1956–57 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1956–57 season
Chairman	Fred Burgess
Manager	Freddie Steele (until January) Norman Low (February onwards)
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Second Division	22nd (22 Points)
FA Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Cyril Done (9) All: Cyril Done (9)
Highest home attendance	22,395 vs. Stoke City (29 April 1957)
Lowest home attendance	7,038 vs. Rotherham United (27 April 1957)
Average home league attendance	14,046
Home colours

The 1956–57 season was Port Vale's forty-fifth season of football in the Football League, and their third successive season (thirty-second overall) in the Second Division. An unmitigated disaster from start to finish, they were relegated in bottom place with just 22 points from 42 games. It was the end of an era, as the reputation of 'the Steele Curtain' had taken a severe blow, and its architect Freddie Steele left the club in January. The season was considered to be one where the old guard 'cracked', and thus many loyal servants of the club were let go in the summer of 1957, including Ray King, Reg Potts, Stan Turner, Tommy Cheadle, and Stan Smith.

Three still-standing but unwanted club-records were set this season: a record 28 defeats in 42 matches, and a 22 game streak without a clean sheet (22 September 1956 to 23 February 1957), and a losing streak of nine straight games (9 March 1957 to 20 April 1957).

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw the arrival of Harry Anders, a winger from Manchester City signed for 'a substantial fee'.

The season started with Anders and Baily up front, a combination which failed during a goalless draw with Barnsley. Two losses followed in which eight goals were conceded. Harry Poole replaced Albert Leake in what was 'one of the few rays of sunlight in an otherwise gloomy beginning'. Vale then 'clicked into gear', picking up seven points out of a possible ten in September. This included a 4–2 win at Ewood Park, their last away win of the campaign. Injuries then ravaged the squad as Vale went on a sequence of eight straight defeats to take them from fourteenth to second from bottom. These included losses at the City Ground, Victoria Ground (in the first ever floodlit game in the Potteries), and Anfield. In October, Baily was sold to Nottingham Forest for £7,000 – exactly what Vale had paid for him earlier in the year. Baily had failed to fit in with the team, and was seen as too individualist. The next month Steele bought experienced forward Billy Spurdle from Manchester City for £4,000. He scored on his debut in a 3–2 win over Bury, and two weeks later he scored a brace in a 4–2 win over Doncaster Rovers. This temporarily took them away from relegation worries before a streak of seven games without victory.

On 15 January, Steele resigned, saying "I am quite prepared to face the consequences". On 2 February, Nottingham Forest travelled to Vale Park with Eddie Baily, and demolished Vale 7–1 in a record defeat for the club at the stadium. A week later, the "Valiants" put three past Fulham at Craven Cottage, but failed to pick up any points as Ray King conceded six goals despite a brilliant performance. On 18 February, 42 year old Norman Low of Workington Town took the £2,000 a year job as Vale manager. Low had no interest in the tactics of the opposition, and simply told his players to 'entertain the public'. He was confident the players at his disposal could reach safety, despite the difficult situation they found themselves in. His first match in charge saw a 3–0 win over Grimsby Town which took them out of the relegation zone. Yet what followed was a club-record nine game losing streak that doomed their season, five of which were played in Burslem. Low experimented with his team by dropping King and Roy Sproson (on a run of 128 consecutive appearances), but all that resulted was a 6–0 hammering from Sheffield United. However it was their 1–0 defeat at Gigg Lane to struggling Bury that did more damage to their prospects of survival. During this spell Reg Potts made his 166th consecutive appearance, though Low put young reserves into the fray after all seemed lost. After relegation was confirmed, Vale seemed to play better with the pressure lifted, and picked up five points in their last three games, including a 2–2 draw at home to rivals Stoke City. Low also announced his plans to rebuild the club, initiating a lengthy series of schoolboy trials.

They finished bottom of the table with 22 points, losing 18 of their 21 away games. They were eight points short of third-from-bottom Notts County. Their 57 goals scored was greater only than Lincoln City, whilst 'the Steele Curtain' was broken, conceding 101 goals, fewer than only two Football League clubs (Charlton Athletic and Crewe Alexandra). Top scorer Cyril Done only score nine goals, as no consistent scorer emerged all season long.

Finances

On the financial side, 105,000 spectators had been lost from the previous season to an average of only 14,046, leaving an income from gate receipts of £40,717. Despite this a profit of £1,268 was recorded. This occurred because of a wage budget cut of around £8,000 to £20,684 and a transfer credit of £625. The club's debts were worrying however, causing the club's directors to funnel £2,500 of their own resources towards repaying this debt. A clear-out of players was initiated for the first time in a good while, those departing included: Cyril Done (Winsford United); Ray King (sold to Boston United for £2,500); Reg Potts and Stan Turner (Worcester City); Tommy Cheadle, Stan Smith, and Derek Mountford (Crewe Alexandra); Len Stephenson and Billy Spurdle (Oldham Athletic); and Harry Anders (Accrington Stanley). Though many of these were some of the club's best players, many had also reached retirement age. Low admitted that he would have to buy young players to fill the vacancies in the first team.

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale drew 3–3 with Barnsley at Oakwell, before losing the replay 1–0.

Final league table

Main article: 1956–57 Football League

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GA	Pts
1	Leicester City	42	25	11	6	109	67	1.627	61
2	Nottingham Forest	42	22	10	10	94	55	1.709	54
3	Liverpool	42	21	11	10	82	54	1.519	53
4	Blackburn Rovers	42	21	10	11	83	75	1.107	52
5	Stoke City	42	20	8	14	83	58	1.431	48
6	Middlesbrough	42	19	10	13	84	60	1.400	48
7	Sheffield United	42	19	8	15	87	76	1.145	46
8	West Ham United	42	19	8	15	59	63	0.937	46
9	Bristol Rovers	42	18	9	15	81	67	1.209	45
10	Swansea Town	42	19	7	16	90	90	1.000	45
11	Fulham	42	19	4	19	84	76	1.105	42
12	Huddersfield Town	42	18	6	18	68	74	0.919	42
13	Bristol City	42	16	9	17	74	79	0.937	41
14	Doncaster Rovers	42	15	10	17	77	77	1.000	40
15	Leyton Orient	42	15	10	17	66	84	0.786	40
16	Grimsby Town	42	17	5	20	61	62	0.984	39
17	Rotherham United	42	13	11	18	74	75	0.987	37
18	Lincoln City	42	14	6	22	54	80	0.675	34
19	Barnsley	42	12	10	20	59	89	0.663	34
20	Notts County	42	9	12	21	58	86	0.674	30
21	Bury	42	8	9	25	60	96	0.625	25
22	Port Vale	42	8	6	28	57	101	0.564	22

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

Template:Fb rbr header Template:Fb rbr ground Template:Fb rbr result Template:Fb rbr position fl |} Sourced from Statto.

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
18 August 1956	Barnsley	H	0–0	14,336
22 August 1956	Lincoln City	A	0–4	11,863
25 August 1956	Sheffield United	A	2–4	21,950	Smith (2)
27 August 1956	Lincoln City	H	1–1	13,595	Done
1 September 1956	Bristol City	H	3–1	17,645	Smith (2), Done
8 September 1956	Blackburn Rovers	A	4–2	20,753	Smith(2), Stephenson, o.g.
15 September 1956	West Ham United	H	0–0	17,582
22 September 1956	Nottingham Forest	A	2–4	18,699	Smith, Baily
29 September 1956	Fulham	H	2–1	21,281	Askey, Done
6 October 1956	Middlesbrough	A	1–3	18,586	Stephenson
10 October 1956	Stoke City	A	1–3	39,446	Smith
13 October 1956	Leicester City	H	2–3	21,690	Hayward (2)
20 October 1956	Grimsby Town	A	0–1	13,801
27 October 1956	Notts County	H	1–2	13,137	Done
3 November 1956	Liverpool	A	1–4	32,334	Steele
10 November 1956	Leyton Orient	H	1–2	8,404	o.g.
17 November 1956	Huddersfield Town	A	1–3	14,044	Poole
24 November 1956	Bury	H	3–2	11,840	Askey, Spurdle, Stephenson
1 December 1956	Bristol Rovers	A	1–2	21,268	Griffiths
8 December 1956	Doncaster Rovers	H	4–1	12,330	Cunliffe (2), Spurdle (2)
15 December 1956	Barnsley	A	0–2	9,683
29 December 1956	Bristol City	A	3–3	18,561	Poole (2), Hayward
1 January 1957	Rotherham United	A	0–1	8,120
12 January 1957	Blackburn Rovers	H	0–3	12,422
19 January 1957	West Ham United	A	1–2	17,229	Sproson
2 February 1957	Nottingham Forest	H	1–7	18,185	Askey
9 February 1957	Fulham	A	3–6	13,967	Done, Cunliffe, Spurdle
16 February 1957	Middlesbrough	H	2–1	20,766	Done, Cunliffe
23 February 1957	Leicester City	A	1–2	12,064	Spurdle
2 March 1957	Grimsby Town	H	3–0	15,293	Done (2), Askey
9 March 1957	Notts County	A	1–3	17,324	Potts
16 March 1957	Liverpool	H	1–2	14,241	Spurdle
23 March 1957	Leyton Orient	A	2–3	14,412	Askey, Leake
25 March 1957	Sheffield United	H	0–6	9,249
30 March 1957	Huddersfield Town	H	1–2	10,500	Spurdle
6 April 1957	Bury	A	0–1	10,524
13 April 1957	Bristol Rovers	H	2–3	9,006	Steele, Done (pen)
19 April 1957	Swansea Town	H	0–2	12,729
20 April 1957	Doncaster Rovers	A	0–4	7,626
22 April 1957	Swansea Town	A	2–2	11,629	Cunliffe, Leake
27 April 1957	Rotherham United	H	2–1	7,038	Leake (2)
29 April 1957	Stoke City	H	2–2	22,395	Cunliffe, Steele

FA Cup

Main article: 1956–57 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	5 January 1957	Barnsley	A	3–3	17,720	Poole (2), Stephenson
R3 Replay	7 January 1957	Barnsley	H	0–1	15,718

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Ray King	37	0	2	0	39	0
GK	John Poole	3	0	0	0	3	0
GK	Leslie Wood	2	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Tommy Cheadle	14	0	0	0	14	0
DF	Reg Potts	39	1	2	0	41	1
DF	Roy Sproson	39	1	2	0	41	1
DF	Stan Turner	27	0	2	0	29	0
DF	David Raine	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	Selwyn Whalley	6	0	0	0	6	0
DF	Frank Wintle	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Alan Bennett	2	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Albert Leake	22	4	0	0	22	4
MF	John Cunliffe	31	6	2	0	33	6
MF	Derek Mountford	9	0	2	0	11	0
MF	Colin Askey	37	5	2	0	39	5
MF	Harry Anders	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Terry Miles	5	0	0	0	5	0
MF	Billy Spurdle	21	7	2	0	23	7
MF	Basil Hayward	42	3	2	0	44	3
FW	Ken Griffiths	17	1	0	0	17	1
FW	Len Stephenson	20	3	2	1	22	4
FW	Stan Smith	17	8	0	0	17	8
FW	Cyril Done	16	9	0	0	16	9
FW	Harry Poole	30	3	2	2	32	5
FW	Eddie Baily	9	1	0	0	9	1
FW	Stan Steele	12	3	0	0	12	3

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
Cyril Done	9
Stan Smith	8
Billy Spurdle	7
John Cunliffe	6
Colin Askey	5
Harry Poole
Albert Leake	4
Len Stephenson
Stan Steele	3
Basil Hayward
Ken Griffiths	1
Eddie Baily
Roy Sproson
Reg Potts

League

Scorer	Goals
Cyril Done	9
Stan Smith	8
Billy Spurdle	7
John Cunliffe	6
Colin Askey	5
Albert Leake	4
Len Stephenson	3
Stan Steele
Basil Hayward
Harry Poole
Ken Griffiths	1
Eddie Baily
Roy Sproson
Reg Potts

References

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