1905–06 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

Burslem Port Vale
1905–06 season
Chairman	Robert Audley
Manager-secretary	Tommy Clare
Stadium	Athletic Ground
Football League Second Division	17th (28 Points)
FA Cup	First Round; (knocked out by Gainsborough Trinity)
Birmingham Senior Cup	Semi-final; (knocked out by Birmingham)
Staffordshire Senior Cup	Semi-final; (knocked out by Burton United)
Top goalscorer	League: Harry Mountford (15); All: Harry Mountford (15)
Highest home attendance	6,000 vs Chelsea, 30 October 1905
Lowest home attendance	1,000 vs Chesterfield Town, 9 September 1905
Average home league attendance	3,200
Biggest win	5–0 vs. Stoke, 18 September 1905
Biggest defeat	0–7 (twice)
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1904–05 1906–07 →

The 1905–06 season was Burslem Port Vale's eighth consecutive season (12th overall) of football in the English Football League.^[1] It was another season spent struggling at the lower end of the league.

On the pitch the team allowed goals and narrowly avoided the re-election zone. A poor season on the pitch was more than matched by a hopeless financial season off the pitch, with low attendance figures suggesting that the club could not sustain league football for much longer.^[1]

Ageing Lucien Boullemier made one comeback appearance.

Albert Cook as usual made only sporadic appearances.

Overview

Second Division

An expanded league saw an extra four new clubs added to the division, in addition to the replacement for Doncaster Rovers, who failed to gain re-election the previous season. This put the Vale up against Chelsea, Hull City, Leeds City, and Clapton Orient for the first time. The season's first five games saw a tally of just three points collected, with the 2–1 reversal at home to Blackpool "was not calculated to inspire confidence". The losing run concluded with a 4–0 defeat at Barnsley. Yet "sparking footwork" inspired three successive wins and left Vale in sixth place by 14 October. They did, however, miss three penalty kicks until right-back Albert Cook converted from the spot against Clapton Orient in the club's fourth such attempt of the campaign. On 30 October, celebrated amateur international Samuel Ashworth made his debut for the club in a 3–2 victory over Chelsea and was appointed as captain, though he rarely played thereafter as he concentrated on his North Staffs Nomads amateur side.^[1]

Starting from November, the team attained only one point in nine games – in six of these, the "Valeites" failed to score.^[1] It began with a 4–0 loss at the bottom-club Gainsborough Trinity. Former club stalwart turned international pottery artist Lucien Boullemier returned from the United States to feature in a 1–0 defeat to Bristol City, though he had completely lost his athleticism and was not played in a professional game. The club's directors acted upon appalling attendance figures and decided to sell right-half Harry Croxton and inspirational striker Adrian Capes to Stoke in November.^[1] A rare win came on 30 December, with Harry Mountford scoring a hat-trick past Lincoln City – the first hat-trick a Vale player had scored in close to three years.^[1] However, the side then proceeded to lose all their matches in January, including a 5–0 thrashing at Grimsby Town that left the club second-from-bottom. They gained some measure of relief with a 3–1 victory at an ageing Clapton Orient on 3 February.^[1]

The last three months saw a revival, and the club won six of their last fifteen games.^[1] Thsi included seven matches at the Athletic Ground without defeat. Remarkably, one of the victories came against Manchester United after goalkeeper Arthur Box scored the game's only goal from the penalty spot. Heavy defeats were sustained on the road, though, the worst of which was a 7–0 humbling at Chelsea. Of more concern was a 3–2 at fellow strugglers Glossop when William Cope was hit on the head with a stone after the Glossop players were altogether too rough and physical in coming down from an initial two goal deficit. Arthur Box decided to get his retaliation in first by kicking a Glossop player before taking his goalkick and was duly sent off. Victory was needed in the final home game against Bradford City to secure safety, and a "businesslike" performance ensured the necessary 2–1 victory. They still needed to avoid a four-goal defeat at West Bromwich Albion to be sure, though, with centre-half Joseph Holyhead scoring the crucial consolation goal.^[1]

Port Vale finished just in 17th place, outside the re-election zone on goal average. Vale lost seventeen of their nineteen away games, never drawing a match away from home, and conceded more on their travels than any other side in the league. Overall, the defence was the leakiest in the division, conceding 82 goals in 38 games.^[1] Harry Mountford was the club's top scorer with 15 goals, with no other player reaching double figures.^[1] The club parted company with manager-secretary Tommy Clare to save money and Sam Gleaves returned to the secretary role and Sam Bennion was put in charge of selection.^[1]

Finances

The financial outlook was bleak, and poor runs of results saw low attendance figures plummet. There were rumours of the club winding up at the end of the season, though the club would continue in its current form for one more season.^[1] Despite selling players and spending frugally, the club lost a whopping £451, with gate receipts falling by £280 on the previous campaign. Sam Gleaves warned that if supporters failed to turn up for matches, then the club would "inevitably cease to exist".^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale defeated amateur club Oxford City after Oxford failed to make the most of their shooting chances. The Second Round saw Vale eliminated by Gainsborough Trinity at home, despite having organised special training sessions beforehand.^[1] In the County cups, Vale knocked out local rivals Stoke (Reserves) at home by 5–0 and 3–0 scorelines in the opening rounds as new competition rules meant clubs were no longer obliged to field a strong team. Vale "did not seem to exert themselves" as they were thumped 7–0 at Birmingham in the semi-finals of the Birmingham Senior Cup. They also faced a 5–1 defeat at Burton United in the semi-final of the Staffordshire Senior Cup after being forced to play a reserve side as it clashed with a league fixture.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion
15	Gainsborough Trinity	38	12	4	22	44	57	0.772	28
16	Glossop	38	10	8	20	49	71	0.690	28
17	Burslem Port Vale	38	12	4	22	49	82	0.598	28
18	Chesterfield Town	38	10	8	20	40	72	0.556	28	Re-elected
19	Burton United	38	10	6	22	34	67	0.507	26	Re-elected

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results

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	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A
Result	L	W	L	D	L	W	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	D	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	D	W	L	L	W	L
Position	13	13	14	13	17	14	9	6	12	8	10	14	14	13	15	17	17	17	17	15	16	17	19	16	18	18	16	17	17	17	16	18	17	15	16	16	15	17

Source: Statto^[2]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
2 September 1905	Lincoln City	A	1–3	3,000	o.g.
9 September 1905	Chesterfield	H	4–3	1,000	Capes (2), Smith, Crombie
11 September 1905	Blackpool	H	1–2		Carter
16 September 1905	Grimsby Town	H	2–2	2,000	Smith (2)
23 September 1905	Barnsley	A	0–4	3,000
30 September 1905	Clapton Orient	H	2–1		Mountford, Cook (pen)
7 October 1905	Burnley	A	3–1	3,000	Mountford (2), Price
14 October 1905	Leeds City	H	2–0	1,500	Mountford, Carter
21 October 1905	Burton United	A	0–1	3,000
30 October 1905	Chelsea	H	3–2	6,000	Price, Croxton, Carter
4 November 1905	Gainsborough Trinity	A	0–4
11 November 1905	Bristol City	H	0–1	3,000
18 November 1905	Manchester United	A	0–3	8,000
25 November 1905	Glossop	H	3–3		Mountford, Cook, Holyhead
2 December 1905	Stockport County	A	0–3
16 December 1905	Bradford City	A	0–2	9,000
23 December 1905	West Bromwich Albion	H	0–1	3,500
25 December 1905	Hull City	H	1–3	4,000	Cook
26 December 1905	Leicester Fosse	A	1–2	10,000	Mountford
30 December 1905	Lincoln City	H	3–1	3,000	Mountford (3)
6 January 1906	Chesterfield	A	0–2	10,000
20 January 1906	Grimsby Town	A	0–5	3,000
27 January 1906	Barnsley	H	1–2		Smith
3 February 1906	Clapton Orient	A	3–1		Smith (2), Carter
10 February 1906	Burnley	H	2–2		Mountford, Smith
17 February 1906	Leeds City	A	1–3	9,000	Mountford
24 February 1906	Burton United	H	4–1		Carter, Mountford, Price, Grant
3 March 1906	Chelsea	A	0–7	10,000
10 March 1906	Gainsborough Trinity	H	1–0		Eardley
17 March 1906	Bristol City	A	0–4	10,000
24 March 1906	Manchester United	H	1–0	3,000	Box (pen)
31 March 1906	Glossop	A	2–3	3,000	o.g., Mountford
7 April 1906	Stockport County	H	0–0
13 April 1906	Leicester Fosse	H	2–0	5,000	Carter, Mountford
14 April 1906	Blackpool	A	1–2	2,000	Carter
16 April 1906	Hull City	A	2–3	7,000	Mountford, Carter
21 April 1906	Bradford City	H	2–1		Walley, Smith
28 April 1906	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–4	5,000	Holyhead

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
IR	9 December 1905	Oxford City	A	1–0	3,000	Price
1R	13 January 1906	Gainsborough Trinity	H	0–3	1,500

Birmingham Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	18 September 1905	Stoke	H	3–0	2,500	Croxton, unknown
SF	1 November 1905	Birmingham	A	0–7	100

Staffordshire Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	25 September 1905	Stoke	H	5–0		Price (2), Crombie, Smith, Carter
SF	13 April 1906	Burton United	A	1–5

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Arthur Box	35	1	2	0	3	0	40	1
GK	George Boote	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF	James Hamilton	34	0	2	0	2	0	38	0
DF	William Cope	34	0	2	0	2	0	38	0
DF	Arthur Shelley	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Samuel Ashworth	4	0	2	0	0	0	6	0
DF	George Aytoun	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
DF	Lucien Boullemier	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	William Jones	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0
MF	Bert Eardley	17	1	0	0	0	0	17	1
MF	Harry Croxton	11	1	0	0	3	1	14	2
MF	Sam Whittingham	31	0	0	0	2	0	33	0
MF	William Bradbury	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
MF	Joseph Holyhead	28	2	2	0	0	0	30	2
MF	Vic Horrocks	19	0	2	0	1	0	22	0
MF	Albert Cook	8	3	2	0	0	0	10	3
MF	Robert Carter	35	8	2	0	3	1	40	9
MF	Hugh Walley	9	1	0	0	0	0	9	1
MF	Alex Crombie	17	1	2	0	3	1	22	1
MF	Ebenezer Grant	5	1	0	0	0	0	5	1
MF	Billy Dorrell	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW	George Price	34	3	1	1	3	2	38	6
FW	Adrian Capes	12	2	0	0	2	0	14	2
FW	Harry Mountford	33	15	1	0	2	0	37	15
FW	William Thomas	9	0	0	0	1	0	10	0
FW	Philip Smith	25	8	1	0	3	1	29	9
FW	Alfred Hall	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Second Division	FA Cup	Other	Total
1	FW	England	Harry Mountford	15	0	0	15
2	MF	England	Robert Carter	8	0	1	9
–	FW	England	Philip Smith	8	0	1	9
4	FW	England	George Price	3	1	2	6
5	MF	England	Albert Cook	3	0	0	3
6	FW	England	Adrian Capes	2	0	0	2
–	MF	England	Joseph Holyhead	2	0	0	2
–	MF	England	Alex Crombie	1	0	1	2
–	MF	England	Harry Croxton	1	0	1	2
10	MF		Hugh Walley	1	0	0	1
–	GK	England	Arthur Box	1	0	0	1
–	MF	England	Bert Eardley	1	0	0	1
–	MF	England	Ebenezer Grant	1	0	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	2	0	0	2
–	–	–	Unknown	0	0	1	1
			TOTALS	49	1	7	57

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
July 1905	DF	George Aytoun	Clydebank Juniors	Free transfer	^[3]
July 1905	MF	Alex Crombie	Reading	Free transfer	^[3]
July 1905	DF	Arthur Shelley	Chesterton	Free transfer	^[3]
August 1905	FW	Philip Smith	Knutton	Free transfer	^[3]
October 1905	DF	Samuel Ashworth	Everton	Free transfer	^[3]
October 1905	DF	Sam Baddeley	Norton	Free transfer	^[3]
November 1905	GK	George Boote	Silverdale Town	Free transfer	^[3]
November 1905	DF	Lucien Boullemier	Northampton Town	Free transfer	^[3]
January 1906	MF	Ebenezer Grant	Tunstall Park	Free transfer	^[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
November 1905	DF	Lucien Boullemier	Northern Nomads	Free transfer	^[3]
November 1905	FW	Adrian Capes	Stoke	Free transfer	^[3]
November 1905	DF	Harry Croxton	Stoke	unknown	^[3]
February 1906	MF	Albert Cook	Stoke	Free transfer	^[3]
Summer 1906	DF	Samuel Ashworth	North Staffs Nomads	Released	^[3]
Summer 1906	DF	George Aytoun		Released	^[3]
Summer 1906	GK	George Boote	Knutton Rovers	Released	^[3]
Summer 1906	MF	Alex Crombie		Released	^[3]
Summer 1906	FW	W. Edwards	Crewe Alexandra	Released	^[3]
Summer 1906	FW	Alfred Hall		Released	^[3]
Summer 1906	MF	Ben Jones	Alsagers Bank Church	Free transfer	^[3]
Summer 1906	DF	William Jones		Released	^[3]
Summer 1906	FW	Philip Smith	Crewe Alexandra	Released	^[3]
Summer 1906	FW	William Thomas	Everton	Free transfer	^[3]
Summer 1906	MF	Sam Whittingham	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	^[3]

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.
^ Port Vale 1905–1906 : Results & Fixtures Archived 6 September 2015 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 ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x 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] Port Vale 1905–1906 : Results & Fixtures Archived 6 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

[transfers-3] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

[1]

[2]

[3]

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