# 1902–03 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

The 1902–03 season was Burslem Port Vale's fifth consecutive season (ninth overall) of football in the English Football League. Finishing in ninth place for the second time in three years, it would take just over two decades for the club again to reach the heights of a top ten second-tier finish. Their success was down mainly due to their home form, and in fact, a club record 29 away games without a win began on 17 January 1903. Adrian Capes would become the club's top scorer for the third successive season.

## Overview
### Second Division

The pre-season saw tough-tackling left-back Arthur Hartshorne arrive from Wolverhampton Wanderers, whilst left-half W. Perkins and forward William Loverseed both arrived from Newark. In September, experienced right-half Arthur Rowley arrived from Bristol Rovers.
Vale had an awful start to the season, winning just one of their first ten games. However, this run ended with five wins in their following seven games to take them back to mid-table safety. Their 4–2 win over Blackpool at Bloomfield Road on 3 January 1903 was their last away win until the 1904–05 season. Their finish to 1902–03 was strong, winning their last seven home games. However, they finished with 34 points from 34 games, seventeen points from the promotion zones, and nine points clear of the re-election zones.
Adrian Capes was top scorer with eighteen goals in 37 games, missing just one league game. Goalkeeper Harry Cotton played 36 games; Billy Heames, W. Perkins, Ernest Mullineux, Arthur Hartshorne, Bert Eardley, Arthur Rowley, George Price, and William Loverseed were all constant figures in the first XI. At the end of the campaign, all the major players were kept on, and no big signings were made.

### Finances

In a financially difficult season, in March 1903, the directors decided to sell defenders Arthur Hartshorne and Ted Holdcroft to Stoke for over £500. This gave the club a profit of £112 on the campaign. Poor attendance figures saw gate income fall by £200 from the previous season. The club's debt was totalled at £171, and subsequently the club's reserve team was moved from The Football Combination to the North Staffordshire League to save on travel costs.

### Cup competitions

In cup competitions, Vale performed poorly, falling at the first hurdle in the Staffordshire Senior Cup, Birmingham Senior Cup, and Bass Charity Vase. Losing to rivals Stoke in the county cups: 2–0 at home in the Birmingham Cup and 5–3 away in the Staffordshire Cup replay following a 1–1 draw at home. In the Charity Vase, they were conquered by Second Division rivals Burton United 5–1 away in a replay, following a 1–1 draw at home. The club failed to qualify for the FA Cup, after losing 2–1 away at St. Helens Recreation's short, sloped, boggy pitch.

## League table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 7 | Preston North End | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 56 | 40 | 1.400 | 36 |
| 8 | Barnsley | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 55 | 51 | 1.078 | 34 |
| 9 | Burslem Port Vale | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 57 | 62 | 0.919 | 34 |
| 10 | Lincoln City | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 46 | 53 | 0.868 | 30 |
| 11 | Glossop | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 43 | 57 | 0.754 | 29 |

## 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 | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | | H | H | A | A | H | A | H |
| Result | D | D | L | W | L | D | L | L | D | L | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | D | L | W | L | W | L | L | W | D | W | W | L | L | W | D | L | W |
| Position | 8 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 6 September 1902 | Blackpool | H | 1–1 | 3,200 | Capes |
| 8 September 1902 | Preston North End | H | 0–0 | 2,000 | |
| 13 September 1902 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | 0–3 | 12,000 | |
| 20 September 1902 | Doncaster Rovers | H | 3–0 | 2,000 | Cook, Loverseed, Capes |
| 27 September 1902 | Lincoln City | A | 1–4 | 3,000 | D.Simpson |
| 4 October 1902 | Small Heath | H | 2–2 | 4,000 | Perkins, Croxton |
| 11 October 1902 | Leicester Fosse | A | 0–2 | 1,000 | |
| 18 October 1902 | Manchester City | H | 1–4 | 5,000 | Croxton |
| 25 October 1902 | Burnley | A | 3–3 | 1,200 | Eardley, Rowley, Holdcroft (pen) |
| 8 November 1902 | Chesterfield | A | 0–3 | 2,000 | |
| 10 November 1902 | Stockport County | H | 3–1 | 1,000 | Heames, Hartshorne, Eardley |
| 22 November 1902 | Gainsborough Trinity | H | 3–1 | | Capes (2), Eardley |
| 6 December 1902 | Bristol City | H | 2–0 | 2,000 | Eardley, Loverseed |
| 9 December 1902 | Glossop | A | 1–2 | 3,000 | Heames |
| 13 December 1902 | Stockport County | A | 4–0 | | Capes (3), Price |
| 20 December 1902 | Manchester United | H | 1–1 | 2,000 | Price |
| 3 January 1903 | Blackpool | A | 5–2 | 1,000 | Loverseed (2), Capes, Hartshorne, Price |
| 10 January 1903 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | 1–1 | 4,000 | Price |
| 17 January 1903 | Doncaster Rovers | A | 2–3 | 3,000 | Capes, Eardley |
| 24 January 1903 | Lincoln City | H | 5–1 | 2,000 | Capes (3), Price (2) |
| 31 January 1903 | Small Heath | A | 1–5 | 3,000 | Price |
| 7 February 1903 | Leicester Fosse | H | 2–0 | 1,000 | Eardley, Capes |
| 14 February 1903 | Manchester City | A | 1–7 | 12,000 | Hartshorne |
| 28 February 1903 | Preston North End | A | 1–5 | 3,000 | Mullineux |
| 7 March 1903 | Chesterfield | H | 2–1 | 800 | Rowley, o.g. |
| 21 March 1903 | Gainsborough Trinity | A | 1–1 | 3,000 | Capes |
| 28 March 1903 | Burton United | H | 4–2 | 500 | Eardley, unknown, Capes, unknown |
| 30 March 1903 | Burnley | H | 3–1 | | Loverseed, Price, T.Simpson |
| 4 April 1903 | Bristol City | A | 0–3 | 2,000 | |
| 10 April 1903 | Barnsley | A | 0–1 | 4,000 | |
| 11 April 1903 | Glossop | H | 1–0 | 2,000 | Price |
| 13 April 1903 | Burton United | A | 0–0 | | |
| 18 April 1903 | Manchester United | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Rushton |
| 20 April 1903 | Barnsley | H | 2–0 | | Rushton, Capes |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 3Q | 1 November 1902 | Stalybridge Rovers | H | 3–1 | | Eardley, Price, Capes |
| 4Q | 15 November 1902 | St. Helens Recreation | A | 1–2 | 8,000 | Capes |

### Birmingham Senior Cup

| 1 | 29 September 1902 | Stoke | H | 0–2 | 3,000 |

### Staffordshire Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 1 | 22 September 1902 | Stoke | H | 1–1 | | unknown |
| 2 | 6 October 1902 | Stoke | A | 3–5 | | unknown |

### Bass Charity Vase

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 1 | 9 March 1902 | Burton United | H | 1–1 | poor | Eardley |
| Replay | 18 March 1902 | Burton United | A | 1–5 | | Coxon |

## Player statistics
### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Other | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Adrian Capes | 14 | 3 | 0 | 17 |
| 2 | FW | | Tom Simpson | 11 | 4 | 0 | 15 |
| 3 | FW | England | George Price | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 4 | MF | England | Tom Coxon | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| – | MF | England | Billy Heames | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 | FW | England | Dick Allman | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| – | MF | England | Bert Eardley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | MF | England | Arthur Rowley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| – | MF | | W. Perkins | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| – | FW | England | Harry Mountford | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| – | MF | England | Joseph Holyhead | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 12 | MF | England | Harry Croxton | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | DF | England | Ernest Mullineux | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | FW | England | William Loverseed | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | – | – | Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| – | – | – | Unknown | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 54 | 12 | 1 | 67 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| May 1902 | MF | W. Perkins | Newark | Free transfer |
| June 1902 | DF | Arthur Hartshorne | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Free transfer |
| June 1902 | FW | William Loverseed | Newark | Free transfer |
| September 1902 | MF | Arthur Rowley | Bristol Rovers | Free transfer |
| January 1903 | MF | George Rushton | Barrow | Free transfer |
| February 1903 | FW | Edward Williams | East Vale | Free transfer |
| March 1903 | DF | James Hamilton | Burslem Town | Free transfer |
| April 1903 | FW | Dick Allman | Burslem Higherhave | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| September 1902 | DF | Lucien Boullemier | Philadelphia Hibernian | Released |
| March 1903 | DF | Ted Holdcroft | Stoke | £500 |
| April 1903 | DF | Arthur Hartshorne | Stoke | Unknown |
| Summer 1903 | MF | Arthur Bourne | | Released |
| Summer 1903 | DF | Duncan Cooper | | Released |
| Summer 1903 | DF | Tom Davies | | Released |
| Summer 1903 | FW | Leonard Jones | | Released |
| Summer 1903 | MF | George Rushton | Brighton & Hove Albion | Free transfer |
| Summer 1903 | FW | Danny Simpson | | Released |