# 1932–33 Port Vale F.C. season

The 1932–33 season was Port Vale's 27th season of football in the English Football League, and their third-successive season (26th overall) in the Second Division. The season is notable as the last season of football for legendary striker Wilf Kirkham – who finished as top scorer for the sixth time in his Vale career. It is also notable for a 9–1 thrashing of Chesterfield in which Stewart Littlewood scored six goals – both feats are still standing club records. Otherwise an unremarkable season, the club limped to 17th in the league and exited the FA Cup in the Third Round, whilst rivals Stoke City were promoted as champions.

## Overview
### Second Division

The pre-season worries over the Great Depression saw ticket prices reduced, as The Old Recreation Ground's capacity was increased, and a radio-gramophone broadcaster with four loudspeakers was installed. New signings included Bradford Park Avenue outside-left Bob Morton and Cardiff City left-half Jimmy McGrath.
The season began well; an opening-day victory over Bury was followed by a useful sequence of results that saw the club climb the table. Their 9–1 win over Chesterfield on 24 September was the biggest victory of the season in the division, and a still standing club record victory in the Football League. Stewart Littlewood scored an incredible six goals that day – also a still standing club record, all within 57 minutes. The Vale followed this record win with a 7–0 defeat at Bradford City's Valley Parade, in what had been dubbed a promotion clash. Shenton twisted his knee in the latter match, and the list of injuries began to mount, Littlewood also requiring an operation to repair cartilage damage. This prompted the signing of Manchester United's highly experienced ex-England international forward Louis Page, brother of ex-Vale player Tom Page.
From 15 October to 3 December, Vale were on a run of eight games without a win, six defeats. One of these defeats was a 5–0 hammering at Notts County's Meadow Lane, and another was a 1–0 defeat at Stoke City's Victoria Ground in front of 29,296 spectators, yet another was a 4–0 loss at Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane in front of a crowd of 33,071. In December, a shake-up in the first XI brought four successive home victories, though only one point was won from three away games. Stoke defender Len Armitage was brought in to help sure up the defence as the club hovered in mid-table.
In January, ten-year veteran left-back Jimmy Oakes was sold to Charlton Athletic for £3,000. On 4 March, Stoke romped home to a 3–1 derby win, with a certain Stanley Matthews scoring his first goal for the "Potters". After this the "Valiants" went five games unbeaten, which started with them picking up a point at Old Trafford. They won three and lost four of their seven April games. The 26 April game against Charlton Athletic at The Valley was remarkable as Oakes became the first ever player to play for opposite teams in the same match – this happened as before his transfer he had played for Vale in a game with the "Addicks" that was called off before full-time due to fog. The final game of the season was a 6–1 beating at Blundell Park by Grimsby Town, though by this time their survival in the division was already ensured.
They finished in seventeenth position with 38 points, four points clear of relegated Chesterfield and seventeen points short of promoted Spurs. Meanwhile, the reserve team won the Cheshire League for the fifth successive season.

### Finances

On the financial side, a profit of £481 was made due to strict economic management. Wages were reduced, and the "A" team was scrapped. Gate receipts had again fallen, now standing at £11,447. Another clear-out of players took place: with Billy Easton, Louis Page, Stewart Littlewood, Tom Tippett, Wilf Kirkham, Jock Leckie, and Ben Davies all leaving on free transfers. Easton joined Aldershot, Page signed with Yeovil & Petters United, Littlewood went to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, Tippett joined West Ham United, Leckie went to Stockport County. Kirkham retired as a professional to concentrate on his duties as an educator, turning out as an amateur for Kidderminster Harriers in the Birmingham League.

### Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale lost 2–1 at First Division relegation strugglers Blackpool's Bloomfield Road in the Third Round.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Stoke City (C, P) | 42 | 25 | 6 | 11 | 78 | 39 | 2.000 | 56 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 2 | Tottenham Hotspur (P) | 42 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 96 | 51 | 1.882 | 55 | Promotion to the First Division |
| 3 | Fulham | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 78 | 65 | 1.200 | 50 | |
| 4 | Bury | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 84 | 59 | 1.424 | 49 | |
| 5 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 67 | 59 | 1.136 | 49 | |
| 6 | Manchester United | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 71 | 68 | 1.044 | 43 | |
| 7 | Millwall | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 59 | 57 | 1.035 | 43 | |
| 8 | Bradford Park Avenue | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 77 | 71 | 1.085 | 42 | |
| 9 | Preston North End | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 74 | 70 | 1.057 | 42 | |
| 10 | Swansea Town | 42 | 19 | 4 | 19 | 50 | 54 | 0.926 | 42 | |
| 11 | Bradford City | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 65 | 61 | 1.066 | 41 | |
| 12 | Southampton | 42 | 18 | 5 | 19 | 66 | 66 | 1.000 | 41 | |
| 13 | Grimsby Town | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 79 | 84 | 0.940 | 41 | |
| 14 | Plymouth Argyle | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 63 | 67 | 0.940 | 41 | |
| 15 | Notts County | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 67 | 78 | 0.859 | 40 | |
| 16 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 67 | 80 | 0.838 | 38 | |
| 17 | Port Vale | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 66 | 79 | 0.835 | 38 | |
| 18 | Lincoln City | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 72 | 87 | 0.828 | 37 | |
| 19 | Burnley | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 67 | 79 | 0.848 | 36 | |
| 20 | West Ham United | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 75 | 93 | 0.806 | 35 | |
| 21 | Chesterfield (R) | 42 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 61 | 84 | 0.726 | 34 | Relegation to the Third Division North |
| 22 | Charlton Athletic (R) | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 60 | 91 | 0.659 | 31 | Relegation to the Third Division South |

## Results

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 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 |
| Ground | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | W | L | W | D | W | L | W | L | L | D | L | L | D | L | L | W | L | W | W | D | W | L | L | D | W | L | L | D | D | W | D | D | L | W | L | W | L | L | W | L |
| Position | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 27 August 1932 | Bury | H | 1–0 | 10,120 | Kirkham |
| 29 August 1932 | Southampton | A | 2–2 | 8,151 | Littlewood (2) |
| 3 September 1932 | Lincoln City | A | 1–0 | 11,276 | Kirkham |
| 5 September 1932 | Southampton | H | 0–2 | 8,843 | |
| 10 September 1932 | West Ham United | H | 4–0 | 9,582 | Morton, Kirkham, Littlewood, Sherlock (pen) |
| 17 September 1932 | Fulham | A | 1–1 | 21,272 | Morton |
| 24 September 1932 | Chesterfield | H | 9–1 | 9,950 | Littlewood (6), Kirkham (2), Morton |
| 1 October 1932 | Bradford City | A | 0–7 | 12,648 | |
| 8 October 1932 | Swansea Town | H | 2–1 | 7,310 | Morton, Kirkham |
| 15 October 1932 | Notts County | A | 0–5 | 9,217 | |
| 22 October 1932 | Stoke City | A | 0–1 | 29,296 | |
| 29 October 1932 | Manchester United | H | 3–3 | 7,138 | Sherlock, Page, Morton |
| 5 November 1932 | Tottenham Hotspur | A | 0–4 | 33,071 | |
| 12 November 1932 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–1 | 8,088 | |
| 19 November 1932 | Burnley | A | 1–1 | 7,940 | Kirkham |
| 26 November 1932 | Preston North End | H | 0–1 | 6,938 | |
| 3 December 1932 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–2 | 4,397 | McGrath |
| 10 December 1932 | Bradford Park Avenue | H | 3–1 | 6,114 | McGrath, Kirkham, Mills |
| 17 December 1932 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 1–3 | 15,567 | Page |
| 24 December 1932 | Grimsby Town | H | 4–2 | 8,342 | Tippett (2), Sherlock (pen), Kirkham |
| 27 December 1932 | Charlton Athletic | H | 2–1 | 12,622 | McGrath, Mills |
| 31 December 1932 | Bury | A | 0–0 | 7,906 | |
| 7 January 1933 | Lincoln City | H | 3–2 | 7,263 | Kirkham (2), Tippett |
| 21 January 1933 | West Ham United | A | 0–5 | 13,908 | |
| 28 January 1933 | Fulham | H | 1–2 | 5,383 | Kirkham |
| 4 February 1933 | Chesterfield | A | 2–2 | 11,748 | Morton, McGrath |
| 11 February 1933 | Bradford City | H | 2–0 | 9,873 | Jones, Littlewood |
| 18 February 1933 | Swansea Town | A | 0–2 | 8,049 | |
| 4 March 1933 | Stoke City | H | 1–3 | 19,625 | McGrath |
| 11 March 1933 | Manchester United | A | 1–1 | 24,690 | McGrath |
| 18 March 1933 | Tottenham Hotspur | H | 1–1 | 14,588 | Nolan |
| 20 March 1933 | Notts County | H | 4–0 | 5,682 | Nolan (2), Kirkham, Baker |
| 25 March 1933 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–1 | 10,618 | Kirkham |
| 1 April 1933 | Burnley | H | 1–1 | 7,221 | o.g. |
| 8 April 1933 | Preston North End | A | 1–3 | 9,490 | Morton |
| 14 April 1933 | Millwall | H | 2–0 | 11,032 | Morton, Nolan |
| 15 April 1933 | Oldham Athletic | H | 2–4 | 7,317 | McGrath (2) |
| 17 April 1933 | Millwall | A | 1–0 | 7,507 | Armitage |
| 22 April 1933 | Bradford Park Avenue | A | 2–4 | 5,757 | Morton, Armitage |
| 26 April 1933 | Charlton Athletic | A | 1–2 | 5,492 | Morton |
| 29 April 1933 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 4–1 | 3,364 | Nolan (3), Kirkham |
| 6 May 1933 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–6 | 6,349 | Nolan |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 14 January 1933 | Blackpool | A | 1–2 | 15,800 | Mills |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | Name | Football League | Football League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Ben Davies | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| GK | Jock Leckie | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| GK | Allan Todd | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| DF | Jimmy Oakes | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| DF | George Shenton | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| DF | William Cope | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | William Allsop | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | Arnold Bliss | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| DF | George Poyser | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| DF | Len Armitage | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| MF | Roger Jones | 40 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 1 |
| MF | Jack Round | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| MF | James Henshall | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| MF | Jimmy McGrath | 28 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 8 |
| MF | Fred Mills | 36 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 37 | 3 |
| MF | Bob Morton | 33 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 10 |
| MF | Albert Harrison | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| MF | Horace Baker | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| MF | Cliff Birks | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| MF | Jack Sherlock | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 3 |
| FW | Stewart Littlewood | 13 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 10 |
| FW | Tom Tippett | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| FW | Tom Nolan | 17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 8 |
| FW | Billy Easton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Wilf Kirkham | 33 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 15 |
| FW | John Smith | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| FW | Louis Page | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 2 |
| FW | Robert Davies | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Wilf Kirkham | 15 | 0 | 15 |
| 2 | MF | England | Bob Morton | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| – | FW | England | Stewart Littlewood | 10 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | FW | England | Tom Nolan | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| – | MF | England | Jimmy McGrath | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| 6 | MF | England | Fred Mills | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| – | FW | England | Tom Tippett | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| – | MF | England | Jack Sherlock | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | DF | England | Len Armitage | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| – | FW | England | Louis Page | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | England | Roger Jones | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Horace Baker | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| – | – | – | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 66 | 1 | 67 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| May 1932 | MF | Jimmy McGrath | Cardiff City | Free transfer |
| May 1932 | MF | Bob Morton | Bradford Park Avenue | Free transfer |
| August 1932 | FW | John Smith | Derby County | Free transfer |
| October 1932 | FW | Louis Page | Manchester United | Free transfer |
| October 1932 | GK | Allan Todd | Cowdenbeath | Free transfer |
| December 1932 | DF | Len Armitage | Rhyl Athletic | Free transfer |
| March 1933 | DF | Billy Tabram | Swansea Town | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| January 1933 | DF | Jimmy Oakes | Charlton Athletic | £3,000 |
| April 1933 | DF | Arnold Bliss | West Ham United | Released |
| May 1933 | GK | Ben Davies | | Released |
| May 1933 | FW | Billy Easton | Aldershot | Free transfer |
| May 1933 | MF | Albert Harrison | Leek Alexandra | Free transfer |
| May 1933 | GK | Jock Leckie | Stockport County | Free transfer |
| May 1933 | FW | John Smith | Carlisle United | Free transfer |
| May 1933 | FW | Tom Tippett | West Ham United | Free transfer |
| July 1933 | FW | Stewart Littlewood | Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic | Free transfer |
| July 1933 | DF | Jack Sherlock | Colwyn Bay United | Free transfer |
| Summer 1933 | FW | Wilf Kirkham | Retired | Retired |
| Summer 1933 | FW | Louis Page | | Released |