# 1900–01 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

The 1900–01 season was Burslem Port Vale's third consecutive season (seventh overall) of football in the English Football League. Finishing in ninth place for the second time in three years, the club would have to wait over two decades before they would better such a finish. Vale was a typical mid-table team in 1900–01, with their home form slightly disappointing compared to teams around them. The team was settled, however, once again poor attendances were an issue.

## Overview
### Second Division

The pre-season saw the return of Stoke legend Tommy Clare, now aged 35, and inside-left James Peake, following a season with Millwall Athletic. Otherwise local lads filled the void left by the stars that were sold off in the previous season.
True to expectations, the "Valeites" suffered at the start of the season, recording three heavy defeats in their first seven games. However, things picked up when striker Adrian Capes arrived from Burton Swifts in November 1900. By March, the side broke into the top six, though they were eleven points short of the two promotion places. The season ended with three wins from four games, and the Vale finished six points from the re-election zones but fifteen points from promotion.
New boy Capes finished as the top scorer, with Peake, Eardley, and Price contributing seven goals each. Goalkeeper Alfred Maybury made his debut on 8 September and never missed a match after that, though he was still released at the season's end (later joining Chesterfield). Eight other players managed at least 30 appearances (out of a possible 37), with George Price an ever-present. The defence was described as "consistent and sturdy", and Peake, Eardley, and Capes were praised for the turnaround in results. The policy of local youth continued, having been successful throughout the campaign. James Peake and Alfred Maybury departed, and full-back Frank Stokes was sold to Reading; but otherwise the original team was retained.

### Finances

Financially, the club lost £73, which added to their £1,000 debt. Taking note from the previous campaign, the playing budget was reduced by over £750, though gate receipts dropped a further £235. Poor weather was blamed for the miserable support.

### Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, a 3–1 home defeat was recorded to Second Division rivals New Brighton Tower in the opening round. The result was the same as their league encounter, down to an Adrian Capes consolation. Vale also exited both county cups at the first hurdle.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 7 | Woolwich Arsenal | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 39 | 35 | 1.114 | 36 |
| 8 | Lincoln City | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 43 | 39 | 1.103 | 33 |
| 9 | Burslem Port Vale | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 45 | 47 | 0.957 | 33 |
| 10 | Newton Heath | 34 | 14 | 4 | 16 | 42 | 38 | 1.105 | 32 |
| 11 | Leicester Fosse | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 39 | 37 | 1.054 | 32 |

## 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 | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H |
| Result | D | L | L | W | L | D | L | W | D | D | D | L | L | W | W | L | W | D | D | L | D | W | W | L | W | D | D | L | D | L | W | L | W | W |
| Position | 9 | 12 | 17 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 September 1900 | Birmingham City | H | 2–2 | 3,000 | Price, Beech |
| 3 September 1900 | Stockport County | H | 0–1 | 2,000 | |
| 8 September 1900 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–6 | 4,000 | Price |
| 15 September 1900 | Lincoln City | H | 2–0 | 2,000 | Price, Aston |
| 22 September 1900 | Newton Heath | A | 0–4 | 5,000 | |
| 29 September 1900 | Glossop | H | 0–0 | 2,000 | |
| 6 October 1900 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–4 | 8,000 | |
| 13 October 1900 | Burnley | H | 1–0 | 1,000 | Peake |
| 20 October 1900 | Chesterfield | A | 1–1 | 2,000 | Price |
| 27 October 1900 | Leicester Fosse | A | 0–0 | 9,000 | |
| 3 November 1900 | Grimsby Town | H | 0–0 | 3,000 | |
| 10 November 1900 | Gainsborough Trinity | A | 1–2 | | Peake |
| 17 November 1900 | New Brighton Tower | H | 1–3 | 2,000 | Capes |
| 24 November 1900 | Burton Swifts | A | 2–0 | 600 | Peake, Steadman |
| 1 December 1900 | Barnsley | H | 3–2 | | Capes, Lander, Heames |
| 8 December 1900 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | 0–3 | 7,000 | |
| 15 December 1900 | Blackpool | H | 4–0 | 2,000 | Price, Capes, Boullemier, Eardley |
| 22 December 1900 | Stockport County | A | 1–1 | | Peake |
| 25 December 1900 | Walsall | H | 2–2 | 5,000 | Eardley, Heames |
| 29 December 1900 | Birmingham City | A | 1–2 | 6,000 | Lander |
| 12 January 1901 | Lincoln City | A | 2–2 | 2,000 | Simpson, Capes |
| 19 January 1901 | Newton Heath | H | 2–0 | 1,000 | Capes (2) |
| 9 February 1901 | Glossop | A | 2–1 | 4,000 | Eardley, Beech |
| 16 February 1901 | Burnley | A | 0–1 | 4,000 | |
| 23 February 1901 | Chesterfield | H | 5–1 | 1,000 | Peake (2), Boullemier, Heames, Eardley |
| 2 March 1901 | Leicester Fosse | H | 0–0 | 2,000 | |
| 9 March 1901 | New Brighton Tower | A | 1–1 | 3,000 | Peake |
| 11 March 1901 | Middlesbrough | H | 0–2 | 4,000 | |
| 16 March 1901 | Gainsborough Trinity | H | 1–1 | | Simpson |
| 23 March 1901 | Walsall | A | 1–2 | 2,000 | Capes |
| 30 March 1901 | Burton Swifts | H | 4–0 | 300 | Price (2), Capes, Simpson |
| 5 April 1901 | Blackpool | A | 1–2 | 800 | Capes |
| 6 April 1901 | Barnsley | A | 3–1 | | Eardley (2), Capes |
| 13 April 1901 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | 1–0 | 1,000 | Eardley |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| IR | 1 January 1901 | New Brighton Tower | H | 1–3 | 3,000 | Capes |

### Birmingham Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 1 | 24 September 1900 | Stoke | A | 0–1 | 1,500 | |

### Staffordshire Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| QF | 22 October 1900 | Stoke | N | 0–2 | | |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Tom Poole | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| GK | Alfred Maybury | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| DF | Jim Beech | 31 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 34 | 2 |
| DF | Lucien Boullemier | 29 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 2 |
| DF | Frank Stokes | 32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| DF | Tommy Clare | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | Tom Davies | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| DF | Ernest Mullineux | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Billy Heames | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 3 |
| MF | Bert Eardley | 27 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 7 |
| MF | Tommy Aston | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| MF | Patrick Gallagher | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | John Henshall | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| MF | W. H. Machin | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| MF | Robert Seaton | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| MF | Joseph Steadman | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| MF | Thomas Wainwright | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| FW | Danny Simpson | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| FW | George Price | 34 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 37 | 7 |
| FW | Tommy Lander | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
| FW | Adrian Capes | 24 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 11 |
| FW | Alfred Pankhurst | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| FW | James Peake | 28 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 7 |
| FW | Howard Round | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Other | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Adrian Capes | 10 | 1 | 0 | 11 |
| 2 | MF | England | Bert Eardley | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| – | FW | | James Peake | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| – | FW | England | George Price | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 5 | FW | England | Danny Simpson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| – | MF | England | Billy Heames | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | FW | England | Tommy Lander | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| – | DF | | Jim Beech | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| – | DF | England | Lucien Boullemier | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | MF | | Tommy Aston | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Joseph Steadman | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 45 | 1 | 0 | 46 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| Summer 1900 | FW | James Peake | Millwall Athletic | Free transfer |
| May 1900 | MF | Tommy Aston | Ironbridge | Free transfer |
| May 1900 | MF | Patrick Gallagher | Smallthorne United | Free transfer |
| May 1900 | FW | John Henshall | Hanley Swifts | Free transfer |
| May 1900 | GK | Alfred Maybury | Nantwich | Free transfer |
| May 1900 | DF | Ernest Mullineux | Burslem Park | Free transfer |
| May 1900 | FW | Alfred Pankhurst | Smallthorne | Free transfer |
| July 1900 | FW | Howard Round | Tunstall Casuals | Free transfer |
| August 1900 | MF | Albert Cook | North Staffs Nomads | Free transfer |
| November 1900 | FW | Adrian Capes | Burton Swifts | Free transfer |
| March 1901 | DF | Harry Croxton | Burslem Park | Free transfer |
| April 1901 | FW | Leonard Jones | Eastwood | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| September 1900 | MF | Tommy Aston | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | MF | S. E. Bayley | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | DF | Tommy Clare | Retired | Retired |
| Summer 1901 | MF | Patrick Gallagher | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | FW | John Henshall | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | GK | Alfred Maybury | Chesterfield | Released |
| Summer 1901 | FW | Alfred Pankhurst | Smallthorne | Released |
| Summer 1901 | FW | James Peake | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | GK | Tom Poole | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | FW | Howard Round | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | GK | William Saunders | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | MF | Robert Seaton | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | DF | Thomas Spilsbury | Retired | Retired |
| Summer 1901 | MF | Joseph Steadman | | Released |
| Summer 1901 | DF | Frank Stokes | Reading | Free transfer |