# 1927–28 Port Vale F.C. season

The 1927–28 season was Port Vale's ninth consecutive season of football (22nd overall) in the English Football League. They finished in ninth place, following three consecutive eighth-placed finishes in the previous campaigns. Vale were once again looking strong in the division, yet unable to find the consistency necessary to win promotion to the top flight. Top scorer Wilf Kirkham managed 14 goals, a whole 27 short of his previous record-breaking tally. Still one of the most successful seasons in their history, they would better this finish on only three occasions over the next 85 years.

## Overview
### Second Division

The pre-season saw the players enjoy an outing at Rhyl, which helped new signings Alf Bennett (Nottingham Forest), David Rollo (Blackburn Rovers), Alex Trotter (South Shields), and Robert Gillespie (Luton Town) settle in.
The season started terribly, with an opening day draw with Nottingham Forest and four consecutive defeats. The team was changed around, with new signing Rollo dropped from the starting eleven; this helped the Vale to turn things around with convincing wins over Bristol City and Swansea. Their third 4–0 away loss followed, and more injuries followed, along with cash offers from rival clubs for their best players. By mid-October, a settled side was formed, and the "Valiants" defeated derby rivals Stoke 2–0 in front of a record 31,493 at the Victoria Ground. Going from strength to strength they travelled to Bloomfield Road and went from 1–0 down to 6–1 up within an amazing 25-minute spell. Three more victories followed until Christmas saw a downturn in form. Five consecutive post-Christmas defeats to four promotion candidates ended the Vale's promotion campaign. In February, Wilf Kirkham was eventually rested, and replacement Stewart Littlewood bagged five in two games to end the run of poor results. Littlewood had previously scored seventy goals for the reserves in just over a season and brought the necessary firepower to help the club surge up the league. Manager Schofield had something of a headache in choosing either the out-of-form legend Kirkham or consistent Littlewood and only added to the conundrum by signing Blackpool forward Bert Fishwick. Following defeats to doomed South Shields and to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, they finished the season with six consecutive clean sheets, though only won three of these games.
They finished in ninth place with 44 points, almost in the same spot they had finished in the past two seasons. The defence had tightened up, but the attack, especially top-scorer Kirkham, had been somewhat off the boil. This led to Jack Lowe, Sidney Blunt, and Alex Trotter all being handed free transfers; they left for Oldham Athletic, Shrewsbury Town, and Manchester Central respectively. Meanwhile, back-up keepers Matthews and Holdcroft were also released, the former went to Halifax Town; however, the latter would eventually find himself an England international and FA Cup winner at Preston North End.

### Finances

On the financial side, the directors wished to leave The Old Recreation Ground for new and bigger stadia. However, attempts to move to the greyhound track at Sun Street were blocked by Stoke City, who claimed the Vale would be too close to them. Overall the club lost £1,051 on the season, with their income £1,155 lower than the previous campaign.

### Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale breezed past league rivals Barnsley and Third Division North New Brighton with two 3–0 home victories. Yet they came unstuck at Ewood Park, First Division Blackburn Rovers won 2–1 and would go on to win the final.

## League table

| Pos | Team v t e | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts |
| 7 | Oldham Athletic | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 75 | 51 | 1.471 | 46 |
| 8 | West Bromwich Albion | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 90 | 70 | 1.286 | 46 |
| 9 | Port Vale | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 68 | 57 | 1.193 | 44 |
| 10 | Nottingham Forest | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 83 | 84 | 0.988 | 40 |
| 11 | Grimsby Town | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 69 | 83 | 0.831 | 40 |

## 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 | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | D | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | W | W | W | L | L | L | L | L | W | W | L | D | W | W | D | L | D | L | L | W | W | D | W | D | D |
| Position | 6 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 18 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 11 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 27 August 1927 | Nottingham Forest | H | 2–2 | 14,524 | Lowe, Briscoe |
| 31 August 1927 | Bristol City | A | 0–4 | 20,305 | |
| 3 September 1927 | Manchester City | A | 0–1 | 37,583 | |
| 10 September 1927 | Hull City | H | 1–2 | 12,169 | Kirkham |
| 17 September 1927 | Preston North End | A | 0–4 | 18,127 | |
| 19 September 1927 | Bristol City | H | 5–1 | 11,319 | Kirkham (2), Page (2), Briscoe |
| 24 September 1927 | Swansea City | H | 2–0 | 10,197 | Kirkham (2) |
| 1 October 1927 | Fulham | A | 0–4 | 10,560 | |
| 8 October 1927 | Barnsley | H | 2–1 | 10,070 | Simms (2) |
| 15 October 1927 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | A | 1–2 | 18,026 | Gillespie |
| 22 October 1927 | Notts County | A | 4–2 | 9,053 | Kirkham (2), Anstiss, Trotter |
| 29 October 1927 | Southampton | H | 4–0 | 10,679 | Gillespie (2), Trotter, Kirkham |
| 5 November 1927 | Stoke City | A | 2–0 | 31,493 | Anstiss, Kirkham |
| 12 November 1927 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–0 | 10,000 | Briscoe |
| 19 November 1927 | Grimsby Town | A | 0–3 | 10,119 | |
| 26 November 1927 | Chelsea | H | 1–1 | 14,115 | Gillespie |
| 3 December 1927 | Blackpool | A | 6–1 | 7,662 | Briscoe, Page, Anstiss, Gillespie, o.g., Kirkham |
| 10 December 1927 | Reading | H | 3–0 | 8,556 | Briscoe, Page, Kirkham |
| 17 December 1927 | Clapton Orient | A | 1–0 | 9,287 | Gillespie |
| 24 December 1927 | West Bromwich Albion | H | 4–1 | 8,216 | Simms (3), Gillespie |
| 26 December 1927 | Leeds United | H | 1–2 | 18,869 | Simms |
| 27 December 1927 | Leeds United | A | 0–3 | 32,275 | |
| 7 January 1928 | Manchester City | H | 1–2 | 14,310 | Gillespie |
| 21 January 1928 | Hull City | A | 0–1 | 7,106 | |
| 4 February 1928 | Swansea City | A | 0–2 | 6,745 | |
| 6 February 1928 | Preston North End | H | 2–0 | 9,492 | Littlewood (2) |
| 11 February 1928 | Fulham | H | 4–1 | 7,530 | Littlewood (3), Page |
| 20 February 1928 | Barnsley | A | 2–4 | 5,423 | Gillespie (2) |
| 25 February 1928 | Wolverhampton Wanderers | H | 2–2 | 11,358 | Page, Littlewood |
| 3 March 1928 | Notts County | H | 3–0 | 9,664 | Maddock (pen), Gillespie, Littlewood |
| 10 March 1928 | Southampton | A | 3–1 | 9,874 | Kirkham, Trotter, Jones |
| 17 March 1928 | Stoke City | H | 0–0 | 21,071 | |
| 24 March 1928 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–4 | 11,809 | Simms |
| 31 March 1928 | Grimsby Town | H | 2–2 | 9,125 | o.g., Simms |
| 6 April 1928 | South Shields | H | 2–3 | 11,081 | Page, Simms |
| 7 April 1928 | Chelsea | A | 0–1 | 39,278 | |
| 9 April 1928 | South Shields | A | 1–0 | 4,444 | Fishwick |
| 14 April 1928 | Blackpool | H | 3–0 | 5,371 | Connelly, Gillespie, Griffiths |
| 21 April 1928 | Reading | A | 0–0 | 7,664 | |
| 26 April 1928 | Nottingham Forest | A | 2–0 | 3,713 | Page, Kirkham |
| 28 April 1928 | Clapton Orient | H | 0–0 | 8,966 | |
| 5 May 1928 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 0–0 | 9,217 | |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R3 | 14 January 1928 | Barnsley | H | 3–0 | 13,162 | Simms, Page, Maddock (pen) |
| R4 | 28 January 1928 | New Brighton | H | 3–0 | 10,867 | Page, Kirkham, Anstiss |
| R5 | 18 February 1928 | Blackburn Rovers | A | 1–2 | 43,000 | Anstiss |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | Name | Football League | Football League | FA Cup | FA Cup | Total | Total |
| Pos. | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | George Holdcroft | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| GK | Howard Matthews | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| GK | Alf Bennett | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 0 |
| DF | Jimmy Oakes | 38 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| DF | Jack Maddock | 32 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 35 | 2 |
| DF | Billy Wootton | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| DF | David Rollo | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Bob Connelly | 42 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 45 | 1 |
| MF | Roger Jones | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| MF | Jack Lowe | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| MF | Herbert Smith | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| MF | George Whitcombe | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| MF | Vic Rouse | 38 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 41 | 0 |
| MF | Jack Simms | 22 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 10 |
| MF | Phil Griffiths | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| MF | Bert Fishwick | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 |
| MF | Alex Trotter | 16 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 3 |
| FW | Tom Page | 33 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 36 | 10 |
| FW | Wilf Kirkham | 37 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 40 | 14 |
| FW | Billy Briscoe | 20 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 22 | 5 |
| FW | Stewart Littlewood | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| FW | Harry Anstiss | 29 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 32 | 5 |
| FW | Robert Gillespie | 23 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 12 |
| FW | Sam Smith | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| FW | Charles Heinemann | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| FW | James Harkins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | England | Wilf Kirkham | 13 | 1 | 14 |
| 2 | FW | England | Robert Gillespie | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 3 | FW | England | Tom Page | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| – | MF | England | Jack Simms | 9 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | FW | England | Stewart Littlewood | 7 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | FW | England | Billy Briscoe | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| – | FW | England | Harry Anstiss | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 | MF | England | Alex Trotter | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | MF | England | Jack Lowe | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| – | DF | England | Jack Maddock | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 11 | MF | Scotland | Bob Connelly | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Bert Fishwick | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | Wales | Phil Griffiths | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Roger Jones | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | – | – | Own goals | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| | | | TOTALS | 68 | 7 | 75 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| May 1927 | GK | Alf Bennett | Nottingham Forest | Free transfer |
| May 1927 | FW | Robert Gillespie | Luton Town | Free transfer |
| May 1927 | FW | Sam Smith | Cardiff City | Free transfer |
| May 1927 | DF | Alex Trotter | South Shields | Free transfer |
| June 1927 | DF | George Shenton | Blythe Bridge | Free transfer |
| August 1927 | DF | David Rollo | Blackburn Rovers | Free transfer |
| March 1928 | FW | Bert Fishwick | Blackpool | Free transfer |
| March 1928 | MF | Frank Williams | Preston North End | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| May 1928 | MF | Arthur Ecclestone | | Released |
| May 1928 | GK | George Holdcroft | Darlington | Free transfer |
| May 1928 | MF | Jack Lowe | Oldham Athletic | Free transfer |
| May 1928 | GK | Howard Matthews | Halifax Town | Free transfer |
| May 1928 | FW | Sam Smith | Hull City | Free transfer |
| May 1928 | DF | Alex Trotter | Manchester Central | Free transfer |