# 1893–94 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

The 1893–94 season was Burslem Port Vale's second consecutive season of football in the English Football League. Winning their opening seven league games, Vale seemed destined for First Division football. However, they won just six of their final 22 games and ended up in mid-table. Their remarkable start to the season has not been equalled by any Vale team to date, and counting the previous season's final game, which was a victory, their streak of eight league wins is still a club record. Vale had remedied their scoring trouble, with five players besting the previous season's top scorer tally of five goals.
It was one of the club's most successful seasons, only in 1930–31 did Port Vale finish higher than seventh in the second tier of the Football League. With 16 teams in the First Division, Vale finished in 23rd place overall, their highest-ever ranking at the end of any season.

## Overview
### Second Division

September 1893 was a perfect month for the "Valeites", achieving as they did seven wins out of seven games, scoring 30 goals in the process. Although two of these came against whipping boys Northwich Victoria, they did take apart eventual runners-up Small Heath 5–0. However, this run came to an end with an 8–1 collapse at a highly physical Manchester City. During this run, on 9 September 1893, Lewis Campbell became the first Vale player to score a hat-trick, and also four goals in one game, as his team brushed aside Walsall Town Swifts 5–0. Seven days later, Vale defeated Crewe Alexandra 4–2, with it reported that their opposition "half-backs were guilty of kicking too hard, while the forwards showed no combination".
They finished the season with a respectable 2–1 defeat to champions Liverpool at Anfield. Vale racked up 30 points, 10 points away from both the chance of promotion and the risk of relegation. Meshach Dean, Bob McCrindle, Billy Beats, and Alf Wood were all ever-presents, with Jimmy Scarratt and Lewis Campbell missing just one game each. At the end of the season, McCrindle moved South, and Campbell also left the area due to his wife not liking Burslem, though star striker Beats remained.

### Cup competitions

For the second successive season, they exited the FA Cup at the first qualifying stage thanks to a defeat at home to Burton Swifts. In the Staffordshire Senior Cup, they exited in the Second Round to Wolverhampton Wanderers after a 6–4 loss – Billy Beats scored a hat-trick yet still finding himself on the losing side. In the Birmingham Senior Cup, they left in the Second Round after a 3–1 defeat at West Bromwich Albion.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 5 | Grimsby Town | 28 | 15 | 2 | 11 | 71 | 58 | 1.224 | 32 |
| 6 | Burton Swifts | 28 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 79 | 61 | 1.295 | 31 |
| 7 | Burslem Port Vale | 28 | 13 | 4 | 11 | 66 | 64 | 1.031 | 30 |
| 8 | Lincoln City | 28 | 11 | 6 | 11 | 59 | 58 | 1.017 | 28 |
| 9 | Woolwich Arsenal | 28 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 52 | 55 | 0.945 | 28 |

## 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 |
| Ground | H | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | W | W | L | W | D | W | L | L | L | W | L | D | L | D | W | L | D | L |
| Position | 5 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 2 September 1893 | Manchester City | H | 4–2 | 2,500 | Beats (2), Scarratt, Sands |
| 9 September 1893 | Walsall Town Swifts | A | 5–0 | 2,000 | Campbell (4), Beats |
| 16 September 1893 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 4–2 | 2,000 | Wood (2), Beats, Campbell |
| 18 September 1893 | Middlesbrough Ironopolis | H | 4–0 | 3,000 | Campbell, Beats, Dean, Wood |
| 23 September 1893 | Northwich Victoria | A | 5–1 | | Campbell (2), Dean, Scarratt, unknown |
| 25 September 1893 | Small Heath | H | 5–0 | 3,000 | Beats (3), Wood, Scarratt |
| 30 September 1893 | Northwich Victoria | H | 3–2 | 2,500 | Wood (2), Beats |
| 7 October 1893 | Manchester City | A | 1–8 | 6,000 | Wood |
| 21 October 1893 | Rotherham Town | H | 2–3 | 1,000 | Dean, Scarratt |
| 26 October 1893 | Notts County | A | 1–6 | 3,000 | Dean |
| 28 October 1893 | Rotherham Town | A | 1–0 | 2,000 | Beats |
| 25 November 1893 | Notts County | H | 1–0 | 1,000 | Wood |
| 2 December 1893 | Grimsby Town | A | 0–4 | 2,000 | |
| 4 December 1893 | Grimsby Town | H | 6–1 | 500 | Beats (2), Scarratt (2), Elson, Corfield |
| 9 December 1893 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 1–1 | | og. |
| 16 December 1893 | Burton Swifts | H | 3–1 | | Campbell (2), Dean |
| 25 December 1893 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | 1–4 | 8,000 | Wood |
| 30 December 1893 | Newcastle United | A | 1–2 | 3,000 | Beats |
| 1 January 1894 | Middlesbrough Ironopolis | A | 1–3 | 4,000 | unknown |
| 6 January 1894 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | 2–1 | 900 | Dean, Wood |
| 13 January 1894 | Burton Swifts | A | 3–5 | 2,000 | Elson, Dean, Campbell |
| 3 February 1894 | Newcastle United | H | 1–1 | 2,000 | Wood |
| 10 February 1894 | Walsall Town Swifts | H | 1–2 | 3,000 | Beats |
| 24 February 1894 | Lincoln City | A | 2–2 | 2,000 | Beats (2) |
| 10 March 1894 | Lincoln City | H | 5–3 | 2,000 | Campbell (2), Edwards (2), Scarratt |
| 24 March 1894 | Small Heath | A | 0–6 | 4,000 | |
| 7 April 1894 | Liverpool | H | 2–2 | 5,000 | Dean, Wood |
| 14 April 1894 | Liverpool | A | 1–2 | 5,000 | Edwards |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Goalscorers |
| 1Q | 14 October 1893 | Burton Swifts | H | 3–4 | Beats, Dean, Campbell |

### Birmingham Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 1 | 20 January 1894 | Redditch Town | A | 4–2 | 1,350 | Scarratt (2), Campbell, Dean |
| 2 | 12 February 1894 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–3 | 2,100 | Wood |

### Staffordshire Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 2 | 5 March 1894 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 4–6 | 2,000 | Beats (3), Wood |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | Name | League | League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | Joe Frail | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| GK | Tom Baddeley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| GK | Hugh Mackay | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| DF | James Clutton | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| DF | George Youds | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| DF | William Corfield | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| DF | G.S. Eccles | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| DF | Sam Bennion | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | John Edwards | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 3 |
| DF | Bob Ramsay | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| DF | William Rhodes | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Meshach Dean | 28 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 32 | 10 |
| MF | Billy Elson | 26 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 29 | 2 |
| MF | Fred Farrington | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| MF | Bob McCrindle | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 32 | 0 |
| MF | Jimmy Scarratt | 27 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 9 |
| MF | James Smith | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| MF | Alf Wood | 28 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 32 | 14 |
| MF | Joseph Boughey | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| MF | Lewis Campbell | 27 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 31 | 15 |
| MF | Alex Sands | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| FW | Billy Beats | 28 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 32 | 20 |
| FW | Dick Danks | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Other | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Billy Beats | 16 | 1 | 3 | 20 |
| 2 | MF | Scotland | Lewis Campbell | 13 | 1 | 1 | 15 |
| 3 | MF | England | Alf Wood | 12 | 0 | 2 | 14 |
| 4 | MF | England | Meshach Dean | 8 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | MF | England | Jimmy Scarratt | 7 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
| 6 | DF | England | John Edwards | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | MF | England | Billy Elson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | DF | | William Corfield | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | Scotland | Alex Sands | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | – | – | Unknown | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| – | – | – | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 66 | 3 | 9 | 78 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| June 1893 | DF | George Samuel Eccles | Middleport | Free transfer |
| October 1893 | MF | Lewis Campbell | Aston Villa | Free transfer |
| October 1893 | GK | Hugh Mackay | Rotherham Town | Free transfer |
| October 1893 | DF | Bob Ramsay | Northwich Victoria | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| September 1893 | MF | Alex Sands | | Released |
| October 1893 | DF | James Clutton | | Released |
| May 1894 | GK | Hugh Mackay | Wigan County | Released |
| May 1894 | DF | Bob Ramsay | | Released |
| Summer 1894 | DF | Sam Bennion | | Released |
| Summer 1894 | MF | Lewis Campbell | Walsall Town Swifts | Released |
| Summer 1894 | DF | William Corfield | | Released |
| Summer 1894 | FW | Billy Elson | West Manchester | Free transfer |
| Summer 1894 | MF | Dick Danks | | Released |
| Summer 1894 | MF | Fred Farrington | Retired | Retired |
| Summer 1894 | MF | Bob McCrindle | Luton Town | Free transfer |