# 1926–27 Port Vale F.C. season

The 1926–27 season was Port Vale's eighth consecutive season of football (21st overall) in the English Football League. Vale finished in eighth position for the third season running, obtaining 45 points, this time coming nine points off promotion to the top tier in English football. For the first time in the club's history, they played in a league above rivals Stoke City. Wilf Kirkham broke a club record by scoring 38 league goals and 41 goals in all competitions. He scored six braces, four hat-tricks, and also scored four goals in one game.

## Overview
### Second Division

The pre-season additions included Stoke left-half Vic Rouse and Stockport County half-back George Whitcombe.
The season started with just one defeat in the opening ten games, the defeat coming against relegation candidates Darlington. Going into October, the club suffered from injuries, meaning that four of the five games that month ended in defeat, with just two goals scored. Goalkeeper Tom Fern was one of the injured, and so 44-year-old Howard Matthews was re-signed, having left the club nineteen years earlier. To boost the strike-force Stewart Littlewood and Jack Simms were signed from Luton Town and Leek Alexandra respectively. The week after a 6–2 defeat at Fulham, the "Valiants" returned to thrash Grimsby Town 6–1, Kirkham bagging a hat-trick.
In January, Alfred Strange felt unsettled, and so was transferred to The Wednesday in exchange for Harry Anstiss and an unknown sum of money. Strange would later win twenty caps for England in his 30s. In contrast, Anstiss settled in well at the Vale, scoring eleven goals in fifteen league games during his debut season. Meanwhile, injuries occasionally savaged the Vale team, with even Jack Lowe being forced to end his run of 123 consecutive games after spraining his ankle. As the season drew to a close, secretary Joe Schofield was made manager, meaning he was better able to work with the younger players.

### Finances

On the financial side, the club wished to move back to the Athletic Ground due to the lack of space to develop The Old Recreation Ground. However, the council would only offer £20,000 for the land at the Old Rec, and refused to waive the first option on a repurchase, thereby killing the club's ambitions.

### Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale made it through to the Fourth Round after taking Clapton Orient to a replay. This came just two weeks after playing the club twice during Christmas. They then faced First Division Arsenal, and following a draw at The Old Recreation Ground, the "Gunners" won 1–0 at Highbury, before going on to lose in the final. Vale's hard work in the tournament earned them over £4,000 in gate receipts. On 5 May 1927, Vale played Potteries derby rivals Stoke City in the North Staffordshire Royal Infirmary Cup, and lost an embarrassing 5–0 to the Third Division North champions. However, £365 was raised for the local hospital.

## League table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 6 | Preston North End | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 74 | 72 | 1.028 | 49 |
| 7 | Hull City | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 63 | 52 | 1.212 | 47 |
| 8 | Port Vale | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 88 | 78 | 1.128 | 45 |
| 9 | Blackpool | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 95 | 80 | 1.188 | 44 |
| 10 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 19 | 6 | 17 | 74 | 84 | 0.881 | 44 |

## 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 | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | D | D | D | W | W | D | W | D | L | L | L | L | W | L | L | D | D | D | L | W | W | L | D | D | D | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | L | D | W |
| Position | 8 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 28 August 1926 | Bradford City | A | 2–1 | 14,077 | Kirkham, Strange |
| 30 August 1926 | Darlington | A | 3–4 | 6,081 | Maddock, Lowe, Kirkham |
| 4 September 1926 | Chelsea | H | 0–0 | 14,720 | |
| 11 September 1926 | Preston North End | A | 4–4 | 18,960 | Maddock (pen), Lowe, Page, Kirkham |
| 13 September 1926 | Southampton | A | 2–2 | 8,681 | Page, Briscoe |
| 18 September 1926 | South Shields | H | 4–2 | 12,474 | Lowe (2), Kirkham (2) |
| 20 September 1926 | Darlington | H | 3–2 | 8,827 | Lowe, Page, Strange |
| 25 September 1926 | Hull City | A | 0–0 | 7,793 | |
| 27 September 1926 | Southampton | H | 3–1 | 9,594 | Page (2), Briscoe |
| 2 October 1926 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 1–1 | 14,083 | Briscoe |
| 9 October 1926 | Notts County | A | 1–2 | 11,838 | Maddison |
| 16 October 1926 | Barnsley | A | 0–2 | 5,520 | |
| 23 October 1926 | Manchester City | H | 0–2 | 14,467 | |
| 30 October 1926 | Portsmouth | A | 0–4 | 12,372 | |
| 6 November 1926 | Oldham Athletic | H | 3–0 | 7,339 | Kirkham (2), Simms |
| 13 November 1926 | Fulham | A | 2–6 | 3,102 | Lowe, Kirkham |
| 20 November 1926 | Grimsby Town | H | 6–1 | 5,327 | Kirkham (3), Maddock, Lowe, Simms |
| 27 November 1926 | Blackpool | A | 2–2 | 7,656 | Strange (2) |
| 4 December 1926 | Reading | H | 1–1 | 9,340 | Kirkham |
| 11 December 1926 | Swansea City | A | 2–2 | 16,344 | Kirkham, Simms |
| 18 December 1926 | Nottingham Forest | H | 0–2 | 8,046 | |
| 25 December 1926 | Clapton Orient | A | 2–1 | 14,378 | Littlewood (2) |
| 27 December 1926 | Clapton Orient | H | 3–0 | 16,457 | Kirkham (2), Briscoe |
| 1 January 1927 | Middlesbrough | A | 2–5 | 26,163 | Kirkham (2 [1 pen]) |
| 15 January 1927 | Bradford City | H | 0–0 | 9,732 | |
| 5 February 1927 | South Shields | A | 3–3 | 4,603 | Kirkham (3) |
| 12 February 1927 | Hull City | H | 0–0 | 10,654 | |
| 26 February 1927 | Notts County | H | 6–2 | 9,368 | Kirkham (3), Connelly, Page, Anstiss |
| 5 March 1927 | Barnsley | H | 3–2 | 8,452 | Briscoe, Page, Kirkham |
| 12 March 1927 | Manchester City | A | 1–4 | 34,281 | Page |
| 16 March 1927 | Barrow | A | 0–2 | 18,169 | |
| 19 March 1927 | Portsmouth | H | 2–3 | 10,972 | Briscoe, Simms |
| 26 March 1927 | Oldham Athletic | A | 3–1 | 4,419 | Anstiss (2), Kirkham |
| 28 March 1927 | Preston North End | H | 2–0 | 8,388 | Anstiss, Briscoe |
| 2 April 1927 | Fulham | H | 7–1 | 7,642 | Kirkham (4), Anstiss (3) |
| 9 April 1927 | Grimsby Town | A | 4–4 | 8,717 | Page, Kirkham, Lowe, Anstiss |
| 15 April 1927 | Middlesbrough | H | 3–1 | 21,056 | Kirkham (3) |
| 16 April 1927 | Blackpool | H | 2–4 | 10,749 | Anstiss, Kirkham |
| 19 April 1927 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 2–1 | 11,628 | Kirkham, Anstiss |
| 23 April 1927 | Reading | A | 0–2 | 9,084 | |
| 30 April 1927 | Swansea City | H | 1–1 | 7,483 | Kirkham |
| 7 May 1927 | Nottingham Forest | A | 3–0 | 5,455 | Anstiss, Kirkham (2) |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 8 January 1927 | Clapton Orient | A | 1–1 | 17,965 | Simms |
| R3 Replay | 12 January 1927 | Clapton Orient | H | 5–1 | 11,450 | Kirkham (2), Page, Strange, Simms |
| R4 | 29 January 1927 | Arsenal | H | 2–2 | 18,000 | o.g., Kirkham |
| R4 Replay | 2 February 1927 | Arsenal | A | 0–1 | 35,700 | |

### North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| final | 5 May 1927 | Stoke | A | 0–5 | 5,950 | |

## 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 | Tom Fern | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| GK | George Holdcroft | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| GK | Howard Matthews | 21 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| GK | Alex Binnie | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| DF | Jimmy Oakes | 40 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| DF | Jack Maddock | 39 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 3 |
| DF | Billy Wootton | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | Bob Connelly | 39 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 43 | 1 |
| MF | Roger Jones | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| MF | Jack Lowe | 40 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 45 | 8 |
| MF | Arden Maddison | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| MF | Alfred Strange | 24 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 28 | 5 |
| MF | Herbert Smith | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| MF | Fred Smith | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | George Whitcombe | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| MF | Vic Rouse | 29 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| MF | Jack Simms | 21 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 6 |
| MF | Phil Griffiths | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Tom Page | 34 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 38 | 10 |
| FW | Wilf Kirkham | 41 | 38 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 41 |
| FW | Billy Briscoe | 30 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 32 | 7 |
| FW | Arthur Ecclestone | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Stewart Littlewood | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| FW | Percy Oldacre | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Harry Anstiss | 15 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 11 |
| FW | Charles Heinemann | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Infirmary Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Wilf Kirkham | 38 | 3 | 0 | 41 |
| 2 | FW | England | Harry Anstiss | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 3 | FW | England | Tom Page | 9 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 4 | MF | England | Jack Lowe | 8 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 5 | FW | England | Billy Briscoe | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | MF | England | Jack Simms | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 7 | MF | England | Alfred Strange | 4 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
| 8 | DF | England | Jack Maddock | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | FW | England | Stewart Littlewood | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 | DF | Scotland | Bob Connelly | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Arden Maddison | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | – | – | Own goals | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| | | | TOTALS | 88 | 8 | 0 | 96 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| May 1926 | MF | Jack Mandley | Blythe Bridge | Boothen Vics |
| June 1926 | GK | George Holdcroft | Whitfield Colliery | Free transfer |
| June 1926 | MF | Jack Simms | Leek Alexandra | Free transfer |
| August 1926 | MF | Phil Griffiths | Wattstown | Free transfer |
| August 1926 | FW | Percy Oldacre | Sheffield United | Free transfer |
| August 1926 | MF | Vic Rouse | Swansea Town | Free transfer |
| August 1926 | MF | George Whitcombe | Stockport County | Free transfer |
| September 1926 | GK | Howard Matthews | Partick Thistle | Trial |
| November 1926 | FW | Stewart Littlewood | Luton Town | Free transfer |
| October 1926 | GK | Howard Matthews | Oldham Athletic | Free transfer |
| February 1927 | FW | Harry Anstiss | Sheffield Wednesday | Exchange + 'substantial' fee |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| October 1926 | GK | Howard Matthews | Hamilton Academicals | Trial ended |
| January 1927 | FW | Tom Reid | Clapton Orient | £230 |
| February 1927 | MF | Alfred Strange | Sheffield Wednesday | 'Substantial' |
| May 1927 | DF | Arden Maddison | Oldham Athletic | Released |
| Summer 1927 | GK | Sidney Brown | Gillingham | Released |
| Summer 1927 | GK | Tom Fern | Colwyn Bay United | Free transfer |
| Summer 1927 | FW | Percy Oldacre | Hurst | Released |
| Summer 1927 | MF | Fred Smith | | Released |