# 1921–22 Port Vale F.C. season

The 1921–22 season was Port Vale's third consecutive season of football (16th overall) in the English Football League. Another difficult season, both on and off the pitch, the club finished with 36 points for the second season in a row. The club had no reliable goal scorer following their sale of Bobby Blood the previous season.
The season turned with a streak of nine unbeaten games, followed by nine defeats in ten games. A case of fighting off relegation and just getting by financially, their difficulties were contrasted by the promotion of rivals Stoke – who also knocked the "Valiants" out of the FA Cup to rub salt into the wound.
Despite such low points, the club also experienced brief but considerable periods of joy. When goalkeeper Teddy Peers turned out for Wales, he became the first player to earn an international cap whilst on the books of the club. From 11 February 1922 to 18 March 1922, Peers oversaw a streak of seven consecutive clean sheets in league games, a still-standing club record.

## Overview
### Second Division

New additions to the squad in pre-season included: Welshman Jack Hampson signed from Aston Villa for £1,000; a returning Albert Pearson from Liverpool; half-back Ernest Collinge; centre-half from Nottingham Forest Robert Firth (a future Real Madrid manager); young Scottish midfielder Bob Connelly; and forward Billy Agnew from Falkirk. The stadium was also improved, with a gym constructed, and the new stand extended.
The season started poorly, with Vale losing five of their opening six games – this included a 1–0 home defeat to Stoke in what was the season's biggest crowd. The side worked particularly hard to find the net, drawing a blank in five of these games. A 5–2 loss at Bury was reversed into a 5–2 win at home, and the team went on a useful run of eight points from six games. However, from the end of November until February, the club lost nine of their ten league games, standing rooted to the bottom slot. The club turned things around in some style by going two months unbeaten, winning six of their nine games. During this run, they went seven games without conceding a goal, with goalkeeper Peers so confident he often felt able to lean casually on his goalpost to watch the Pursell brothers clear up any danger in front of him. The run was broken after injuries set in – including a broken leg for Bob Pursell that necessitated his retirement from the game. Nevertheless, the club continued to pick up enough points to ensure their Second Division survival.
At the end of the season, the club were three points clear of the relegation zone but sixteen points short of rivals Stoke, who were promoted. The team was hopeless in front of the goal, managing just a goal per game, yet Rotherham County scored just 32 goals in 42 games and still finished ahead of the "Valiants".
Thanks to a bureaucratic selection method, the first team was unsettled throughout the campaign. However, the Pursell brothers, Billy Briscoe, Tom Page, as well as new signings Ernest Collinge, Bob Connelly, Robert Firth, Jack Hampson, and Billy Agnew were all regular features. The club rotated between three goalkeepers, with a fourth getting a game. Page was the club's top scorer, scoring ten goals in all competitions, with Bob Connelly also netting seven. Following an injury to Walter Smith, Teddy Peers was signed from Wolves on an emergency loan. Peers went on to become the first player to be capped whilst at the club when he turned out for Wales.

### Finances

Finances were as ever of great concern to the club, and by February, the poor crowd figures meant that £2,000 was needed to keep the club afloat. A 'Shilling Fund' was established to raise donations, which resulted in donations from First Division sides Preston North End and Huddersfield Town. A loss of £4,641 was made on the season, with an economic downturn getting the blame for a shocking drop in gate receipt figures. The club even accused local paper The Sentinel of overestimating the crowd sizes. Finances were also hit by a rise in player's wages following the raising of the maximum payments limit. Aiming to make £500 the following season, the directors announced a cut in the wage bill to the tune of £3,000. This meant letting go of Bob Pursell, who had broken his leg; aged half-back Joe Brough who was said to have felt 'worn out'; 38-year-old stopper Walter Smith; forward Albert Pearson; 35-year-old Robert Firth; and 33-year-old Jack Peart. The former two experienced campaigners retired, with Smith joining Plymouth Argyle; Pearson joining Llanelli; Firth joining Southend United; and Peart joining Norwich City.

### Cup competitions

Vale left the FA Cup in the First Round thanks to Arthur Watkin scoring a hat-trick, which helped secure a 4–2 win for Stoke at The Old Recreation Ground. The end of season North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup game finished goalless between the two clubs, and as was the case in 1920, the trophy was shared between the two clubs – the cup game was held on-and-off until 1932, and Vale would lose on all five occasions.

## League table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 16 | Rotherham County | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 32 | 43 | 0.744 | 39 |
| 17 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 44 | 49 | 0.898 | 37 |
| 18 | Port Vale | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 43 | 57 | 0.754 | 36 |
| 19 | Blackpool | 42 | 15 | 5 | 22 | 44 | 57 | 0.772 | 35 |
| 20 | Coventry City | 42 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 51 | 60 | 0.850 | 34 |

## 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 | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | H | A |
| Result | L | W | L | L | L | W | D | L | L | W | D | W | L | W | D | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | L | W | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | D | L | L | D | W | L | W | W | L |
| Position | 14 | 6 | 14 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 27 August 1921 | Leeds United | A | 1–2 | 18,000 | Pearson |
| 29 August 1921 | Clapton Orient | H | 3–0 | 17,000 | Firth, Hampson, Page |
| 3 September 1921 | Leeds United | H | 0–1 | 18,000 | |
| 10 September 1921 | West Ham United | A | 0–3 | 18,000 | |
| 12 September 1921 | Clapton Orient | A | 0–2 | 10,000 | |
| 17 September 1921 | West Ham United | H | 2–1 | 10,000 | Firth, Hampson |
| 24 September 1921 | Stoke | A | 0–0 | 30,000 | |
| 1 October 1921 | Stoke | H | 0–1 | 20,000 | |
| 8 October 1921 | Bury | A | 2–5 | 12,000 | Briscoe, Connelly |
| 15 October 1921 | Bury | H | 5–2 | 11,000 | Connelly (2), Hampson, Firth, Page |
| 22 October 1921 | South Shields | H | 1–1 | 6,000 | Page |
| 29 October 1921 | South Shields | A | 1–0 | 12,000 | Agnew |
| 5 November 1921 | Bristol City | A | 1–2 | 20,000 | Page |
| 12 November 1921 | Bristol City | H | 3–1 | 8,000 | Agnew (2), Connelly |
| 19 November 1921 | Nottingham Forest | A | 1–1 | 16,000 | Page |
| 26 November 1921 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–2 | 12,000 | |
| 3 December 1921 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 0–2 | 12,000 | |
| 10 December 1921 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 0–2 | 8,000 | |
| 17 December 1921 | Barnsley | H | 2–3 | 6,000 | Collinge (pen), Connelly |
| 24 December 1921 | Barnsley | A | 2–3 | 8,000 | Simon, Firth |
| 26 December 1921 | Derby County | H | 1–1 | 17,000 | Connelly |
| 27 December 1921 | Derby County | A | 2–3 | 13,000 | Firth, Connelly |
| 31 December 1921 | Coventry City | A | 1–4 | 16,000 | Page |
| 21 January 1922 | Hull City | A | 0–2 | 6,000 | |
| 30 January 1922 | Coventry City | H | 1–2 | 7,000 | Lauder |
| 4 February 1922 | Notts County | A | 2–1 | 7,000 | Collinge, Lauder |
| 11 February 1922 | Notts County | H | 0–0 | 12,000 | |
| 13 February 1922 | Hull City | H | 1–0 | 8,000 | Fitchford |
| 18 February 1922 | Crystal Palace | A | 0–0 | 10,000 | |
| 25 February 1922 | Crystal Palace | H | 3–0 | 14,000 | Lauder, Agnew, Collinge (pen) |
| 4 March 1922 | Rotherham County | A | 1–0 | 8,000 | Page |
| 11 March 1922 | Rotherham County | H | 1–0 | 12,000 | Page |
| 18 March 1922 | The Wednesday | H | 1–0 | 12,000 | Collinge (pen) |
| 1 April 1922 | Fulham | H | 1–1 | 10,000 | Page |
| 3 April 1922 | The Wednesday | H | 0–2 | 6,000 | |
| 8 April 1922 | Fulham | A | 0–1 | 15,000 | |
| 14 April 1922 | Leicester City | H | 1–1 | 10,000 | Fitchford |
| 15 April 1922 | Blackpool | A | 1–0 | 14,000 | Collinge (pen) |
| 17 April 1922 | Leicester City | A | 0–3 | 15,000 | |
| 22 April 1922 | Blackpool | H | 1–0 | 15,000 | Fitchford |
| 29 April 1922 | Bradford Park Avenue | H | 1–0 | 10,998 | Agnew |
| 6 May 1922 | Bradford Park Avenue | A | 0–2 | 10,000 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 1R | 7 January 1922 | Stoke | A | 2–4 | 14,471 | Page, Brough |

### North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| Final | 9 May 1922 | Stoke | A | 0–0 | 3,000 | |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | Name | Football League | Football League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Walter Smith | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| GK | Alfred Bourne | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| GK | Ernest Blackham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Teddy Peers | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| DF | Peter Pursell | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| DF | Bob Pursell | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 0 |
| DF | Len Birks | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| DF | William Lavery | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| DF | Billy Twemlow | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| MF | Tom Holford | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | Joe Brough | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| MF | Billy Fitchford | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 |
| MF | Frank Simon | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| MF | Ernest Collinge | 41 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 5 |
| MF | Bob Connelly | 38 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 7 |
| MF | Robert Firth | 39 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 5 |
| MF | Jack Hampson | 30 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 3 |
| FW | Billy Briscoe | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 1 |
| FW | Tom Page | 37 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 10 |
| FW | John Johnstone | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Albert Hayes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Frank Cartledge | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| FW | Billy Agnew | 31 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 5 |
| FW | Tom Collinge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Andrew Finlay | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Alex Lauder | 21 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 3 |
| FW | Albert Pearson | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 1 |
| FW | Jack Peart | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| FW | Harry Littlehales | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Infirmary Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Tom Page | 9 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 2 | MF | Scotland | Bob Connelly | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | FW | Scotland | Billy Agnew | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| – | MF | England | Robert Firth | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| – | MF | England | Ernest Collinge | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | MF | England | Billy Fitchford | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| – | MF | Wales | Jack Hampson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| – | FW | Scotland | Alex Lauder | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | FW | England | Albert Pearson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | FW | England | Billy Briscoe | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Frank Simon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Joe Brough | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 43 | 2 | 0 | 45 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| May 1921 | FW | Albert Pearson | Liverpool | Free transfer |
| June 1921 | MF | Robert Firth | Nottingham Forest | Free transfer |
| June 1921 | MF | Jack Hampson | Aston Villa | £1,000 |
| August 1921 | MF | Bob Connelly | Shettleston Juniors | Free transfer |
| August 1921 | DF | Billy Twemlow | Stoke | Free transfer |
| September 1921 | FW | Billy Agnew | Falkirk | Free transfer |
| September 1921 | FW | Andrew Finlay | Glasgow Shawfield | Free transfer |
| November 1921 | FW | Alex Lauder | Partick Thistle | £300 |
| December 1921 | DF | William Lavery | Johnstone | Free transfer |
| January 1922 | GK | Teddy Peers | Wolverhampton Wanderers | Free transfer |
| January 1922 | FW | Jack Peart | Ebbw Vale Steel & Iron Company | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| January 1922 | MF | James Wootton | Nelson | Free transfer |
| Summer 1922 | GK | Alfred Bourne | | Released |
| Summer 1922 | FW | Joe Brough | Retired | Retired |
| Summer 1922 | FW | Frank Cartledge | Congleton Town | Released |
| Summer 1922 | FW | Tom Collinge | | Released |
| Summer 1922 | MF | John Davis | Macclesfield | Released |
| Summer 1922 | FW | Andrew Finlay | Airdrieonians | Released |
| Summer 1922 | MF | Robert Firth | Southend United | Released |
| Summer 1922 | FW | Albert Hayes | Tranmere Rovers | Released |
| Summer 1922 | FW | John Johnstone | | Released |
| Summer 1922 | FW | Alex Lauder | | Released |
| Summer 1922 | DF | Tom Lyons | Walsall | Released |
| Summer 1922 | MF | Jack Mellor | New Mills | Free transfer |
| Summer 1922 | FW | Albert Pearson | Llanelly | Released |
| Summer 1922 | FW | Jack Peart | Norwich City | Released |
| Summer 1922 | DF | Frank Simon | | Released |
| Summer 1922 | GK | Walter Smith | Plymouth Argyle | Released |