# 1899–1900 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

The 1899–1900 season was Burslem Port Vale's second consecutive season (sixth overall) of football in the English Football League. Another season of charging to the summit of the Second Division table, only to fall into mid-table obscurity, this time the club suffered from low support and subsequently poor finances. Once again, the team maintained a decent defensive record, only to fail miserably in front of goal – the second-lowest total in the league.

## Overview
### Second Division

During the pre-season, the Athletic Ground had its capacity increased to 25,000. Last season's top scorers Dick Evans and James Peake departed for Reading and Millwall Athletic respectively; also star player Tommy Clare retired. Four new forwards were signed, namely Scots Billy Grassam (Maryhill) and James Reid (Hibernian), and local lads Charles Walters (Gainsborough Trinity) and Billy Leech (Tottenham Hotspur).
The season started with four defeats in the first six games in a dismal September. They turned their form around with a six-game win streak that gave them a 100% win record in October and November. However, one win in the next thirteen games followed as the club slipped back down the league. Their decline was helped by the regular selling of key players to balance the books.

### Finances

Attendance figures made grim reading, and left-half Ted McDonald had to be sold to Notts County in November to raise cash. Goalkeeper Herbert Birchenough was sold to Glossop in January, with top scorer Howard Harvey also sold to Manchester City that same month. Their second to last match saw a mere 300 supporters turn up to watch. At the end of the season, there were drastic budget cuts, even so much as to stop paying players wages over the summer period – the only club in the league to do so. Cheaper, local talent was recruited to fill the void left by departing stars. The club lost £73 throughout the campaign despite having trimmed ten times that figure from the playing budget.

### Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, the club vanquished nearby Nantwich and Crewe Alexandra but failed to make it to the First Round Proper. They reached the final of the Staffordshire Senior Cup and the Birmingham Senior Cup, losing to West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers respectively. West Brom defeated Vale 5–0 in the final at Villa Park, taking revenge for the "Valeites" dumping West Brom out of the Birmingham Cup by the same scoreline.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 9 | Lincoln City | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 46 | 43 | 1.070 | 36 |
| 10 | New Brighton Tower | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 66 | 58 | 1.138 | 35 |
| 11 | Burslem Port Vale | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 39 | 49 | 0.796 | 34 |
| 12 | Walsall | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 50 | 55 | 0.909 | 32 |
| 13 | Gainsborough Trinity | 34 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 47 | 75 | 0.627 | 25 |

## 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 | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H |
| Result | L | W | L | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | D | L | D | D | L | L | L | D | L | D | W | L | W | L | W | W | L | W | L |
| Position | 16 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 12 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 11 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 2 September 1899 | New Brighton Tower | A | 0–2 | 3,000 | |
| 4 September 1899 | Middlesbrough | H | 3–1 | 2,000 | Harvey, Bayley, Grassam |
| 9 September 1899 | Grimsby Town | H | 2–3 | 3,000 | Heames, Grassam |
| 16 September 1899 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | 0–1 | 5,000 | |
| 23 September 1899 | Barnsley | H | 3–1 | 2,000 | Heames, Grassam, Harvey |
| 30 September 1899 | Leicester Fosse | A | 0–2 | 4,000 | |
| 7 October 1899 | Luton Town | H | 1–0 | 2,500 | Boullemier |
| 14 October 1899 | Burton Swifts | H | 2–1 | 1,500 | Boullemier, Heames |
| 21 October 1899 | Walsall | A | 1–0 | 3,000 | Reid |
| 4 November 1899 | Chesterfield | A | 4–0 | 2,000 | Harvey (3), Leech |
| 11 November 1899 | Gainsborough Trinity | H | 1–0 | 1,000 | Harvey |
| 25 November 1899 | Loughborough | H | 3–1 | 800 | Harvey, Walters, Reid |
| 2 December 1899 | Newton Heath | A | 0–3 | 5,000 | |
| 16 December 1899 | Lincoln City | A | 1–1 | 200 | Harvey |
| 23 December 1899 | Small Heath | H | 3–0 | 500 | Heames, Harvey, Price |
| 30 December 1899 | New Brighton Tower | H | 1–1 | 2,000 | Harvey |
| 2 January 1900 | Bolton Wanderers | A | 0–5 | 2,570 | |
| 6 January 1900 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–1 | 3,000 | Simpson |
| 13 January 1900 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | 1–1 | 2,000 | Grassam |
| 20 January 1900 | Barnsley | A | 0–3 | 2,000 | |
| 27 January 1900 | Small Heath | A | 1–2 | 5,000 | Whitehouse |
| 3 February 1900 | Leicester Fosse | H | 0–2 | 600 | |
| 10 February 1900 | Luton Town | A | 1–1 | 500 | Eardley |
| 12 February 1900 | The Wednesday | H | 0–3 | 2,000 | |
| 17 February 1900 | Burton Swifts | A | 2–2 | | Walters, Beech |
| 24 February 1900 | Walsall | H | 1–0 | 700 | Heames |
| 3 March 1900 | Middlesbrough | A | 0–1 | 6,000 | |
| 10 March 1900 | Chesterfield | H | 2–0 | 1,500 | Simpson, Grassam |
| 17 March 1900 | Gainsborough Trinity | A | 0–4 | 1,000 | |
| 31 March 1900 | Loughborough | A | 2–1 | 500 | Price, Simpson |
| 7 April 1900 | Newton Heath | H | 1–0 | 3,000 | Boullemier |
| 14 April 1900 | The Wednesday | A | 0–4 | 5,000 | |
| 21 April 1900 | Lincoln City | H | 2–1 | 300 | Price, Heames |
| 23 April 1900 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 0–2 | 400 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 3Q | 28 October 1899 | Nantwich | H | 2–0 | 600 | Reid, Heames |
| 4Q | 18 November 1899 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 2–2 | 4,000 | Harvey (2 [1 pen]) |
| 4Q Replay | 22 November 1899 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 3–1 | 1,500 | Harvey (pen), Walters, Grassam |
| 5Q | 9 December 1899 | Stalybridge Rovers | H | 0–1 | 3,000 | |

### Birmingham Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 1 | 11 December 1899 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 5–0 | 1,500 | Harvey (3 [1 pen]), Whitehouse (2) |
| 2 | 15 January 1900 | Burton Swifts | H | 3–0 | 500 | Price, unknown, unknown |
| SF | 5 March 1900 | Ironbridge | H | 6–3 | 1,000 | Heames, Whitehouse, Grassam, unknown |
| Final | 2 April 1900 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | N | 1–2 | 500 | Grassam |

### Staffordshire Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 2 | 2 October 1899 | Burton Swifts | H | 3–1 | 800 | Reid, Grassam, unknown |
| SF | 30 October 1899 | Walsall | A | 3–1 | 1,000 | McDonald, Grassam, Harvey |
| Final | 4 December 1899 | West Bromwich Albion | N | 1–1 | 4,000 | Reid |
| Replay | 26 April 1900 | West Bromwich Albion | N | 0–5 | 5,000 | |

## 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 | Herbert Birchenough | 18 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| GK | William Saunders | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Tom Poole | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| DF | S. E. Bayley | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| DF | Jim Beech | 31 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| DF | Lucien Boullemier | 32 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 41 | 3 |
| DF | Tom McFarlane | 31 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| DF | Thomas Spilsbury | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Frank Stokes | 32 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 42 | 0 |
| DF | Tom Davies | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | Joseph Bennett | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Billy Heames | 31 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 39 | 8 |
| MF | Ted McDonald | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| MF | Billy Leech | 26 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 36 | 1 |
| MF | Bert Eardley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| FW | Danny Simpson | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 3 |
| FW | George Price | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 26 | 4 |
| FW | Tommy Lander | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| FW | Howard Harvey | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 17 |
| FW | Frank Whitehouse | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 23 | 4 |
| FW | Charles Walters | 10 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 3 |
| FW | James Reid | 17 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 25 | 5 |
| FW | Billy Grassam | 31 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 41 | 10 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Other | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Howard Harvey | 10 | 3 | 4 | 17 |
| 2 | FW | Scotland | Billy Grassam | 5 | 1 | 4 | 10 |
| 3 | MF | England | Billy Heames | 6 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| 4 | FW | Scotland | James Reid | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 5 | FW | England | Frank Whitehouse | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 |
| – | FW | England | George Price | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | FW | England | Danny Simpson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| – | FW | | Charles Walters | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| – | DF | England | Lucien Boullemier | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 | DF | | S. E. Bayley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | DF | | Jim Beech | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | | Billy Leech | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Bert Eardley | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Ted McDonald | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| – | – | – | Unknown | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| | | | TOTALS | 39 | 7 | 20 | 66 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| Summer 1899 | MF | Frank Whitehouse | Bucknall | Free transfer |
| June 1899 | MF | Billy Leech | Tottenham Hotspur | Free transfer |
| June 1899 | FW | Charles Walters | Gainsborough Trinity | Free transfer |
| June 1899 | FW | James Reid | Hibernian | Free transfer |
| July 1899 | FW | Billy Grassam | Maryhill | Free transfer |
| September 1899 | DF | Joseph Bennett | Porthill | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| November 1899 | MF | Ted McDonald | Notts County | 'considerable' |
| January 1900 | GK | Herbert Birchenough | Glossop | £250 |
| January 1900 | FW | Howard Harvey | Manchester City | unknown |
| May 1900 | MF | Frank Whitehouse | Stoke | Free transfer |
| Summer 1900 | DF | Joseph Bennett | | Released |
| Summer 1900 | FW | Billy Grassam | West Ham United | Free transfer |
| Summer 1900 | MF | Billy Leech | Stoke | Free transfer |
| Summer 1900 | DF | Tom McFarlane | Middlesbrough | Free transfer |
| Summer 1900 | FW | James Reid | West Ham United | Free transfer |
| Summer 1900 | FW | Charles Walters | | Released |