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Burslem Port Vale
1906–07 season
Chairman	Robert Audley
Manager	Sam Bennion
Stadium	Athletic Ground
Football League Second Division	16th (31 Points)
FA Cup	Second Round; (knocked out by Notts County)
Staffordshire Senior Cup	Semi-final; (knocked out by Aston Villa Reserves)
Top goalscorer	League: Billy Beats (13); All: Billy Beats (15)
Highest home attendance	10,000 vs Irthlingborough Town, 12 January 1906; Notts County, 2 February 1906
Lowest home attendance	1,500 vs Wolverhampton Wanderers, 16 March 1907
Average home league attendance	4,147+
Biggest win	7–0 vs. Burton United, 1 April 1907
Biggest defeat	0–6 vs. Burnley, 13 October 1906
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1905–06

The 1906–07 season was Burslem Port Vale's ninth consecutive season (13th overall) of football in the English Football League.^[1] The club resigned from the league on 14 June 1907.

On the pitch, the team put in win-or-lose performances and went for a club record 20 games – from 10 September 1906 to 19 January 1907 – without sharing the points (nine wins, eleven losses). Another record was set with a 7–1 win over Irthlingborough Town in the First Round of the FA Cup – their highest-ever margin of victory in the competition.

The club folded at the end of the season after the chairman decided that it had no viable future. However, Cobridge Church immediately took on the name of Port Vale and worked its way back to the Football League for the 1919–20 season.

Bert Eardley waited until a new Port Vale rose from the ashes of the old before he played league football again.

Even the return of Billy Beats couldn't save the club.

Overview

Second Division

Despite the club's ever-worsening financial situation, Vale managed to bring back former top scorer, and former England international, Billy Beats; he was appointed captain upon his return.^[1] Gambling that big signings would attract big crowds, right-back Hughie Dunn was also brought in from Bristol Rovers; inside-right William Dodds signed from Southwick; with former player Tom Coxon returning from Middlesbrough.^[1] Sam Bennion took charge of team affairs after Tommy Clare's wages were too high to maintain.^[1]

The club started the season well, with three wins in their opening six games; 6,000 turned up for the opening game.^[1] This was followed by four defeats on the bounce. Still, by winning five of their ten games in November and December the club put themselves in a decent position by Christmas.^[1] The club were two different sides at home and away, thumping Stockport County 5–0 at home and losing 6–0 at Burnley.^[1] Their first away win in ten months came at Blackpool on 22 December.^[1] They on to win just four league games in 1907, though did pick up points in the majority of their matches, going on a streak of six draws in ten games.^[1]

Vale just evaded a place in the re-election zones, finishing two points above the (potential) drop. For the second successive season, the "Valeites" had the weakest defence in the league, conceding 83 goals.^[1] They were poor on their travels, losing sixteen of their nineteen games away from home. Back at the Athletic Ground, they lost just three games.

Billy Beats was top scorer with fifteen goals in all competitions; he was ably assisted by William Dodds, Tom Coxon, Robert Carter, and Harry Mountford, who all hit double figures.^[1] An extremely settled side, only nineteen players were used in the league, with Dodds a league ever-present.

Cup competitions

The club had a good campaign in the FA Cup, picking up their biggest ever win in the competition with a 7–1 trouncing of Irthlingborough Town. They took First Division Notts County to a replay in the Second Round before losing comprehensively 5–0 at Trent Bridge. Nevertheless, both rounds attracted 10,000 supporters at Vale, which greatly boosted the club's ailing finances.^[1]

In the Staffordshire Senior Cup, the club almost exclusively used their reserve team players but managed to reach the semi-finals, where they were knocked out by Aston Villa Reserves.^[1] To reach they semi-final they had to overcome struggling league rivals Burton United. However, this took two replays – a 7–0 romp preceded by 3–3 and 1–1 draws.^[1]

Financial collapse and closure

On 18 May 1907, Robert Audley and Sam Gleaves appealed to the directors to pump more money into the club and appealed in The Sentinel for local supporters to donate.^[1] This appeal was met with resounding indifference, and so the club resigned from the Football League on 14 June 1907.^[1] The Football Association had already issued their fixture list (which had pitted Port Vale against relegated Stoke for the first time) and were furious with the club for quitting so suddenly at such a late stage.^[1]

Robert Audley justified the decision to quit the league by pointing out that the season's £200 loss was as good a figure as could be expected in the future, with the past seven campaigns taking in an average of £1,500, supplemented by an average of £400 in transfer takings.^[1] He claimed "this total could not be expected to pay the expenses of a league club", especially with creditors closing in, the bank refusing an overdraft, and summer wages to be paid.^[1] That so few came forward to help the club in its time of need came to be the final straw for Audley.^[1]

"To the few hundreds of loyal supporters, I tender my best thanks for their support, and I join in their regrets that sufficient financial support could not be found to continue the club."
— Robert Audley's final words in his letter to The Sentinel.^[1]

Many of the players joined Stoke and newly elected Oldham Athletic, and Burslem Port Vale was finished.^[1]

Cobridge Church

Port Vale's history would have ended at this point had it not been for an unexpected twist. North Staffordshire Church League champions Cobridge Church were accepted into the North Staffordshire Federation League, which was still a very minor league.^[2] Joint-secretaries Millward and E.C.Brundrett had very big ambitions however. They sought permission from the Football Association to change the club's name to Port Vale and bought the old club's ground.^[2] To signify their roots, they renamed their reserve side to Cobridge Church.^[2] Technically, the Port Vale of before 1907 was a separate entity to the Port Vale of after 1907, however, spiritually the club continued its existence from its 1876 founding onwards. In December 1908, a group of ex-directors, led by Sam Bennion, bought into the club, meaning that the new club played at the same ground, had similar owners, a similar name, and played continuously from 1906–07 to 1907–08 and beyond.^[3]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
14	Gainsborough Trinity	38	14	5	19	45	72	0.625	33
15	Glossop	38	13	6	19	53	79	0.671	32
16	Burslem Port Vale^[a]	38	12	7	19	60	83	0.723	31	Failed re-election
17	Clapton Orient	38	11	8	19	45	67	0.672	30
18	Chesterfield Town	38	11	7	20	50	66	0.758	29	Re-elected

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Burslem Port Vale resigned from the Football League due to financial difficulties.

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	35	36	37	38
Ground	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H
Result	L	D	W	W	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	W	W	W	L	L	L	W	L	D	D	L	D	L	D	L	D	L	D	W	L	L	W	L	W
Position	16	13	8	5	8	6	9	15	15	15	14	16	13	14	11	11	11	11	11	12	12	13	13	14	14	13	14	14	15	14	14	15	15	15	17	16	18	16

Source: Statto^[4]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
1 September 1906	Leicester Fosse	H	1–2	6,000	Dodds
8 September 1906	Nottingham Forest	A	2–2	4,500	Coxon, Beats
10 September 1906	West Bromwich Albion	H	2–1	4,000	Beats, Paddock
15 September 1906	Lincoln City	H	4–2	5,000	Mountford, Beats, Coxon, Carter
22 September 1906	Burton United	A	0–2	3,000
29 September 1906	Grimsby Town	H	3–2	4,000	Mountford, Beats, Holyhead
6 October 1906	Chesterfield	A	2–4	2,000	Mountford, Dodds
13 October 1906	Burnley	A	0–6	4,000
20 October 1906	Leeds City	H	1–2	4,000	Beats
27 October 1906	Barnsley	A	2–3	1,000	Paddock, Coxon
3 November 1906	Chelsea	H	2–0	5,000	Dodds (2)
10 November 1906	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	2–6	3,000	Dodds, Price
17 November 1906	Clapton Orient	H	3–2		Beats, Carter, Eardley
24 November 1906	Gainsborough Trinity	A	0–2
1 December 1906	Stockport County	H	5–0	6,000	Dodds, Carter, Holyhead, Beats, Mountford
15 December 1906	Glossop	H	4–1	5,000	Beats, Dodds, Mountford, Carter
22 December 1906	Blackpool	A	1–0	2,000	Dodds
25 December 1906	Bradford City	H	2–3	8,000	Beats, Carter
26 December 1906	West Bromwich Albion	A	0–3	12,000
29 December 1906	Leicester Fosse	A	1–4	8,000	Beats
5 January 1907	Nottingham Forest	H	4–2	4,000	Coxon (2), Mountford, Beats
19 January 1907	Lincoln City	A	0–4	3,000
26 January 1907	Burton United	H	0–0	3,000
9 February 1907	Chesterfield	H	2–2		Carter, Mountford
12 February 1907	Bradford City	A	2–3	3,000	Beats, Coxon
16 February 1907	Burnley	H	4–4	3,000	Coxon, Carter, Dodds, Beats
23 February 1907	Leeds City	A	0–2	7,000
2 March 1907	Barnsley	H	2–2	3,000	Price, Dodds
9 March 1907	Chelsea	A	1–2	8,000	Carter
16 March 1907	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–0	1,500
21 March 1907	Grimsby Town	A	0–2	2,000
23 March 1907	Clapton Orient	A	1–1		Carter
30 March 1907	Gainsborough Trinity	H	1–0	4,000	Mountford
1 April 1907	Hull City	A	1–4	8,000	Paddock
6 April 1907	Stockport County	A	0–3	1,000
13 April 1907	Hull City	H	2–1	2,000	Brough, Carter
20 April 1907	Glossop	A	0–4	2,000
27 April 1907	Blackpool	H	3–0	3,000	Coxon (2), Dodds

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
5Q	8 December 1907	Swindon Town	A	2–1	6,000	Coxon, Dodds
1R	12 January 1907	Irthlingborough Town	H	7–1	10,000	Coxon (2), Dodds (2), Beats, Carter, Mountford
2R	2 February 1907	Notts County	H	2–2	10,000	Beats, Mountford
1R Replay	6 February 1907	Notts County	A	0–5	10,000

Staffordshire Senior Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Goalscorers
1	5 November 1906	Burton United	H	3–3	Mountford, unknown
Replay	25 December 1906	Burton United	A	1–1	unknown
Replay	1 April 1907	Burton United	H	7–0	unknown
SF	15 April 1907	Aston Villa Reserves	A	0–3	unknown

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos.	Name	League		FA Cup		Other		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Arthur Box	12	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
GK	Howard Matthews	26	0	4	0	0	0	30	0
GK	Philip Sampher	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
DF	James Hamilton	33	0	4	0	1	0	38	0
DF	William Cope	17	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
DF	Hughie Dunn	27	0	4	0	0	0	31	0
MF	Bert Eardley	26	1	4	0	0	0	30	1
MF	William Bradbury	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
MF	Joseph Holyhead	35	2	4	0	0	0	39	2
MF	Vic Horrocks	10	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
MF	Robert Carter	34	10	4	1	1	0	39	11
MF	Hugh Walley	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Sam Baddeley	30	0	4	0	1	0	35	0
MF	Tom Coxon	37	9	4	3	1	0	42	12
MF	Ernest Chappell	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0
MF	Walter Rogers	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW	George Price	7	2	0	0	0	0	7	2
FW	Harry Mountford	32	8	4	2	1	1	37	11
FW	John Paddock	8	3	1	0	0	0	9	3
FW	Billy Beats	33	13	4	2	1	0	38	15
FW	Joe Brough	11	1	0	0	1	0	12	1
FW	William Dodds	38	11	3	3	1	0	42	14
FW	Andy McGuigan	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW	William Weston	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Second Division	FA Cup	Staffs Cup	Total
1	FW	England	Billy Beats	13	2	0	15
2	FW	England	William Dodds	11	3	0	14
3	MF	England	Tom Coxon	9	3	0	12
4	MF	England	Robert Carter	10	1	0	11
–	FW	England	Harry Mountford	8	2	1	11
6	FW	England	John Paddock	3	0	0	3
7	MF	England	Joseph Holyhead	2	0	0	2
–	FW	England	George Price	2	0	0	2
9	FW	England	Joe Brough	1	0	0	1
–	MF	England	Bert Eardley	1	0	0	1
–	–	–	Unknown	0	0	4	4
			TOTALS	60	11	5	76

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1906	MF	Joe Brough	Smallthorne	Free transfer	^[5]
May 1906	MF	Tom Coxon	Middlesbrough	Free transfer	^[5]
May 1906	GK	Howard Matthews	Langley St. Michael's	Free transfer	^[5]
June 1906	FW	William Dodds	Southwick	Free transfer	^[5]
August 1906	FW	Billy Beats	Bristol Rovers	Free transfer	^[5]
August 1906	DF	Hughie Dunn	Bristol Rovers	Free transfer	^[5]
August 1906	FW	John Paddock	Wellington Town	Free transfer	^[5]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
June 1907	DF	Sam Baddeley	Stoke	Released	^[5]
June 1907	FW	Billy Beats	Reading	Released	^[5]
June 1907	GK	Arthur Box	Stoke	Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	William Bradbury	Fegg Hayes	Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	Joe Brough	Stoke	Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	Robert Carter	Stockport County	Released	^[5]
June 1907	DF	William Cope	Stoke	Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	Tom Coxon	Stoke	Released	^[5]
June 1907	FW	William Dodds	Oldham Athletic	Released	^[5]
June 1907	DF	Hughie Dunn		Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	Bert Eardley		Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	Ebenezer Grant		Released	^[5]
June 1907	DF	James Hamilton	Burslem Town	Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	Joseph Holyhead	Wednesbury Old Athletic	Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	Vic Horrocks	Goldenhill United	Released	^[5]
June 1907	GK	Howard Matthews	Burton United	Released	^[5]
June 1907	FW	Harry Mountford	Hanley Swifts	Released	^[5]
June 1907	FW	John Paddock	Wellington Town	Released	^[5]
June 1907	FW	George Price		Released	^[5]
June 1907	DF	Arthur Shelley		Released	^[5]
June 1907	MF	Hugh Walley	Burton Swifts	Released	^[5]

References

Specific

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c Kent, Jeff (1990). "The Hard Road Back (1907-1919)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 50–70. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
^ What If There Had Been No Port In The Vale?: Startling Port Vale Stories! (Witan Books, 2011, ISBN 978-0-9529152-8-7)
^ Port Vale 1906–1907 : Results & Fixtures Archived 6 September 2015 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 ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.