1968–69 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale
1968–69 season
Chairman	Arthur McPherson
Manager	Gordon Lee
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Fourth Division	13th (46 Points)
FA Cup	Third Round; (knocked out by Watford)
League Cup	First Round; (knocked out by Wrexham)
Player of the Year	Ron Wilson
Top goalscorer	League: Roy Chapman (11); All: Roy Chapman (12)
Highest home attendance	8,800 vs. Shrewsbury Town, 18 November 1968
Lowest home attendance	2,679 vs. Grimsby Town, 21 April 1969
Average home league attendance	4,361
Biggest win	5–0 vs. Newport County, 18 January 1969
Biggest defeat	0–3 vs. Aldershot, 5 March 1969
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1967–68 1969–70 →

The 1968–69 season was Port Vale's 57th season of football in the English Football League, and their fourth-successive season (fifth overall) in the Fourth Division.^[1] New manager Gordon Lee used the season to consolidate the club after it was readmitted to the Football League immediately after being expelled for illegal payment of players. Managing 46 goals scored and conceded, and 46 points gained in 46 games, he had built a solid base for future progress. However, the club's financial problems continued, as another loss was made to increase the club's debt levels.

Overview

Fourth Division

On 8 June, the club's future was decided, as a vote of 39 to 9 allowed the club readmission to the Football League, despite the conclusion of an investigation earlier in the year which ruled that the club should be expelled from the League.^[1] New manager Gordon Lee thus began work on rebuilding his squad, announcing a team approach with an additional 'individual coaching plan' for players to improve their weaknesses.^[1] Lee was big on coaching, and replaced cross country running exercises with realistic match-day situations.^[1] Stanley Matthews would become more of a scout and would only visit Burslem weekly; he also agreed to allow the £9,000 owed to him in payments delayed until the club were on a sounder financial footing.^[1] His name was removed from his office door, and he 'gradually drifted out of the picture'.^[1] Three signings of note included: 'tenacious' wing-half John King (Tranmere Rovers); Wales international winger Graham Williams (Tranmere Rovers); and teenager Bobby Gough (Walsall).^[1]

The season opened with four Roy Chapman goals in four games, though only three points were won in the first six encounters. With Sharratt out injured, in came 'part-time, pipe-smoking civil servant' Geoff Hickson on loan from Crewe Alexandra.^[1] Lee quickly earned the respect of the Vale fans despite his team lying bottom of the table in mid-September.^[1] A new club mascot was unveiled at this time – 'Prince Val'.^[1] Some good home performances lifted the club off the bottom of the table, including a 4–1 thumping of Scunthorpe United and a stylish back-heeled goal from Roy Sproson in a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City.^[1] Chapman then developed sciatica and had to be rested until December.^[1] An excellent defence helped the club then to achieve a five-game unbeaten run in the league.^[1] In November, goalkeeper Keith Ball was signed from Walsall for 'a small fee' and Graham Newton joined on trial after leaving the Atlanta Chiefs.^[1] On Boxing day, Vale travelled to Sincil Bank, where they beat second-placed Lincoln 1–0 in front of 12,208 spectators.^[1] Soon after Bill Asprey retired as a player to coach at Sheffield Wednesday.^[1]

A 5–0 mauling of Newport County on 18 January sent the Vale into the top half of the table, though just one goal was scored and one point gained in the next four games.^[1] In March, Lee adopted a more 'hit and run' style and saw his team achieve three straight wins.^[1] On the 29th, with the club seeming safe from re-election, 'hooliganism reared its ugly head' as Chester found their team bus smashed with bricks following a 2–1 loss at Burslem.^[1] On 21 April, Sproson made his 700th league appearance in a 1–0 win over struggling Grimsby Town.^[1] The final day was a 1–1 draw with wooden-spoon club Bradford Park Avenue. However, the Vale had five goals disallowed.^[1] Nevertheless, this game was the first of a club-record nineteen league game streak without a loss that would end on 22 November 1969 the following season.

They finished in thirteenth place with 46 points from their 46 games, scoring 46 and conceding 46 goals.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a £10,900 loss was made despite donations of £16,734 from the Sportsmen's Association and the Development Fund.^[1] This left the club's total debts at £178,277.^[1] The club needed an average home attendance of 6,000 to break even and were almost two thousand short of this total.^[1] More stringent economies were thus imposed upon the club.^[1] Five professionals left on free transfers: Mick Cullerton (Chester); Mick Mahon (York City); Jimmy Goodfellow (Workington); Graham Williams (Runcorn); and Milija Aleksic (Eastwood).^[1] Lee claimed 'it was a hard decision, but I have had to create room for improvement'.^[1] Roy Chapman was offered a new contract, but opted instead to sign with Chester.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, with Sharrat injured and Hickson re-called by Crewe, seventeen-year-old Milija Aleksic was roped in to play in the first-round clash with Third Division Shrewsbury Town.^[1] He also played in the replay following the 1–1 draw, and the club progressed with a 3–1 win over their 'lacklustre' opponents.^[1] The "Valiants" also required a replay to progress past Workington. Vale then exited at the third round with a 1–0 defeat at Vicarage Road to Watford.

In the League Cup, defeat came in the first round to Wrexham at the Racecourse Ground. Stuart Sharratt cracked a kneecap in the game and later contracted a virus in his blood, which kept him out of action for the rest of the season.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
11	Brentford	46	18	12	16	64	65	0.985	48
12	Workington	46	15	17	14	40	43	0.930	47
13	Port Vale	46	16	14	16	46	46	1.000	46
14	Chester	46	16	13	17	76	66	1.152	45
15	Aldershot	46	19	7	20	66	66	1.000	45

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

Results

Port Vale's score comes first

Football League Fourth 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	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A
Result	L	W	L	D	L	L	W	L	W	W	D	L	D	D	L	W	D	D	D	W	L	L	W	W	D	W	L	D	L	L	W	W	W	L	D	W	L	W	D	D	D	L	W	D	L	W
Position	20	15	17	20	20	24	22	23	19	13	15	18	17	17	18	18	18	18	19	17	18	19	15	13	15	12	15	16	17	19	17	14	12	15	13	13	14	11	14	13	14	14	12	13	13	13

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

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 1968	Chesterfield	A	1–3	7,158	Chapman
17 August 1968	Peterborough United	H	1–0	5,085	Chapman
24 August 1968	Brentford	A	1–3	7,443	Chapman
31 August 1968	Rochdale	H	1–1	4,591	Chapman
6 September 1968	Chester	A	0–2	8,144
14 September 1968	Doncaster Rovers	H	0–2	4,616
16 September 1968	York City	H	3–0	3,466	Chapman, Gough, Cullerton
20 September 1968	Colchester United	A	0–1	6,441
28 September 1968	Scunthorpe United	H	4–1	3,823	Chapman (2), Goodfellow, o.g.
30 September 1968	Exeter City	H	1–0	5,235	Gough
5 October 1968	Lincoln City	H	1–1	6,152	Sproson
8 October 1968	Exeter City	A	1–3	3,981	Chapman
12 October 1968	Notts County	A	0–0	4,127
19 October 1968	Halifax Town	H	1–1	4,493	Morris
26 October 1968	Swansea Town	A	0–1	6,091
2 November 1968	Workington	H	3–1	2,953	Sproson, Morris, Williams
4 November 1968	Southend United	H	1–1	3,668	Wilson
8 November 1968	Newport County	A	0–0	3,137
23 November 1968	Grimsby Town	A	1–1	3,313	Goodfellow
30 November 1968	Wrexham	H	1–0	5,421	Sproson
14 December 1968	Notts County	H	0–2	4,169
21 December 1968	Halifax Town	A	1–2	3,806	Chapman
26 December 1968	Lincoln City	A	1–0	12,208	Newton
28 December 1968	Swansea Town	H	1–0	5,431	Chapman
11 January 1969	Workington	A	0–0	2,538
18 January 1969	Newport County	H	5–0	4,040	Mahon (2), Sproson, Morris, Green
1 February 1969	Darlington	A	0–1	5,071
24 February 1969	Southend United	A	1–1	10,888	Mahon
1 March 1969	Chesterfield	H	0–1	3,610
5 March 1969	Aldershot	A	0–3	5,020
8 March 1969	Peterborough United	A	1–0	5,337	Mahon
10 March 1969	Darlington	A	1–0	3,957	Morris
15 March 1969	Brentford	H	4–1	4,478	James (2 [1 pen]), Wilson, Carrick
22 March 1969	Rochdale	A	0–1	4,860
24 March 1969	Aldershot	H	0–0	4,140
29 March 1969	Chester	H	2–1	4,690	Green, Sproson
4 April 1969	York City	A	1–3	4,999	Chapman
5 April 1969	Scunthorpe United	A	1–0	2,966	James
8 April 1969	Bradford City	H	1–1	5,963	James
12 April 1969	Colchester United	H	0–0	3,774
16 April 1969	Bradford City	A	2–2	8,772	McLaren, Sproson
19 April 1969	Doncaster Rovers	A	0–2	9,795
21 April 1969	Grimsby Town	H	1–0	2,679	Mahon
25 April 1969	Bradford Park Avenue	H	1–1	3,873	Sproson
28 April 1969	Wrexham	A	0–2	3,787
5 May 1969	Bradford Park Avenue	A	1–0	1,572	McLaren

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1968	Shrewsbury Town	A	1–1	5,933	Gough
R1 Replay	18 November 1968	Shrewsbury Town	H	3–1	8,800	Gough, Mahon, Morris
R2	7 December 1968	Workington	H	0–0	7,635
R2 Replay	11 December 1968	Workington	A	2–1	6,038	Chapman, James
R3	4 January 1969	Watford	A	0–2	14,076

League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	14 August 1968	Wrexham	A	0–2	6,927

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Stuart Sharratt	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
GK	Geoff Hickson	17	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
GK	Milija Aleksic	0	0	2	0	0	0	2	0
GK	Keith Ball	25	0	3	0	0	0	28	0
DF	Roy Sproson	42	7	5	0	0	0	49	7
DF	Clint Boulton	41	0	4	0	1	0	46	0
DF	Ron Wilson	46	2	5	0	1	0	52	2
DF	Gordon Logan	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
DF	Bill Asprey	9	0	1	0	1	0	11	0
DF	Keith Broomhall	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Mick Mahon	33	5	3	1	1	0	37	6
MF	Stuart Chapman	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
MF	Jimmy Goodfellow	31	2	5	0	0	0	36	2
MF	Tommy McLaren	18	2	0	0	1	0	19	2
MF	John Green	12	2	0	0	0	0	12	2
MF	Graham Williams	23	1	1	0	1	0	25	1
MF	John King	40	0	5	0	1	0	46	0
MF	Malcolm Bailey	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW	John James	34	4	4	1	1	0	39	5
FW	Mick Cullerton	23	1	5	0	0	0	28	1
FW	Roy Chapman	30	11	3	1	1	0	34	12
FW	Mick Morris	32	4	5	1	1	0	38	5
FW	Graham Newton	4	1	1	0	0	0	5	1
FW	Bob Mountford	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Bobby Gough	36	2	5	2	1	0	42	4
FW	David Carrick	16	1	0	0	0	0	16	1

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Fourth Division	FA Cup	Total
1	FW	England	Roy Chapman	11	1	12
2	DF	England	Roy Sproson	7	0	7
3	MF	England	Mick Mahon	5	1	6
4	MF	England	John James	4	1	5
–	FW	England	Mick Morris	4	1	5
6	FW	England	Bobby Gough	2	2	4
7	MF	England	Jimmy Goodfellow	2	0	2
–	MF	Scotland	Tommy McLaren	2	0	2
–	FW	England	John Green	2	0	2
–	DF	Scotland	Ron Wilson	2	0	2
11	FW	England	Graham Newton	1	0	1
–	FW	England	David Carrick	1	0	1
–	MF	Wales	Graham Williams	1	0	1
–	FW	Scotland	Mick Cullerton	1	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	1	0	1
			TOTALS	46	6	52

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
June 1968	FW	Bobby Gough	Walsall	Free transfer	^[3]
June 1968	MF	John King	Tranmere Rovers	Free transfer	^[3]
July 1968	MF	Graham Williams	Tranmere Rovers	Free transfer	^[3]
November 1968	GK	Keith Ball	Walsall	'small'	^[3]
November 1968	FW	Graham Newton	Atlanta Chiefs	Trial	^[3]
January 1969	FW	David Carrick	Altrincham	Free transfer	^[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
October 1968	MF	Malcolm Gibbon	Aston Villa	Free transfer	^[3]
December 1968	DF	Bill Asprey	Retired		^[3]
January 1969	FW	Graham Newton	Atlanta Chiefs	Trial ended	^[3]
May 1969	GK	Milija Aleksic	Eastwood	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1969	DF	Keith Broomhall	Eastwood	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1969	FW	Roy Chapman	Chester	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1969	FW	Mick Cullerton	Chester	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1969	MF	Jimmy Goodfellow	Workington	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1969	MF	Graham Williams	Runcorn	Free transfer	^[3]
Summer 1969	FW	David Carrick	Stalybridge Celtic	Released	^[3]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
August 1968	GK		Geoff Hickson	Crewe Alexandra	November 1968	^[3]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
May 1968	MF		John Green	Vancouver Royals	October 1968	^[3]

References

Specific

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af Kent, Jeff (1990). "Flattering Only to Deceive (1960–1969)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 196–226. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
^ Port Vale 1968–1969 : Results & Fixtures Archived 4 March 2016 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 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.