# 1888–89 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

The 1888–89 season was Burslem Port Vale's first season and only season of football in The Combination. The league was abandoned before the fixture list was completed, though Vale were in poor form regardless. They exited the FA Cup, Staffordshire Senior Cup and North Staffordshire Challenge Cup in their opening rounds and also struggled in friendlies, the low point being a 3–1 defeat to village team Oswaldtwistle Rovers at the Athletic Ground.

## Overview
### The Combination

Burslem Port Vale prepared for their first-ever league campaign by signings Lewis Ballham from Stoke and Dick Danks from Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, they lost Harry Cookson to South Shore and Bob Ramsay to Stoke. Despite being overweight, forward Billy Reynolds scored the winning goal in the season-opening victory over Birmingham St George's at the Athletic Ground. Though they lost 2–1 at home to Halliwell, they recorded 6–1 and 3–0 home victories over Gainsborough Trinity and South Shore. However, a sequence of away fixtures followed, in which they picked two points on the road all season. Their home form remained steady, though, picking up 16 of a possible 26 points at home.

### Cup competitions and friendlies

Vale's interest in the FA Cup ended early as they were beaten 3–2 at Small Heath Alliance. Their friendlies in the first part of the season were also largely disappointing, losing 4–0 to Preston North End and 8–1 to Blackburn Rovers – both strong sides – but more worryingly they were humbled 4–0 at the little-known side Witton. A 3–1 home defeat to Lancashire village team Oswaldtwistle Rovers on 12 January was embarrassing, one of the worst results in the club's short history as they proved themselves "not worthy of a club their standing" on the day. On 16 February, they fell to a 5–1 defeat at home to Potteries derby rivals Stoke in front of a season-high crowd of 5,000. They managed to beat Burton Wanderers 4–2 in the fourth round of the Staffordshire Senior Cup on 9 March, but were forced to replay the game after the visitors complained about the state of the Athletic Ground pitch; the replay was lost 3–1 as the team reverted to "the old game of a long kick and a sharp rush".
Desperate to turn around their poor form, the club signed "the best centre-forward that ever left Scotland" in 19-year-old Frank McGinnes, who had built up a formidable reputation at Halliwell. They travelled to Anfield on 20 April and recorded a 1–0 victory over Everton, but the season petered out with defeat to Leek in the semi-finals of the North Staffordshire Challenge Cup and a 7–1 thumping after fielding a weakened side at Bootle. The Combination league collapsed, but the team's poor form meant they were not invited to compete in either the new Football Alliance. The club management resolved to strengthen the team and had to be content with friendlies for the following campaign.

## Results

Burslem Port Vale's score comes first

### Legend

| Win | Draw | Loss |

### The Combination

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 September 1888 | Birmingham St George's | H | 2–1 | 3,500 | Ditchfield, Reynolds |
| 3 September 1888 | Halliwell | H | 1–2 | 3,000 | Ditchfield |
| 8 September 1888 | Gainsborough Trinity | H | 6–1 | 2,500 | Sproston (2), Ditchfield, Reynolds, Randles, Danks |
| 17 September 1888 | South Shore | H | 3–0 | 2,000 | rush, Ditchfield, Sproston |
| 29 September 1888 | Walsall Town Swifts | A | 0–1 | 2,000 | |
| 13 October 1888 | Notts Rangers | H | 1–2 | | rush |
| 20 October 1888 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1–4 | 3,000 | Reynolds |
| 22 October 1888 | Leek | A | 3–5 | 3,000 | |
| 3 November 1888 | Birmingham St George's | A | 3–3 | 200 | Danks, Ballham, Poulson |
| 10 November 1888 | Newton Heath | H | 1–1 | 1,500 | scrimmage |
| 12 November 1888 | Leek | H | 4–1 | 2,000 | Ditchfield (3), Poulson |
| 17 November 1888 | Long Eaton Rangers | A | 1–3 | | Ditchfield |
| 24 November 1888 | Walsall Town Swifts | H | 1–2 | 2,000 | Poulson |
| 1 December 1888 | Lincoln City | H | 2–1 | 1,500 | Ballham (2) |
| 15 December 1888 | Halliwell | A | 1–5 | small | scrimmage |
| 22 December 1888 | Lincoln City | A | 0–1 | 1,500 | |
| 24 December 1888 | Gainsborough Trinity | A | 1–1 | fair | Ballham |
| 25 December 1888 | Grimsby Town | A | 2–6 | 1,500 | |
| 29 December 1888 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 1–3 | 2,500 | Randles |
| 5 January 1889 | Notts Rangers | A | 1–4 | | Reynolds |
| 19 January 1889 | Newton Heath | A | 0–3 | 2,500 | |
| 26 January 1889 | Long Eaton Rangers | H | 1–1 | moderate | McHarg |
| 2 February 1889 | Northwich Victoria | A | 1–2 | | |
| 11 March 1889 | Northwich Victoria | H | 1–0 | several hundred | |
| 16 March 1889 | South Shore | A | 0–3 | not very big | |
| 6 April 1889 | Grimsby Town | H | 2–1 | 1,500 | Ballham (2) |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 2Q | 27 October 1888 | Small Heath Alliance | A | 2–3 | | scrimmage, o.g. |

### Staffordshire Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 4 | 9 March 1889 | Burton Wanderers | H | 4–2 | 1,500 | Sproston (2), Ballham (2) |
| Replay | 23 March 1889 | Burton Wanderers | H | 1–3 | 2,000 | Elson |

### North Staffordshire Challenge Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| SF | 4 May 1889 | Leek | N | 2–3 | | Danks, Stokes |

### Friendlies

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 15 September 1888 | Derby St Luke's | H | 1–1 | 2,000 | rush |
| 22 September 1888 | Blackburn Park Road | H | 3–4 | 1,500 | Randles (2), Sproston |
| 24 September 1888 | Preston North End | H | 0–4 | 3,000 | |
| 1 October 1888 | Burnley | H | 2–0 | 1,400 | Reynolds, Randles |
| 6 October 1888 | Witton | A | 0–4 | | |
| 15 October 1888 | Bolton Wanderers | H | 3–1 | 2,000 | o.g., Stokes, Ditchfield |
| 29 October 1888 | Blackburn Rovers | H | 1–8 | 3,000 | Ballham |
| 8 December 1888 | Rotherham Town | A | 2–3 | 3,000 | Reynolds, other |
| 10 December 1888 | Everton | H | 2–2 | 2,000 | Ballham, o.g. |
| 12 January 1889 | Oswaldtwistle Rovers | H | 1–3 | small | Ditchfield |
| 16 February 1889 | Stoke | H | 1–5 | 5,000 | Vessey |
| 2 March 1889 | Stoke | A | 2–4 | | |
| 30 March 1889 | Leek | A | 1–1 | | Ditchfield |
| 15 April 1889 | Halliwell | H | 1–2 | | Ballham |
| 20 April 1889 | Everton | A | 1–0 | 8,000 | Reynolds |
| 22 April 1889 | Witton | H | 1–2 | 2,500 | o.g. |
| 29 April 1889 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 0–0 | | |
| 14 May 1889 | Bootle | A | 1–7 | 1,500 | Ditchfield |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | Name | League | League | Staffordshire Cup | Staffordshire Cup | Challenge Cup | Challenge Cup | Friendlies | Friendlies | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Arthur Broomhall | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| GK | Joseph Mawdesley | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| GK | Meakin | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | Millward | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| GK | W Morgan | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| DF | George Bateman | 18 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| DF | E Chadwick | 11 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| DF | T Marriott | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | G Martin | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| DF | Matthews | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | W. E. Powell | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| DF | Albert Skinner | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| DF | Udall | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | Underwood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | G Wardle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Billy Elson | 19 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 39 | 1 |
| MF | Fred Farrington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Kirkham | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | Locker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | G McHarg | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| MF | Billy Poulson | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 39 | 3 |
| MF | Jos Randles | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 3 | 27 | 5 |
| MF | Robinson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Jack Shields | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| MF | Charlie Simpson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| MF | J.H. Sproston | 9 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 16 | 6 |
| MF | John Surtees | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | H Wardle | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Lewis Ballham | 16 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 31 | 11 |
| FW | Dick Danks | 15 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | z | 9 | 0 | 25 | 3 |
| FW | Jimmy Ditchfield | 18 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 4 | 38 | 12 |
| FW | Frank McGinnes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | Oxley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| FW | Ernie Payne | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| FW | Billy Reynolds | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 28 | 7 |
| FW | Fred Stokes | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 14 | 2 |
| FW | Vessey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| FW | F Wood | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | The Combination | FA Cup | Other | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Jimmy Ditchfield | 8 | 0 | 4 | 12 |
| 2 | FW | England | Lewis Ballham | 6 | 0 | 5 | 11 |
| 3 | FW | England | Billy Reynolds | 4 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| 4 | MF | | J.H. Sproston | 3 | 0 | 3 | 6 |
| 5 | MF | England | Jos Randles | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | MF | England | Billy Poulson | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| – | FW | England | Dick Danks | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | FW | | Fred Stokes | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 9 | MF | | G McHarg | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | FW | | Vessey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Billy Elson | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| – | – | – | Own goals | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| – | – | – | Scrimmage | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| | | | TOTALS | 31 | 2 | 25 | 58 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| Summer 1888 | GK | Arthur Broomhall | Stoke | Free transfer |
| Summer 1888 | DF | Udall | | Free transfer |
| Summer 1888 | FW | F Wood | | Free transfer |
| Autumn 1888 | FW | Lewis Ballham | Stoke | Free transfer |
| Autumn 1888 | MF | Fred Farrington | | Free transfer |
| Autumn 1888 | DF | E Chadwick | | Free transfer |
| September 1888 | GK | Joseph Mawdesley | | Free transfer |
| December 1888 | MF | G McHarg | | Free transfer |
| 1889 | DF | Matthews | | Free transfer |
| January 1889 | GK | Meakin | | Free transfer |
| April 1889 | MF | Fred Farrington | Halliwell | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| December 1888 | DF | Jack Shields | | Quit |
| Summer 1889 | DF | E Chadwick | | Released |
| Summer 1889 | GK | Joseph Mawdesley | | Released |
| Summer 1889 | GK | Meakin | | Released |
| Summer 1889 | MF | G McHarg | Burslem Port Vale | Released |
| Summer 1889 | GK | W Morgan | | Released |
| Summer 1889 | MF | Robinson | | Released |
| Summer 1889 | MF | J.H. Sproston | | Released |
| Summer 1889 | MF | John Surtees | | Released |
| Summer 1889 | DF | Udall | | Released |
| Summer 1889 | FW | F Wood | | Free transfer |