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Burslem Port Vale
1903–04 season
Chairman	Robert Audley
Manager	Sam Gleaves
Stadium	Athletic Ground
Football League Second Division	13th (29 Points)
FA Cup	First Round; (knocked out by Southampton)
Birmingham Senior Cup	First Round; (knocked out by Stoke)
Staffordshire Senior Cup	First Round; (knocked out by Stoke)
Top goalscorer	League: Adrian Capes (14); All: Adrian Capes (17)
Highest home attendance	5,000 vs Bristol City, 26 December 1903
Lowest home attendance	500 vs Grimsby Town, 13 February 1904
Average home league attendance	2,250+
Biggest win	6–0 vs. Stockport County, 19 November 1903
Biggest defeat	0–5 vs. Bolton Wanderers, 2 January 1904
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1902–03 1904–05 →

The 1903–04 season was Burslem Port Vale's sixth consecutive season (tenth overall) of football in the English Football League.^[1] The club went the whole season without recording an away win, part of a club record 29 away games without victory. With the new rule of the direct free kick introduced, Arthur Rowley also wrote himself into the history books by becoming the first player to score from a free kick.^[1]

The first team was firmly established, and the players had been together for years. The financial crisis that loomed over the club was held at bay by an FA Cup run and by selling a promising young winger.

Bert Eardley, in his fifth season with the club, was a key first-team member.

Ageing Winger Billy Heames was still a key threat.

Right-back Ernest Mullineux played 40 games for the club in all competitions.

Half-back Harry Croxton become crucial to the spine of the team.

Overview

Second Division

A rather quiet pre-season saw no major signings or departures, and hopes were built of an improvement on last season's ninth-place finish.^[1]

The first game of the season was on 7 September 1903 against Bolton Wanderers, where Arthur Rowley wrote himself into the history books by becoming the first player to score from a direct free kick.^[1] Five days later, the Vale beat Manchester United 1–0, and their season got going – albeit very slowly.^[1] Four games later, they found their second victory – against new boys Bradford City; however, by October, they had racked up just five points from their opening eight games.^[1] A seven-game unbeaten run saw them surge up the table towards the end of 1903. This run ended at Gainsborough Trinity but could be justified because they had played three games in four days.^[1] They went on to muster just one point from seven games to find themselves in the danger zone as players looked towards their promising cup run rather than the league itself.^[1] An inconsistent end to the season followed, though picking up points from eight of their last twelve games was enough to ensure safety.^[1] On the final game of the season 20,000 Woolwich Arsenal fans turned up to watch their team claim the championship, however, the "Valeites" hung on for a draw, with Harry Cotton in remarkable form. A goalless draw was enough to hand the league title to Preston North End.^[1] Port Vale were one of only two teams to take a point home from London that season. This was even more surprising, considering that Vale went the whole season without recording an away win and had to rely entirely on their home form to stay in the league. They finished two points ahead of the re-election zones and were twenty points shy of promotion.

Adrian Capes was the top scorer for the fourth consecutive season, scoring seventeen goals, fourteen of which came in the league.^[1] Tom Simpson contributed fifteen goals and would score only thirteen more Football League goals in his entire career. Goalkeeper Harry Cotton missed just two games, as did right-back Ernest Mullineux; Harry Croxton, Arthur Rowley, Billy Heames, George Price, Bert Eardley, W. Perkins, and Joseph Holyhead made up the first of the first team – who each made a minimum of 35 out of 42 possible appearances in all competitions.

Finances

Again, attendances were disappointing, and to improve the financial outlook, players were sold as early as October, when a highly promising Tom Coxon signed to nearby Stoke for £200.^[1] Their FA Cup clash at Southampton saw them rake in a £491 share of gate receipts.^[1] A loss of £39 was recorded on the season, and rising wages and falling gate receipts were offset only by the income from transfers and cup runs.^[1] Recognizing this, the directors insisted that a controversial policy of selling on players had to be adopted.^[1]

Cup competitions

In September, three-goal margins eliminated the club in both county cup competitions by Stoke.^[1] The "Valeites" found rather more success in the FA Cup, though had to win four matches to reach the First Round, at which point they were eliminated by Southampton of the Southern Football League. On the way, they racked up a 6–0 home win over Stockport County in the fourth qualification round replay.

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts
11	Chesterfield Town	34	11	8	15	37	45	0.822	30
12	Lincoln City	34	11	8	15	41	58	0.707	30
13	Burslem Port Vale	34	10	9	15	54	52	1.038	29
14	Burton United	34	11	7	16	45	61	0.738	29
15	Blackpool	34	11	5	18	40	67	0.597	27

Source: ^[2]

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
Ground	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	A	A
Result	L	W	L	D	L	W	L	L	W	D	W	D	D	W	D	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	L	D	D	W	W	L	D
Position	14	9	11	11	13	10	12	14	11	11	9	10	9	9	9	9	9	11	11	12	14	15	15	16	16	17	16	16	16	15	14	13	13	13

Source: Statto^[3]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
7 September 1903	Bolton Wanderers	H	2–3	3,000	Rowley, Price
12 September 1903	Manchester United	H	1–0	3,000	Simpson
19 September 1903	Burnley	A	0–1	6,000
26 September 1903	Glossop	H	1–1	3,000	Rowley
3 October 1903	Preston North End	A	1–3	9,000	Coxon
10 October 1903	Bradford City	H	5–2	3,000	Coxon (2), Simpson, Capes, o.g.
17 October 1903	Grimsby Town	A	1–3	3,000	Coxon
24 October 1903	Woolwich Arsenal	H	2–3	3,000	Heames, Simpson
7 November 1903	Barnsley	H	3–0	1,000	Simpson (2), Capes
21 November 1903	Lincoln City	H	2–2	1,500	Perkins, Simpson
5 December 1903	Stockport County	H	2–0		Perkins, Capes
19 December 1903	Chesterfield	A	1–1	2,000	Capes
25 December 1903	Leicester Fosse	A	1–1	8,000	Capes
26 December 1903	Bristol City	H	3–1	5,000	Capes (2), Simpson
28 December 1903	Bradford City	A	1–1	13,000	Simpson
29 December 1903	Gainsborough Trinity	A	0–3	2,000
2 January 1904	Bolton Wanderers	A	0–5	5,000
9 January 1904	Manchester United	A	0–2	10,000
16 January 1904	Burnley	H	2–2		Allman, Capes
23 January 1904	Glossop	A	1–4	5,000	Mountford
30 January 1904	Preston North End	H	0–1	3,000
13 February 1904	Grimsby Town	H	1–2	500	Price
27 February 1904	Leicester Fosse	H	6–2	1,000	Capes (2), Croxton, Simpson, Price, Eardley
5 March 1904	Barnsley	A	0–1
12 March 1904	Blackpool	H	5–0		Price (2), Capes, Mullineux, o.g.
19 March 1904	Lincoln City	A	2–3		Capes, Simpson
26 March 1904	Gainsborough Trinity	H	3–0	1,000	Allman, Capes, Simpson
1 April 1904	Blackpool	A	0–1	1,500
2 April 1904	Stockport County	A	1–1	2,000	Allman
4 April 1904	Burton United	A	0–0
9 April 1904	Burton United	H	3–1	2,000	Mountford, Holyhead, Eardley
16 April 1904	Chesterfield	H	3–0	1,500	Heames, Price, Capes
23 April 1904	Bristol City	A	1–2	4,000	Loverseed
25 April 1904	Woolwich Arsenal	A	0–0	20,000

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
3Q	31 October 1903	Crewe Alexandra	A	0–0	4,000
3Q Replay	5 November 1903	Crewe Alexandra	H	2–1	2,000	Simpson, Heames
4Q	14 November 1903	Stockport County	A	0–0	3,000
4Q Replay	19 November 1903	Stockport County	H	6–0	2,000	Simpson (2), Capes, Eardley, Holyhead, Price
5Q	28 November 1903	Nantwich	A	1–0	3,000	Capes
IR	12 December 1903	Burton United	H	3–0		Capes, Heames, Simpson
R1	6 February 1904	Southampton	A	0–3	8,000

Birmingham Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	28 September 1903	Stoke	H	2–5	2,000	unknown

Staffordshire Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
1	13 September 1903	Stoke	A	0–3

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	William Chadwick	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
GK	Harry Cotton	32	0	7	0	1	0	40	0
DF	Ernest Mullineux	33	1	7	0	0	0	40	1
DF	James Hamilton	6	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
MF	Billy Heames	30	2	7	2	1	0	38	4
MF	Bert Eardley	29	2	7	1	1	0	37	3
MF	W. H. Machin	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Harry Croxton	32	1	7	0	0	0	39	1
MF	Arthur Rowley	30	2	7	0	1	0	38	2
MF	W. Perkins	27	2	7	0	1	0	35	2
MF	Tom Coxon	3	4	0	0	0	0	3	4
MF	Sam Whittingham	7	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
MF	William Bradbury	4	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
MF	Albert Cook	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MF	Joseph Holyhead	27	1	7	1	1	0	35	2
MF	Sam Howshall	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW	George Price	32	6	4	1	1	0	37	7
FW	Adrian Capes	31	14	7	3	1	0	39	17
FW	Tom Simpson	24	11	6	4	1	0	31	15
FW	William Tunstall	1	0	3	0	0	0	4	0
FW	William Loverseed	6	1	0	0	1	0	7	1
FW	Dick Allman	8	3	1	0	0	0	9	3
FW	Harry Mountford	7	2	0	0	0	0	7	2

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Second Division	FA Cup	Total
1	FW	England	Adrian Capes	14	3	17
2	FW		Tom Simpson	11	4	15
3	FW	England	George Price	6	1	7
4	MF	England	Tom Coxon	4	0	4
–	MF	England	Billy Heames	2	2	4
6	FW	England	Dick Allman	3	0	3
–	MF	England	Bert Eardley	2	1	3
8	MF	England	Arthur Rowley	2	0	2
–	MF		W. Perkins	2	0	2
–	FW	England	Harry Mountford	2	0	2
–	MF	England	Joseph Holyhead	1	1	2
12	MF	England	Harry Croxton	1	0	1
–	DF	England	Ernest Mullineux	1	0	1
–	FW	England	William Loverseed	1	0	1
			TOTALS	52	12	64

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
May 1903	MF	William Bradbury	Newcastle Swifts	Free transfer	^[4]
May 1903	FW	Sam Howshall	Newcastle Swifts	Free transfer	^[4]
June 1903	FW	Harry Mountford	Hanley Swifts	Free transfer	^[4]
June 1903	FW	William Thomas	Newcastle Swifts	Free transfer	^[4]
August 1903	MF	Sam Whittingham	Stoke	Free transfer	^[4]
September 1903	MF	Joseph Holyhead	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Free transfer	^[4]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1904	GK	William Chadwick		Released	^[4]
Summer 1904	MF	Billy Heames		Left contract	^[4]
Summer 1904	MF	W. Perkins	Newark	Free transfer	^[4]
Summer 1904	MF	Arthur Rowley		Released	^[4]
Summer 1904	FW	William Tunstall		Released	^[4]

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.
^ "1903–04 Football League". fchd.info. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
^ Port Vale 1903–1904 : Results & Fixtures Archived 20 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.