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Port Vale
1957–58 season
Chairman	Fred Burgess
Manager	Norman Low
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Third Division South	15th (42 Points)
FA Cup	Second Round; (knocked out by Hull City)
Top goalscorer	League: Stan Steele (21); All: Stan Steele (22)
Highest home attendance	17,286 vs. Coventry City, 26 December 1957
Lowest home attendance	5,149 vs. Brentford, 24 March 1958
Average home league attendance	10,457
Biggest win	5–0 and 6–1
Biggest defeat	0–3 and 1–4
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1956–57 1958–59 →

The 1957–58 season was Port Vale's 46th season of football in the English Football League and their first full season (eighth overall) back in the Third Division South following their relegation from the Second Division.^[1] An unusual season, the regional split was to be abolished at the season's end, meaning the bottom two clubs of the Second Division and the clubs placed 2nd to 12th in the Third Division North and the Third Division South would be the founder members of the Third Division. It also meant that the bottom twelve clubs of the Third Division North and the Third Division South would be the founder members of the Fourth Division. In effect, the team's performance in this season could see them placed in either the second, third or fourth tier the following season. Finishing in fifteenth, what would have otherwise been a mid-table finish of little consequence saw them relegated to the Fourth Division.

Overview

Third Division South

The pre-season saw manager Norman Low sign several young new players to replace those released at the end of the previous season, saying his team would 'fight like hell to get back into the Second Division'.^[1] Four of these signings were: impressive forward Jack Wilkinson (Sheffield United); Welsh international goalkeeper Keith Jones (signed from Aston Villa for £3,500); defender Bert Carberry (Gillingham); and Alan Martin – who returned to the club as a part-time professional.^[1]

The season opened with a 1–0 win over Aldershot at the Recreation Ground.^[1] This started a sequence of just four defeats in seventeen games, which included doing the double over Southampton (a 3–0 win at The Dell followed by a 4–0 win at Vale Park).^[1] This was achieved with Low's attacking policy,^[1] a stark contrast to 'the Steele Curtain' defence. However, their five clean sheets in their first eight games also illustrated their defensive strength.^[1] In September, right-half Selwyn Whalley turned part-time, dividing his duties between playing football and teaching at Hanley High School.^[1] Winger Alan Bennett was also transferred to Crewe Alexandra.^[1] By November, Vale were third in the league, and Low signed Bert Carberry and Jack Wilkinson.^[1] Following this top-scorer Stan Steele went off the boil, as the Vale lost their form in the Christmas period, losing 1–0 twice to Coventry City in two days.^[1] Though before this, a 6–1 victory was recorded over Aldershot.

In January, Ken Griffiths was sold to Mansfield Town for a four-figure fee, having mostly languished in the reserves.^[1] By February, Vale were in seventh position, only four points off the top spot (with three games in hand) despite their loss of form.^[1] Four straight defeats dragged them down towards the bottom half of the table.^[1] They bought former Wales international Noel Kinsey from Birmingham City for £5,000 in an attempt to bolster their form.^[1] He helped the club achieve a 5–0 win over Watford on 8 March, scoring two goals.^[1] Though as injuries developed the club's form again declined, and the team lost eight of their final twelve games.^[1] Two points from their final six games doomed them to the fourth tier.^[1]

They finished in fifteenth position with 42 points from 46 games.^[1] Five points away from the top half of the table, their 'remarkable decline' continued with a second relegation in two years.^[1] Their 58 goals conceded was a respectable total, as was their 67 goals scored.^[1] Stan Steele, Jack Wilkinson, and Harry Poole all proved themselves consistent goalscorers, scoring 22, 19, and 16 goals respectively.

Finances

On the financial side, a decline in average attendance by around 3,500 left the club with an average gate of 10,457.^[1] Gate receipts were down to £33,800. However, a small staff helped to make a profit of £145 despite player wages rising to £24,158.^[1] Five players were released in the summer, most notably Bert Carberry (Exeter City) and Bill Cleary (King's Lynn).^[1] Low also sold Colin Askey to Walsall for 'a fairly substantial fee' and Basil Hayward to Portsmouth for 'a fair fee'.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale narrowly defeated Shrewsbury Town with two goals from Wilkinson. Third Division North Hull City knocked the Vale out in the Second Round, however, winning the replay 4–3 at Boothferry Park.^[1]

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
13	Northampton Town	46	19	6	21	87	79	1.101	44	Moved to 4th Division
14	Crystal Palace	46	15	13	18	70	72	0.972	43
15	Port Vale	46	16	10	20	67	58	1.155	42
16	Watford	46	13	16	17	59	77	0.766	42
17	Shrewsbury Town	46	15	10	21	49	71	0.690	40

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

Results

Port Vale's score comes first

Football League Third Division South

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	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	A	H	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A
Result	W	L	W	D	L	W	W	W	L	W	D	D	L	W	W	W	D	L	L	D	W	W	L	L	D	D	D	W	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	L	L	W	D	L	L	D	L	L
Position	1	12	5	5	10	6	3	2	4	2	2	3	7	6	4	3	5	5	6	6	5	4	5	9	7	7	9	7	7	8	10	11	11	11	12	13	13	13	13	13	13	13	15	14	15	15

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

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
24 August 1957	Aldershot	A	1–0	6,802	Steele
26 August 1957	Shrewsbury Town	A	0–1	9,869
31 August 1957	Swindon Town	H	3–1	16,503	Steele (2), Wilkinson
2 September 1957	Shrewsbury Town	H	0–0	15,538
7 September 1957	Millwall	A	1–2	17,429	Poole
11 September 1957	Southampton	A	3–0	18,887	Steele, Poole, Askey
14 September 1957	Gillingham	H	2–0	14,717	Poole (2)
16 September 1957	Southampton	H	4–0	11,021	Steele (3), Wilkinson
21 September 1957	Exeter City	A	0–1	9,397
28 September 1957	Queens Park Rangers	H	2–1	12,816	Steele, Hayward
30 September 1957	Newport County	H	2–2	8,669	Poole (2)
5 October 1957	Southend United	A	1–1	11,943	Steele
12 October 1957	Reading	A	0–3	11,501
19 October 1957	Northampton Town	H	3–0	12,443	Steele (2), Wilkinson
26 October 1957	Watford	A	2–0	9,513	Wilkinson, Askey
2 November 1957	Crystal Palace	H	4–0	13,602	Wilkinson (2), Poole, Askey
9 November 1957	Torquay United	A	1–1	7,620	Poole
11 November 1957	Newport County	A	1–2	8,480	Poole
23 November 1957	Colchester United	A	1–2	9,106	Askey
30 November 1957	Norwich City	H	2–2	13,816	Steele, Poole
14 December 1957	Walsall	H	2–1	8,827	Wilkinson, Poole
21 December 1957	Aldershot	H	6–1	8,273	Wilkinson (2), Poole (2), Cunliffe (2)
25 December 1957	Coventry City	A	0–1	13,713
26 December 1957	Coventry City	H	0–1	17,286
28 December 1957	Swindon Town	A	0–0	15,000
4 January 1958	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	0–0	13,312
11 January 1958	Millwall	H	1–1	9,002	Steele
18 January 1958	Gillingham	A	2–0	7,407	Wilkinson, Steele
1 February 1958	Exeter City	H	3–2	9,300	Wilkinson (2), Cunliffe
8 February 1958	Queens Park Rangers	A	1–2	7,594	Askey
15 February 1958	Southend United	H	1–3	7,642	Wilkinson
22 February 1958	Reading	H	1–2	5,940	Steele
1 March 1958	Northampton Town	A	2–3	8,711	Steele (2)
8 March 1958	Watford	H	5–0	8,515	Kinsey (2), Wilkinson, Steele, Whalley
15 March 1958	Crystal Palace	A	0–1	13,577
22 March 1958	Colchester United	H	2–0	7,151	Steele, Wilkinson
24 March 1958	Brentford	H	0–1	5,149
29 March 1958	Walsall	A	0–3	8,613
4 April 1958	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–1	22,458
5 April 1958	Torquay United	H	2–1	7,504	Sproson, Wilkinson
7 April 1958	Plymouth Argyle	H	0–0	11,059
12 April 1958	Norwich City	A	0–3	17,843
19 April 1958	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	H	2–3	8,481	Steele, Cunliffe
23 April 1958	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–2	7,256	Poole, Askey
26 April 1958	Brentford	A	1–4	11,923	Steele
30 April 1958	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	A	1–3	10,683	Wilkinson

FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 1957	Shrewsbury Town	H	2–1	17,660	Wilkinson (2)
R2	7 December 1957	Hull City	H	2–2	14,338	Poole, Askey
R2 Replay	9 December 1957	Hull City	A	3–4	17,403	Poole, Steele, Sproson

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	John Poole	3	0	0	0	3	0
GK	Keith Jones	43	0	3	0	46	0
DF	Roy Sproson	37	1	3	1	40	2
DF	David Raine	31	0	3	0	34	0
DF	Selwyn Whalley	13	1	0	0	13	1
DF	Fred Donaldson	27	0	0	0	27	0
DF	Bert Carberry	29	0	3	0	32	0
DF	Jimmy Adams	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	Albert Leake	32	0	2	0	34	0
MF	John Cunliffe	42	4	3	0	45	4
MF	Colin Askey	35	6	2	1	37	7
MF	Terry Miles	6	0	0	0	6	0
MF	Basil Hayward	42	1	3	0	45	1
MF	Alan Martin	3	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Brian Hopkins	2	0	0	0	2	0
MF	Fred Hough	4	0	0	0	4	0
MF	Bill Cleary	8	0	2	0	10	0
FW	Ken Griffiths	3	0	0	0	3	0
FW	Harry Poole	41	14	3	2	44	16
FW	Stan Steele	46	21	3	1	49	22
FW	Jack Wilkinson	41	17	3	2	44	19
FW	Jimmy McLean	3	0	0	0	3	0
FW	Noel Kinsey	14	2	0	0	14	2

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1	FW	England	Stan Steele	21	1	22
2	FW	England	Jack Wilkinson	17	2	19
3	FW	England	Harry Poole	14	2	16
4	MF	England	Colin Askey	6	1	7
5	MF	England	John Cunliffe	4	0	4
6	FW	England	Roy Sproson	1	1	2
–	FW	Wales	Noel Kinsey	2	0	2
8	DF	England	Selwyn Whalley	1	0	1
–	MF	England	Basil Hayward	1	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	0	0	0
			TOTALS	67	7	74

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
June 1957	FW	Jack Wilkinson	Sheffield United	Free transfer	^[3]
July 1957	MF	Bert Carberry	Gillingham	Free transfer	^[3]
July 1957	GK	Keith Jones	Aston Villa	£3,500	^[3]
July 1957	MF	Alan Martin	Bangor City	Non-contract	^[3]
November 1957	MF	Bill Cleary	Wisbech Town	Free transfer	^[3]
February 1958	FW	Noel Kinsey	Birmingham City	£5,000	^[3]
March 1958	FW	Jimmy McLean	Alva Rangers	Free transfer	^[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
September 1957	MF	Alan Bennett	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	^[3]
January 1958	FW	Ken Griffiths	Mansfield Town	'four-figure fee'	^[3]
January 1958	GK	Leslie Wood	Southport	Free transfer	^[3]
March 1958	MF	Brian Hopkins	Burton Albion	Free transfer	^[3]
May 1958	DF	Basil Hayward	Portsmouth	'fair'	^[3]
May 1958	MF	Fred Hough		Released	^[3]
July 1958	MF	Colin Askey	Walsall	'fairly substantial'	^[3]
July 1958	MF	Bill Cleary	Boston United	Free transfer	^[3]
August 1957	MF	Bert Carberry	Exeter City	Free transfer	^[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 Kent, Jeff (1990). "Fame and Fortune (1950–1959)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 171–196. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
^ Port Vale 1957–1958 : 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 Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.