1945–46 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1945–46 season

Chairman

Tom Flint

Manager

Billy Frith

Stadium

Old Recreation Ground

Third Division (South) North

3rd (24 points)

FA Cup

Third Round
(knocked out by Bradford (Park Avenue))

Third Division (South) North Cup

8th (14 points)

Top goalscorer

League: Bill Pointon (9)
All: Bill Pointon (19)

Highest home attendance

11,388 vs. Queens Park Rangers, 30 March 1946

Lowest home attendance

2,632 vs. Notts County, 26 January 1946

Average home league attendance

7,212

Biggest win

4–0 (twice) and 5–1

Biggest defeat

1–4 vs. Queens Park Rangers, 29 September 1945

Home colours

← 1944–45

1946–47 →

The 1945–46 season was Port Vale's third and final season of football in the wartime league system of World War II.^[1] Despite low expectations the club turned a profit in the Third Division (South) North, finishing third in the initial table. They reached the third round of the FA Cup, though ended the season with a disappointing finish in the Third Division (South) North Cup. Overall though the club were in healthy position to resume playing in the Football League the following season.

Overview

The Port Vale management were concerned to learn that they were to compete in the Third Division (South) region for the 1945–46 season, which they felt would result in less revenue and greater expenditure than being in the North division, even though they were still somewhat confusingly placed in the North region of the South Division.^[1] They appointed 33-year-old former Coventry City half-back Billy Frith as the club's new manager, as predecessor David Pratt was unable to gain release from the Royal Air Force.^[1] Again the playing squad was made up mainly of young players and guests, with Scottish inside-right Isaac McDowell being a regular guest.^[1] They opened the campaign with three victories from three games, Ralph Gregory proving a revelation on leave from the Royal Marines, scoring a hat-trick in a 4–3 win at Norwich City.^[1] However, seven games without a victory began with the return fixture with Norwich, before they were boosted by the return of the now demobilised goalkeeper Arthur Jepson.^[1] They picked up six of a possible eight points in October and continued their good form right up until the end of the league programme on New Year's Day.^[1] They finished in third-place with 24 points in 20 games, eight points behind champions Queens Park Rangers.^[1]

The progressed past Wellington Town and Liverpool County Combination amateurs Marine to reach the third round of the FA Cup, which was now being played over two legs.^[1] They "put up a grand show" against Bradford (Park Avenue) at Park Avenue, losing 2–1.^[1] They then had to settle for a 1–1 draw at home, being denied a penalty and then having a goal ruled out for offside late in the game.^[1] A 16-game Third Division (South) North Cup series then began, with the top two teams entering the division's semi-finals.^[1] Though they fared poorly, they were fortunate enough to have goalkeeper George Heppell demobilised in time to take the place of an injured Arthur Jepson.^[1] Tommy Cheadle made his club debut in a 4–1 home victory over Ipswich Town on 2 March.^[1] However, this was only one of two victories in the final ten games as Frith experimented with different line-ups in an effort to find a winning combination.^[1] They ended the season in eighth-place, picking up 14 points from 16 games. Bill Pointon proved to be a consistent goalscorer, hitting 19 goals in all. The club made a profit of £1,265 on the season, having made a healthy £13,475 in gate receipt money.^[1] The City Council agreed to extend the lease on the Old Recreation Ground until June 1950, leaving ample time for Vale Park to be constructed.^[1]

Results

Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

Win	Draw	Loss

Third Division (South) North

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts
2	Norwich City	20	11	4	5	54	31	1.742	26
3	Port Vale	20	9	6	5	34	25	1.360	24
4	Watford	20	10	2	8	42	47	0.894	22

Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Matches


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 August 1945	Ipswich Town	H	3–2	6,080	Pointon, Bellis, Jones
30 August 1945	Norwich City	A	4–3	7,507	Gregory (3), Allen
1 September 1945	Ipswich Town	A	1–0	11,512	Gregory
3 September 1945	Norwich City	H	2–2	7,426	Gregory, McDowell
8 September 1945	Northampton	A	0–1	5,815
15 September 1945	Northampton	H	0–0	6,534
19 September 1945	Notts County	A	1–3	5,857	McDowell
22 September 1945	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–0	8,382
29 September 1945	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–4	13,797	Pointon
6 October 1945	Clapton Orient	A	1–1	4,817	Cumner
13 October 1945	Clapton Orient	H	4–0	7,791	Pointon (2), Bellis, Jones
20 October 1945	Watford	H	2–1	7,607	Bellis, Pointon
27 October 1945	Watford	A	2–2	5,528	Allen, Bellis
1 December 1945	Mansfield Town	A	2–1	3,761	McDowell, o.g.
22 December 1945	Southend United	A	0–2	2,544
24 December 1945	Mansfield Town	H	2–0	6,000	Davies (2)
25 December 1945	Walsall	A	5–1	5,804	Pointon (2), Shore, Davies, Bellis
26 December 1945	Walsall	H	0–1	11,200
29 December 1945	Notts County	H	3–0	8,200	Pointon (2), Bellis
1 January 1946	Southend United	H	1–1	2,900	Shore

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
R1 Leg 1	17 November 1944	Wellington Town	H	4–0	8,700	McDowell (2), Pointon, o.g.
R1 Leg 2	24 November 1944	Wellington Town	A	2–0	5,056	Bellis, McDowell
R2 Leg 1	8 December 1944	Marine	H	3–1	5,800	Allen (2), Gregory
R2 Leg 2	15 December 1944	Marine	A	1–1	5,000	Gregory
R3 Leg 1	5 January 1945	Bradford (Park Avenue)	A	1–2	13,000	Bellis
R3 Leg 2	7 January 1945	Bradford (Park Avenue)	H	1–1	11,086	Bellis

Third Division (South) North Cup

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts
7	Clapton Orient	16	6	3	7	22	31	0.710	15
8	Port Vale	16	5	4	7	21	25	0.840	14
9	Northampton Town	16	5	2	9	27	29	0.931	12

Source: Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Matches


Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
12 January 1946	Walsall	A	1–3	5,523	Bellis
19 January 1946	Walsall	H	1–0	3,229	Cooper
26 January 1946	Notts County	H	2–1	2,632	Wootton, Pointon
2 February 1946	Notts County	A	2–3	5,000	Pointon, Gardner
9 February 1946	Bristol Rovers	A	2–4	9,500	Pointon (2)
16 February 1946	Bristol Rovers	H	1–0	4,554	Pointon
23 February 1946	Ipswich Town	A	0–1	7,500
2 March 1946	Ipswich Town	H	4–1	3,200	Bellis (2), Pointon (2)
9 March 1946	Clapton Orient	A	0–0	6,197
16 March 1946	Clapton Orient	H	2–2	8,283	Pointon, Bellis
23 March 1946	Queens Park Rangers	A	2–4	13,274	Shore, Pointon
30 March 1946	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–2	11,388
6 April 1946	Mansfield Town	A	1–2	5,777	Bellis
13 April 1946	Mansfield Town	H	0–0	6,768
20 April 1946	Southend United	H	2–1	7,016	Cheadle, Bellis
22 April 1946	Southend United	A	1–1	8,500	Bellis

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Region Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Arthur Jepson	10	0	6	0	4	0	20	0
GK	Harry Prince	10	0	0	0	2	0	12	0
GK	George Heppell	0	0	0	0	10	0	10	0
DF	Harry Griffiths	18	0	6	0	8	0	32	0
DF	Bob Pursell	15	0	3	0	10	0	28	0
DF	Jess Sproson	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Cyril Johnson	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
DF	Tommy Cheadle	0	0	0	0	9	1	9	1
DF	Roy Felton	7	0	5	0	3	0	15	0
DF	Stan Kelley	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
DF	Reg Potts	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
DF	Roger Whittle	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Wilf Smith	13	0	6	0	16	0	35	0
MF	Alf Bellis	15	6	6	3	12	7	33	16
MF	Murdoch Dickie	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Bob Allen	9	2	6	2	9	0	22	4
MF	Billy Buckley	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Jack Clunn	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Arthur Cooper	19	0	6	0	16	1	41	1
MF	Harold Jervis	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
MF	Frank Pointon	6	0	0	0	2	0	8	0
MF	Arthur Cumberlidge	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
MF	George Gould	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Francis Jones	5	2	0	0	0	0	5	2
MF	Bill McGarry	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Ted Oldfield	2	0	2	0	11	0	15	0
MF	Ted Shore	10	2	5	0	9	1	24	3
MF	Dennis Simpson	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Frank Soo	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Don Triner	0	0	0	0	3	0	3	0
MF	Ken Watkin	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Ernie Willett	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
FW	Ralph Gregory	6	5	2	2	2	0	10	7
FW	Isaac McDowell	12	3	4	3	1	0	17	6
FW	Edward Nutting	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
FW	Bill Pointon	13	9	5	1	13	9	31	19
FW	Eric Prince	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW	Bert Wright	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
FW	Ellis Birchall	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
FW	Billy Byrne	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
FW	Horace Cumner	7	1	0	0	0	0	7	1
FW	Eddie Davies	5	3	2	0	3	0	10	3
FW	Ken Faulkner	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Fred Gardner	0	0	0	0	3	1	3	1
FW	Jimmy Hutchinson	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
FW	George James	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	John Lowndes	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Colin Lyman	0	0	0	0	4	0	4	0
FW	George Willis	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
FW	Len Wootton	9	0	1	0	14	1	25	1

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Third Division North	FA Cup	North Cup	Total
1	FW	England	Bill Pointon	9	1	9	19
2	MF	England	Alf Bellis	6	3	7	16
3	FW	England	Ralph Gregory	5	2	0	7
4	FW	Scotland	Isaac McDowell	3	3	0	6
5	MF	England	Bob Allen	2	2	0	4
6	MF	England	Ted Shore	2	0	1	3
–	FW	England	Eddie Davies	3	0	0	3
8	MF	England	Francis Jones	2	0	0	2
9	FW	Wales	Horace Cumner	1	0	0	1
–	DF	England	Tommy Cheadle	0	0	1	1
–	MF	England	Arthur Cooper	0	0	1	1
–	FW	England	Fred Gardner	0	0	1	1
–	FW	England	Len Wootton	0	0	1	1
–	–	–	Own goals	1	1	0	2
			TOTALS	34	12	21	67

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
August 1945	DF	Francis Jones		Free transfer	^[2]
August 1945	DF	Reg Potts	Stoke City	Free transfer	^[2]
August 1945	FW	Len Wootton		Free transfer	^[2]
September 1945	MF	Ted Shore		Free transfer	^[2]
December 1945	MF	Ted Oldfield	Helsby	Free transfer	^[2]
January 1946	FW	George James		Free transfer	^[2]
March 1946	FW	Billy Byrne		Free transfer	^[2]
March 1946	DF	Tommy Cheadle		Free transfer	^[2]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
Autumn 1945	MF	Murdoch Dickie	Guildford City	Released	^[2]
1946	MF	Harold Jervis	Royal Air Force	Released	^[2]
1946	DF	Francis Jones		Released	^[2]
January 1946	MF	Isaac McDowell	Cowdenbeath	Released	^[2]
May 1946	FW	Edward Nutting		Released	^[2]
Summer 1946	MF	Billy Buckley		Released	^[2]
Summer 1946	MF	Jack Clunn		Released	^[2]
Summer 1946	MF	Arthur Cumberlidge	Northwich Victoria	Released	^[2]
Summer 1946	DF	Roy Felton	Crystal Palace	Refused terms	^[2]
Summer 1946	FW	George James		Released	^[2]
Summer 1946	FW	Cyril Johnson		Released	^[2]
Summer 1946	DF	Roger Whittle		Released	^[2]

References

Specific

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q Kent, Jeff (1990). "Creating Sunshine from the Shadows (1939–1950)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 151–171. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t 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.

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