1965–66 Port Vale F.C. season

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Port Vale
1965–66 season
Chairman Fred Pinfold
Manager Jackie Mudie
Stadium Vale Park
Football League Fourth Division 19th (39 Points)
FA Cup Third Round
League Cup First Round
Top goalscorer League: John Rowland (21)
All: John Rowland (23)
Highest home attendance 11,395 vs. Crewe Alexandra (4 October 1965)
Lowest home attendance 3,959 vs. Southport (27 November 1965)
Average home league attendance 6,015
Home colours
← 1964–65 1966–67 →

The 1965–66 season was Port Vale's 54th season of football in the Football League, and their first season (second overall) back in the Fourth Division following their relegation from the Third Division.[1] For the first time in their Football League history they played three divisions below rivals Stoke City. Despite hope of a swift return to the third tier, the season instead proved a complete disaster, the club finishing nineteenth (87th of the 92 League clubs). The appointment of Stanley Matthews as general manager meant an adoption of a youth policy, which eventually saw four teenagers make their debut in one match, as well as the arrival of several Scottish youngsters.

Overview

Fourth Division

On 19 July 1965, Stanley Matthews was appointed general manager to help his friend Jackie Mudie as manager.[1] Matthews announced his policy of 'attracting and nurturing young footballers' and stressed the need for 'patience'.[1] Matthews did not receive and did not request a contract.[1] Though a massive lift for the club at the time, this development transpired to be a negative one for all involved, as Roy Sproson later explained that 'the club had their priorities wrong and the first team suffered badly, whilst Stan trusted people, who took advantage of him'.[1] Most of the summer signings were youngsters, which also suited the club's directors, who had overseen massive losses over the past two seasons. In came Brian Taylor (£3,000 from Shrewsbury Town); winger Roger Smith (Walsall); Scottish inside-forwards John Cummings and Tommy Morrison (Aberdeen); as well as sixteen-year-old Scottish trialist winger Alex Donald.[1] Matthews also initiated a series of trials for 700 boys.[1]

The season opened with a 1–0 win over Colchester United in front of 11,212 at Vale Park.[1] Two narrow away defeats followed, in what would be a season long pattern of success at home and defeat away.[1] Terry Miles replaced Terry Lowe in a 2–0 win over Stockport County on 4 September to become Vale's first ever playing substitute.[1] John Nicholson's club record run of 208 consecutive appearances, which began on 2 September 1961, ended on 8 September. Nicholson was unhappy with this and was consequently sold to Doncaster Rovers for £5,000 – much to the distress of supporters.[1] Attendances fell away to only 4,605 on 18 September, when Vale 'disgraced themselves' by only beating Lincoln City 3–0, who provided 'abysmal opposition'.[1] Keeper Jimmy O'Neill was 'in vintage form', but twelve forwards were tried up front in the first ten games.[1] On 2 October Jackie Mudie's 'extra craft' helped the Vale to thrash high-flying Chester 5–2, and two days later Vale beat Crewe Alexandra.[1] However the club then played a friendly with SC Tasmania 1900 Berlin in Berlin (losing 2–0), and proceeded to lose their next six league games.[1] The club then signed Jimmy Hill from Everton for £5,000, however Hill seemed to be a replica of Mudie, rather than an addition to the firepower.[1]

As Vale slipped down the table, they were denied permission by the Ministry of Labour to sign USA international Willy Roy as he did not meet the two-year residential requirement.[1] More trouble came when Bo'ness United reported the club to the Scottish Junior Football Association for an alleged breach of the rules in the transfer of Roddy Georgeson.[1] On the pitch results continued to go against the Vale, as they found themselves in a re-election struggle by January.[1] Vale then went on a club-record six consecutive away games without scoring a goal in a run lasting from 8 January to 9 March. In came left-back John Ritchie from Whitley Bay, though free agent Graham Barnett did not return to the club, despite protestations from supporters – the management stated that Barnett's wage demands were too great.[1] For the clash with bottom-placed Bradford City on 12 January, Vale assembled the youngest ever Football League forward line: Alex Donald (17), Roddy Georgeson (17), Mick Cullerton (17), Paul Bannister (18), and Paul Ogden (19).[1] Of the five forwards only Bannister had played competitively before.[1] Bradford won 2–0. A 2–1 win over Rochdale was then followed by four straight defeats.[1] Cummings and Morrison were judged not to have made the grade and so were released form their contracts, signing with Ayr United and Sligo Rovers respectively.[1]

Stanley Matthews encouraged supporters not to raise their expectations, claiming that "we are rebuilding and miracles don't happen overnight".[1] Starting with a 2–1 win over Darlington, Vale picked up seven points out of a possible eight.[1] Their defence was bolstered by the signing of keeper Stuart Sharratt from Oswestry Town for £2,000.[1] However by April they were back into the re-election zone.[1] On 12 April, Malcolm James MacKenzie began the youngest ever first team player for the club when at 15 years 347 days old he was selected for the game against Newport County.[1] To act a nursery club, Broxburn Athletic of Edinburgh was adopted to save having to bring youngsters to Burslem for trials.[1] They finished the season in indifferent form, and received a final day thrashing 5–0 from Luton Town at Kenilworth Road.[1]

They finished in nineteenth spot with 39 points, leaving them two points away from having to apply for re-election.[1] They were ahead of Chesterfield on goal average, and two points ahead of Rochdale, Lincoln City, and Bradford City, and four points ahead of Wrexham. Their 48 goals scored was atrocious, and easily the weakest in the division, though the defence only conceded 59.[1] The one saviour was John Rowland, whose 23 goals in all competitions was almost quadruple that of his nearest rival.[1]

Finances

On the financial side, another big loss of £29,696 was announced despite another large donation from the Sportsmen's Association, the Development Fund and the social club.[1] Wages had risen by 25% to £54,552, there was a £5,000 credit in player transfers, though an improved home crowd average saw gate receipts rise by 25% to £30,994.[1] The management were determined to stick with the club's youth policy.[1]

Six players were released, most significantly Tony Richards departed, who had never really recovered from a knee injury, he joined Nuneaton Borough.[1] Also leaving were Mel Machin to Gillingham, Roger Smith to Walsall, whilst Selwyn Whalley retired with a foot injury.[1] This left 23 professionals at the club.[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Hill 'masterminded the Vale attack' in a 'thrilling' 2–2 draw at Third Division Oxford United's Manor Ground.[1] Vale won the replay 3–2 to meet Dartford of the Southern League in the Second Round.[1] Vale won 1–0 despite the best efforts of what The Sentinel described as 'man-eating sharks' that left the "Valiants" nursing several injuries.[1] In the Third Round they were defeated 2–1 by Second Division Cardiff City at Ninian Park despite a surprisingly resilient defensive display.[1]

In the League Cup, Vale drew 2–2 at home to Reading before exiting the competition with a 1–0 defeat at Elm Park.

Final league table

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Main article: 1965–66 Football League
P W D L F A GA Pts
1 Doncaster Rovers 46 24 11 11 85 54 1.574 59
2 Darlington 46 25 9 12 72 53 1.358 59
3 Torquay United 46 24 10 12 72 49 1.469 58
4 Colchester United 46 23 10 13 70 47 1.489 56
5 Tranmere Rovers 46 24 8 14 93 66 1.409 56
6 Luton Town 46 24 8 14 90 70 1.286 56
7 Chester 46 20 12 14 79 70 1.129 52
8 Notts County 46 19 12 15 61 53 1.151 50
9 Newport County 46 18 12 16 75 75 1.000 48
10 Southport 46 18 12 16 68 69 0.986 48
11 Bradford Park Avenue 46 21 5 20 102 92 1.109 47
12 Barrow 46 16 15 15 72 76 0.947 47
13 Stockport County 46 18 6 22 71 70 1.014 42
14 Crewe Alexandra 46 16 9 21 61 63 0.968 41
15 Halifax Town 46 15 11 20 67 75 0.893 41
16 Barnsley 46 15 10 21 74 78 0.949 40
17 Aldershot 46 15 10 21 75 84 0.893 40
18 Hartlepools United 46 16 8 22 63 75 0.840 40
19 Port Vale 46 15 9 22 48 59 0.814 39
20 Chesterfield 46 13 13 20 62 78 0.795 39
21 Rochdale 46 16 5 25 71 87 0.816 37
22 Lincoln City 46 13 11 22 57 82 0.695 37
23 Bradford City 46 12 13 21 63 94 0.670 37
24 Wrexham 46 13 9 24 72 104 0.692 35

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 H A A H A H H A H H A H A H A A H H A H A A H A H A A H H A A H H A H A H H A H H H A A A A
Result W L L W L D W L W W L D W W D W W D L D L L W L L L L W W D W L D L D W W L L W W D L W L L
Position 1 9 16 11 15 13 11 16 11 8 12 12 13 15 16 17 16 17 18 18 18 18 16 20 20 20 21 21 20 18 16 19 19 19 20 21 18 19 21 20 16 16 16 15 15 19

Sourced from Statto.[2]

Football League Fourth Division

Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Scorers
21 August 1965 Colchester United H 1–0 11,212 Bannister
24 August 1965 Barnsley A 0–1 3,016
27 August 1965 Tranmere Rovers A 0–1 10,419
4 September 1965 Stockport County H 2–0 6,780 Rowland, Smith
11 September 1965 Darlington A 1–2 3,379 Rowland
13 September 1965 Barnsley H 1–1 6,573 Rowland
18 September 1965 Lincoln City H 3–0 4,605 Rowland (2 [1 pen]), Mitchell
25 September 1965 Notts County A 1–3 6,066 Rowland (pen)
2 October 1965 Chester H 5–2 8,108 Smith (2), Rowland, Richards, Mudie
4 October 1965 Crewe Alexandra H 2–0 11,395 Rowland, Richards
9 October 1965 Torquay United A 0–1 5,112
16 October 1965 Chesterfield H 1–1 7,644 Rowland
22 October 1965 Rochdale A 0–1 4,195
30 October 1965 Luton Town H 1–2 6,058 Smith
6 November 1965 Barrow A 2–2 5,076 Morrison, Johnson
19 November 1965 Doncaster Rovers A 0–1 6,065
27 November 1965 Southport H 4–1 3,959 Hill, Richards, o.g., Smith
11 December 1965 Bradford Park Avenue H 3–3 4,419 Richards (2), Smith
18 December 1965 Chesterfield A 1–3 2,903 Taylor
1 January 1966 Torquay United H 0–0 7,048
8 January 1966 Hartlepools United A 0–2 4,284
12 January 1966 Bradford City A 0–2 3,051
15 January 1966 Rochdale H 2–1 4,262 Georgeson, Rowland
29 January 1966 Colchester United A 0–3 4,481
5 February 1966 Tranmere Rovers H 2–3 5,331 Rowland, Poole
12 February 1966 Aldershot A 0–3 2,444
18 February 1966 Stockport County A 0–3 7,400
26 February 1966 Darlington H 3–1 4,594 Machin, Ritchie, Rowland
5 March 1966 Aldershot H 2–1 5,443 Rowland, Machin
9 March 1966 Crewe Alexandra A 0–0 6,160
12 March 1966 Lincoln City A 1–0 2,238 Rowland
19 March 1966 Notts County H 0–1 5,619
21 March 1966 Hartlepools United H 0–0 4,908
26 March 1966 Chester A 0–2 6,520
4 April 1966 Bradford City H 0–0 3,972
11 April 1966 Newport County A 1–0 2,528 Rowland
12 April 1966 Newport County H 3–0 4,496 Rowland (2), Poole
16 April 1966 Doncaster Rovers H 0–1 6,669
23 April 1966 Southport A 1–2 3,433 o.g.
27 April 1966 Halifax Town H 2–0 4,824 Sproson, Rowland
30 April 1966 Wrexham H 1–0 5,110 Rowland
2 May 1966 Barrow H 0–0 5,306
4 May 1966 Wrexham A 0–1 2,679
7 May 1966 Bradford Park Avenue A 2–1 4,978 Rowland (2)
10 May 1966 Halifax Town A 0–2 2,494
14 May 1966 Luton Town A 0–5 12,054

FA Cup

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Main article: 1965–66 FA Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 13 November 1965 Oxford United A 2–2 10,355 Sproson, Cummings
R1 Replay 15 November 1965 Oxford United H 3–2 7,510 Taylor, Mudie, Hill
R2 4 December 1965 Dartford H 1–0 6,090 Hill
R3 26 January 1966 Cardiff City A 1–2 17,126 Rowland

League Cup

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Main article: 1965–66 Football League Cup
Round Date Opponent Venue Result Attendance Goalscorers
R1 1 September 1965 Reading H 2–2 5,321 Rowland (pen), Taylor
R1 Replay 8 September 1965 Reading A 0–1 5,664

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 1.40 1.41 1.42 1.43 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Port Vale 1965–1966 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
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