# 1916–17 Port Vale F.C. season

The 1916–17 season was Port Vale's first season of football after going into abeyance during World War I. They were admitted into the Football League's Lancashire Region, going up against some of the country's biggest clubs after years of playing non-League football. Losing 16 of their 30 league games, they still managed a remarkable 11–1 victory over Blackpool.

## Overview

Following a year in effective hibernation, the club reinstated first-team football after chairman Frank Huntbach "realised that the war workers needed recreation as much as ever and as long as the players were men working for the war effort, no harm could be done". The club was fortunate to gain admittance to the Football League's Lancashire Region, allowing them to compete with clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester City and Preston North End. Manager Tom Holford re-signed Teddy Bateup, Edgar Bentley, Jim Bennett, Jack Shelton, Joe Brough and Jock Cameron to give some continuation of the team that had competed well in The Central League. However, attempts to re-sign former top-scorer Chris Young failed as he opted to stay with Grimsby Town.
Vale started the league campaign well with a 2–2 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford and a 0–0 draw with Liverpool at the Old Recreation Ground. The squad was boosted by the arrivals of Ted Collins and Jack Needham, who signed after their club Wolverhampton Wanderers shut down operations. The pair "showed their true regard for the game" by turning up to play Stockport County on 16 September despite working until 6 am earlier that day; however, former Valeite Bob Suart inspired County to a 5–3 win. Two more draws followed, including a 0–0 draw at Stoke, though this was then followed by five defeats in six games. The 13th game of the campaign proved unlucky for visitors Blackpool, as Vale recorded their first victory by a remarkable 11–1 scoreline, with Jack Needham, Holford, James Wootton, Albert Broadhurst and George Shelton all claiming two goals each, supplemented by a single strike for Albert Groves. They then beat Oldham Athletic 4–0, before dropping into a losing streak of seven defeats in nine games to prove the Blackpool result as an anomaly as the club dropped to last place. They recovered to lose only three of their final eight games, though the final day victory over Manchester United proved "a farce" as the visitors only turned up with four players and had to loan the other seven to make up a full team. Vale finished in 15th place with 21 points from 30 games, whilst Needham finished as the top-scorer with ten goals.
A six-match Subsidiary Tournament concluded the season, with the Vale going unbeaten at home against Stoke, Manchester City and Manchester United. They recorded a 3–2 victory over Stoke and beat United 5–2 after being helped by guest player Billy Meredith. The club's annual meeting revealed a profit of £692 as the gate receipts of £2,582 were well above the playing wages of £649. Wartime football was profitable but had its unique challenges, with Holdford, Brough, Needham, Bentley and Jack Shelton all needing replacing at the end of the season as they were conscripted.

## Results

Port Vale's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### Football League Lancashire Section
#### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 14 | Oldham Athletic | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 36 | 65 | 0.554 | 22 |
| 15 | Port Vale | 30 | 7 | 7 | 16 | 50 | 60 | 0.833 | 21 |
| 16 | Blackpool | 30 | 6 | 7 | 17 | 44 | 80 | 0.550 | 19 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 2 September 1916 | Manchester United | A | 2–2 | 5,000 | Colclough, Brough |
| 9 September 1916 | Liverpool | H | 0–0 | 6,000 | |
| 16 September 1916 | Stockport County | A | 3–5 | 3,000 | Needham, Brough, Bentley (pen) |
| 23 September 1916 | Bury | H | 2–2 | 5,000 | G.Shelton, Brough |
| 30 September 1916 | Stoke | A | 0–0 | very large | |
| 7 October 1916 | Southport Central | H | 1–3 | 4,000 | Needham |
| 14 October 1916 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 0–4 | 3,000 | |
| 21 October 1916 | Manchester City | H | 0–1 | 6,000 | |
| 28 October 1916 | Everton | A | 1–3 | | G.Shelton |
| 4 November 1916 | Rochdale | H | 1–1 | | G.Shelton |
| 11 November 1916 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 2–3 | 3,176 | Colclough, Leese |
| 18 November 1916 | Blackpool | H | 11–1 | | Needham (2), Holford (2), Wootton (2), Broadhurst (2), G.Shelton (2), Groves |
| 25 November 1916 | Oldham Athletic | H | 4–0 | 2,017 | G.Shelton (2), Wootton, Needham |
| 2 December 1916 | Preston North End | A | 1–2 | | Groves |
| 9 December 1916 | Burnley | H | 2–6 | 4,000 | Colclough, Wootton |
| 23 December 1916 | Liverpool | A | 1–5 | 2,000 | Colclough |
| 30 December 1916 | Stockport County | H | 1–2 | | Holford |
| 6 January 1917 | Bury | A | 3–1 | 1,000 | Griffiths (2), Needham |
| 13 January 1917 | Stoke | H | 1–2 | 10,000 | Griffiths |
| 20 January 1917 | Southport Central | A | 1–3 | 500 | Bentley (pen) |
| 27 January 1917 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 3–1 | | Needham (3) |
| 3 February 1917 | Manchester City | A | 0–2 | 6,000 | |
| 10 February 1917 | Everton | H | 1–1 | | Lockett |
| 17 February 1917 | Rochdale | A | 3–1 | 1,000 | Lockett (2), Bentley (pen) |
| 24 February 1917 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 2–0 | 5,000 | Needham, Bentley (pen) |
| 3 March 1917 | Blackpool | A | 0–4 | 2,000 | |
| 10 March 1917 | Oldham Athletic | A | 0–3 | 1,572 | |
| 17 March 1917 | Preston North End | H | 1–1 | 3,000 | Lockett |
| 24 March 1917 | Burnley | A | 0–1 | 1,000 | |
| 6 April 1917 | Manchester United | H | 3–0 | 4,000 | Brough (2), Broadhurst |

### Lancashire Section Subsidiary Tournament
#### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 2 | Stoke | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 6 | 1.833 | 6 |
| 3 | Port Vale | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 0.750 | 5 |
| 4 | Manchester City | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 11 | 0.273 | 4 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 31 March 1917 | Manchester City | A | 0–1 | 7,000 | |
| 7 April 1917 | Stoke | H | 3–2 | 12,000 | Needham, Brough, Holford |
| 9 April 1917 | Manchester United | A | 1–5 | 8,000 | Brough |
| 14 April 1917 | Manchester City | H | 0–0 | 5,000 | |
| 21 April 1917 | Stoke | A | 0–2 | | |
| 28 April 1917 | Manchester United | H | 5–2 | 4,000 | Bridgett (2), Groves, Needham, Holford |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | Name | League | League | Subsidiary | Subsidiary | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Teddy Bateup | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| GK | John Powell | 26 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| GK | William Connell | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Jim Bennett | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| DF | Edgar Bentley | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 4 |
| DF | Jock Cameron | 12 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| DF | Ted Collins | 22 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 27 | 0 |
| DF | Tom Davies | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Archie Dyke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Eli Fletcher | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | John Griffiths | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| DF | Albert Groves | 18 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 23 | 3 |
| DF | George Holmes | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| DF | Harry Leese | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| DF | Tom Lyons | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | E Bourne | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | G Arrowsmith | 9 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| MF | Arthur Bridgett | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| MF | Albert Broadhurst | 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 3 |
| MF | Joe Butterworth | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | S Colclough | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| MF | Clem Heath | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Tom Holford | 22 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 28 | 5 |
| MF | Bobby McNeal | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | Jack Needham | 22 | 10 | 5 | 2 | 27 | 12 |
| MF | B Phillips | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| MF | Freddy Price | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | George Shelton | 24 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 30 | 7 |
| MF | Billy Spooner | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | James Wootton | 17 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 4 |
| FW | W Biddulph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | W Agar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Joe Brough | 12 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 16 | 7 |
| FW | Jack Cockcroft | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Shirley Hubbard | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Aaron Lockett | 10 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| FW | Billy Meredith | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Jack Shelton | 30 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| FW | Joe Smith | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| FW | Chris Young | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | League | Subsidiary | Total |
| 1 | MF | England | Jack Needham | 10 | 2 | 12 |
| 2 | MF | England | George Shelton | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| – | FW | England | Joe Brough | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 4 | MF | England | Tom Holford | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | DF | England | Edgar Bentley | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| – | MF | England | S Colclough | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| – | MF | England | James Wootton | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| – | FW | England | Aaron Lockett | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | DF | England | John Griffiths | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| – | MF | England | Albert Broadhurst | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| – | DF | Wales | Albert Groves | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 12 | MF | England | Arthur Bridgett | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 13 | DF | England | Harry Leese | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 50 | 9 | 59 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| August 1916 | MF | G Arrowsmith | Shelton United | Free transfer |
| August 1916 | MF | S Colclough | Goldenhill Warriers | Free transfer |
| August 1916 | DF | George Holmes | Leek Alexandra | Free transfer |
| August 1916 | FW | Aaron Lockett | Audley | Free transfer |
| August 1916 | MF | B Phillips | Shelton United | Free transfer |
| August 1916 | MF | George Shelton | Wellington Town | Free transfer |
| August 1916 | MF | Billy Spooner | Brighton & Hove Albion | Free transfer |
| Autumn 1916 | MF | Albert Broadhurst | | Free transfer |
| January 1917 | DF | Tom Lyons | Aston Villa | Free transfer |
| March 1917 | DF | Tom Davies | | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| 1917 | FW | W Biddulph | | Released |
| 1917 | MF | E Bourne | | Released |
| Summer 1917 | MF | S Colclough | | Released |
| Summer 1917 | FW | Aaron Lockett | Audley | Free transfer |