26 November 1898	Gainsborough Trinity	H	2–1	1,000	Evans, Harvey
3 December 1898	Manchester City	A	1–3	6,000	Peake
17 December 1898	Walsall	A	1–1	3,000	Evans
24 December 1898	Burton Swifts	H	4–1	2,000	Beckett (2), Harvey, Beech
31 December 1898	Barnsley	A	1–2	1,000	Evans
2 January 1899	Darwen	A	3–1	400	Harvey (2), Mitchell
7 January 1899	Small Heath	H	1–0	5,000	Beckett
14 January 1899	Loughborough	A	3–0	2,000	Evans, Harvey, Beckett
21 January 1899	Blackpool	H	6–1		Peake (4), Beech, Beckett
28 January 1899	Burton Swifts	A	0–2	500
4 February 1899	Newton Heath	H	1–0	6,000	Belfield
11 February 1899	New Brighton Tower	A	0–1	2,000
18 February 1899	Lincoln City	H	2–1	3,000	Harvey, Beech
21 February 1899	Grimsby Town	A	1–3	2,500	Beckett
25 February 1899	Woolwich Arsenal	A	0–1	6,000
4 March 1899	Luton Town	H	4–1	4,000	McDonald (3), Simpson
11 March 1899	Leicester Fosse	A	1–1	9,000	Harvey
18 March 1899	Darwen	H	3–1		Harvey, Beckett, McDonald
25 March 1899	Gainsborough Trinity	A	2–3		Simpson, Beckett
1 April 1899	Manchester City	H	1–1	12,000	Heames
3 April 1899	Glossop North End	H	1–2	4,000	Beckett
8 April 1899	Glossop North End	A	0–0	3,500
15 April 1899	Walsall	H	0–1	1,500

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
3Q	29 October 1898	Wellington Town	H	5–0	1,000	Peake (2), Evans (2), Price
4Q	19 November 1898	Burton Wanderers	H	3–0	1,500	Peake, Simpson, Harvey
5Q	10 December 1898	Small Heath	A	0–7	7,000

Birmingham Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	19 December 1898	Leicester Fosse	H	5–0	800	Harvey (2), McDonald (2), rush
BYE
BYE
SF	13 March 1899	Walsall	N	1–1	4,000	McDonald
Replay	20 March 1899	Walsall	N	2–0	1,000	Harvey, Mitchell
Final	27 March 1899	Aston Villa	A	0–4	3,634

Staffordshire Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	19 September 1898	Burton Wanderers	H	1–1	3,000+	Peake
Replay	26 September 1898	Burton Wanderers	A	4–0	4,000	Peake, Evans, Spilsbury, Simpson
SF	21 November 1898	Walsall	H	1–1	2,000	Peake
Replay	26 December 1898	Walsall	A	0–4	7,000

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Herbert Birchenough	33	0	3	0	8	0	44	0
DF	S. E. Bayley	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Jim Beech	31	4	3	0	6	0	40	4
DF	Lucien Boullemier	34	0	3	0	8	0	45	0
DF	John Bowman	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
DF	Tommy Clare	13	0	0	0	3	0	16	0
DF	George Hulme	8	0	2	0	3	0	13	0
DF	Tom McFarlane	22	0	1	0	4	0	27	0
DF	Henry Platt	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Thomas Spilsbury	15	0	2	0	4	1	21	1
DF	Frank Stokes	3	0	0	0	2	0	5	0
MF	Billy Heames	33	1	3	0	7	0	43	1
MF	Charles Hodgkinson	6	0	0	0	4	0	10	0
MF	Ted McDonald	30	4	2	0	7	3	39	7
FW	Danny Simpson	17	5	2	1	3	1	22	7
FW	George Price	0	0	1	1	0	0	1	1
FW	James Peake	22	11	3	3	3	3	28	17
FW	Frank Mitchell	4	1	1	0	3	1	8	2
FW	Tommy Lander	16	0	1	0	5	0	22	0
FW	Howard Harvey	32	9	2	1	7	3	41	13
FW	Dick Evans	23	10	3	2	4	1	30	13
FW	R. H. Capener	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Fred Belfield	5	1	0	0	1	0	6	1
FW	Ernest Beckett	21	9	0	0	5	0	26	9

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Second Division	FA Cup	Other	Total
1	FW		James Peake	11	3	3	17
2	FW	England	Howard Harvey	9	1	3	13
–	FW	England	Dick Evans	10	2	1	13
4	FW		Ernest Beckett	9	0	0	9
5	MF	England	Ted McDonald	4	0	3	7
–	FW	England	Danny Simpson	5	1	1	7
7	DF		Jim Beech	4	0	0	4
8	FW		Frank Mitchell	1	0	1	2
9	MF	England	Billy Heames	1	0	0	1
–	FW	England	Fred Belfield	1	0	0	1
–	FW	England	George Price	0	1	0	1
–	DF	England	Thomas Spilsbury	0	0	1	1
–	–	–	Rush	0	0	1	1
–	–	–	Unknown	1	0	0	1
			TOTALS	56	8	14	78

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
June 1898	FW	Howard Harvey	Aston Villa	£50	^[4]
Summer 1898	DF	Tommy Clare	Manchester City	Free transfer	^[4]
August 1898	FW	Ernest Beckett	Newcastle Swifts	Free transfer	^[4]
August 1898	DF	Tom McFarlane	Hibernian	Free transfer	^[4]
October 1898	DF	Frank Stokes)	Burslem Park	Free transfer	^[4]
February 1899	DF	John Bowman	Burslem Park	Free transfer	^[4]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1899	FW	James Peake	Millwall Athletic	Free transfer	^[4]
Summer 1899	FW	Ernest Beckett		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	MF	Fred Belfield		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	DF	John Bowman	Stoke	Free transfer	^[4]
Summer 1899	FW	R. H. Capener		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	FW	Dick Evans	Reading	Free transfer	^[4]
Summer 1899	MF	Charles Hodgkinson		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	DF	George Hulme		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	FW	Frank Mitchell		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	DF	Henry Platt		Released	^[4]
Summer 1899	MF	Jos Randles	Retired		^[4]

References

Specific

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Kent, Jeff (1990). "The Hopeless Struggle (1898-1907)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 50–70. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
^ "Vale revel in FA Cup glory". The Sentinel. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.
^ Port Vale 1898–1899 : Results & Fixtures Archived 19 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

General

Kent, Jeff (1993). The Port Vale Record 1879-1993. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-9-8.

[Kent-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p Kent, Jeff (1990). "The Hopeless Struggle (1898-1907)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 50–70. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.

[2] "Vale revel in FA Cup glory". The Sentinel. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 29 November 2012.

[3] Port Vale 1898–1899 : Results & Fixtures Archived 19 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

[transfers-4] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Port Vale F.C. seasons
1880–81 1881–82 1882–83 1883–84 1884–85 1885–86 1886–87 1887–88 1888–89 1889–90
1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–00
1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10
1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20
1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27 2027–28 2028–29 2029–30