# 1894–95 Burslem Port Vale F.C. season

The 1894–95 season was Burslem Port Vale's third consecutive season of football in the English Football League. The progress of the previous season was lost, as 19 of the 30 league games ended in defeat. Only nearby Crewe Alexandra finished below the Vale; however, only Walsall Town Swifts failed to gain re-election – despite finishing two points ahead of Vale. As in 1892–93, the Vale found great difficulty in scoring goals, with only Crewe scoring fewer.
A season to forget, the club fared no better the following season and lost their Football League status between 1896 and 1898. Their 2–2 draw at Crewe on 5 January 1895 was their final away draw until 3 December 1898, as the team fared extremely poorly on the road, losing almost all their away games.

## Overview
### Second Division

An opening day victory over Walsall Town Swifts betrayed what would be a difficult season for the "Valeites". Following the opening day, they won just one of their next 21 league games, with only four ending in a draw. During this streak, they lost 10–0 at Notts County on 26 February 1895, after three players failed to turn up, leaving reserve players to make up the numbers. Seemingly destined for a rock-bottom finish, they rallied at the season's end to win five of their last seven games. One of these victories was a 7–1 demolition of Lincoln City, with big victories also coming over Grimsby Town and Crewe Alexandra. At the end of the season, the Vale were 30 points behind champions Bury and six points off safety but were re-elected to the league.
Goalkeeper Tom Baddeley was the only ever-present throughout the season, with left-back Dick Ray missing just one game. Billy Beats, George Samuel Eccles, Meshach Dean, and Alf Wood, favourites of previous campaigns, rarely missed a match. At the end of the season, Wood left for Southampton, and Ray for Manchester City. With their places filled with reserves, the next season looked bleak.

### Finances

Financially, the club struggled, with attendance down due to continuing defeats, and the pay raises the players had for the good work the previous season damaged the budget.

### Cup competitions

For the fourth consecutive season they exited the FA Cup in the first round of qualification, for the second consecutive season they scored three goals in their defeat, this time Stourbridge scored five.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 12 | Rotherham Town | 30 | 11 | 2 | 17 | 55 | 62 | 0.887 | 24 | |
| 13 | Lincoln City | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 52 | 92 | 0.565 | 20 | Re-elected |
| 14 | Walsall Town Swifts | 30 | 10 | 0 | 20 | 47 | 92 | 0.511 | 20 | Resigned from league |
| 15 | Burslem Port Vale | 30 | 7 | 4 | 19 | 39 | 77 | 0.506 | 18 | Re-elected |
| 16 | Crewe Alexandra | 30 | 3 | 4 | 23 | 26 | 103 | 0.252 | 10 | Re-elected |

## Results
### Football League Second Division

Burslem Port Vale's score comes first

#### 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 |
| Ground | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | L | L | L | L | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | D | D | L | L | W | L | W | L | W | W | W |
| Position | 1 | 11 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 15 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 1 September 1894 | Walsall Town Swifts | H | 1–0 | 2,000 | Beats |
| 8 September 1894 | Manchester City | A | 1–4 | 2,000 | Wood |
| 15 September 1894 | Bury | H | 1–2 | 1,500 | Marple |
| 17 September 1894 | Notts County | H | 0–3 | 1,000 | |
| 22 September 1894 | Walsall Town Swifts | A | 0–2 | 3,000 | |
| 29 September 1894 | Burton Swifts | A | 0–1 | 1,000 | |
| 6 October 1894 | Newcastle United | H | 4–4 | 2,000 | Scarratt, Wood, James Smith, Eccles |
| 20 October 1894 | Burton Wanderers | H | 1–0 | 1,500 | Beats |
| 27 October 1894 | Darwen | A | 0–2 | 3,000 | |
| 10 November 1894 | Bury | A | 0–4 | 3,000 | |
| 17 November 1894 | Darwen | H | 0–3 | 2,000 | |
| 8 December 1894 | Lincoln City | A | 1–6 | 1,000 | Dean |
| 24 December 1894 | Newton Heath | H | 2–5 | 1,000 | Beats, McDonald |
| 25 December 1894 | Woolwich Arsenal | A | 0–7 | 8,000 | |
| 1 January 1895 | Newton Heath | A | 0–3 | 4,000 | |
| 5 January 1895 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 2–2 | | James Smith, Evans |
| 19 January 1895 | Woolwich Arsenal | H | 0–1 | 300 | |
| 26 January 1895 | Grimsby Town | A | 1–4 | | James Smith |
| 2 February 1895 | Manchester City | H | 1–2 | 1,500 | Ray |
| 16 February 1895 | Rotherham Town | H | 1–1 | 300 | James Smith |
| 23 February 1895 | Leicester Fosse | H | 1–1 | | Evans |
| 26 February 1895 | Notts County | A | 0–10 | 1,500 | |
| 2 March 1895 | Rotherham Town | A | 1–2 | 1,000 | James Smith |
| 4 March 1895 | Burton Swifts | H | 2–0 | | Evans, Dean |
| 9 March 1895 | Burton Wanderers | A | 0–4 | 4,100 | |
| 23 March 1895 | Leicester Fosse | H | 7–1 | 2,500 | Beats (2), unknown, Evans, Dean, J. Mason, Wood |
| 26 March 1895 | Lincoln City | A | 1–2 | 3,000 | Evans |
| 6 April 1895 | Grimsby Town | H | 5–0 | 800 | Dean (2), Beats, Evans, J. Mason |
| 12 April 1895 | Newcastle United | A | 2–1 | 3,000 | Eardley (2) |
| 20 April 1895 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 4–0 | | Dean (2), Wood, Eardley |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Goalscorers |
| 1Q | 13 October 1894 | Stourbridge | A | 3–5 | Beats, Dean, unknown |

### Birmingham Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 2 | 9 February 1895 | Loughborough | H | 0–1 | 1,000 | |

### Staffordshire Senior Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| 1 | 31 January 1895 | Leek | A | 5–1 | | unknown |
| 2 | 25 February 1895 | Burton Wanderers | A | 3–5 | 600+ | Wood (2), James Smith |

## 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 | Tom Baddeley | 30 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 0 |
| GK | Albert Boardman | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | G.S. Eccles | 27 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 31 | 1 |
| DF | John Edwards | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| DF | Frank Haslam | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| DF | Teddy Morse | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| DF | Dick Ray | 29 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 1 |
| DF | Jim Beech | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| MF | Meshach Dean | 28 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 8 |
| MF | Jimmy Scarratt | 12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| MF | Jack Smith | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| MF | Alf Wood | 28 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 31 | 6 |
| MF | Joseph Boughey | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| MF | James Holdcroft | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| MF | Frederick Marple | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| MF | Ted McDonald | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 21 | 1 |
| MF | Jos Randles | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Eric Regan | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| MF | James Smith | 20 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 6 |
| MF | Fred Belfield | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| MF | Walter Wilson | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| FW | Billy Beats | 28 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 31 | 7 |
| FW | Charlie Mason | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| FW | Jim Mason | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 2 |
| MF | Billy Eardley | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
| FW | Dick Evans | 16 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 19 | 6 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | Other | Total |
| 1 | MF | England | Meshach Dean | 7 | 1 | 0 | 8 |
| 2 | FW | England | Billy Beats | 6 | 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 3 | FW | England | Dick Evans | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| – | MF | Scotland | James Smith | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| – | MF | England | Alf Wood | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 6 | FW | England | Billy Eardley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 | FW | | Jim Mason | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | DF | England | George Eccles | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Frederick Marple | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | | Ted McDonald | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | DF | England | Dick Ray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | Jimmy Scarratt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | – | – | Unknown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| | | | TOTALS | 39 | 2 | 3 | 44 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| Summer 1894 | DF | Dick Ray | Macclesfield | Free transfer |
| May 1894 | DF | Jim Beech | Smallthorne Albion | Free transfer |
| May 1894 | DF | Frank Haslam | Mansfield Town | Free transfer |
| July 1894 | MF | Ted McDonald | Stoke | Free transfer |
| July 1894 | MF | Walter Wilson | Mansfield Town | Free transfer |
| August 1894 | MF | Eric Regan | Ardwick | Free transfer |
| September 1894 | MF | James Smith | Kilmarnock | Free transfer |
| November 1894 | FW | Dick Evans | Newcastle White Star | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| October 1894 | GK | Joe Frail | Gorton Villa | Free transfer |
| November 1894 | MF | John Edwards | Stockport County | Free transfer |
| December 1894 | MF | Walter Wilson | Nelson | Free transfer |
| March 1895 | DF | Frank Haslam | Notts County | Free transfer |
| March 1895 | MF | James Smith | Preston North End | Released |
| June 1895 | FW | Billy Beats | Wolverhampton Wanderers | £80 |
| Summer 1895 | FW | Billy Eardley | Newcastle Swifts | Free transfer |
| Summer 1895 | MF | Frederick Marple | | Released |
| Summer 1895 | DF | Dick Ray | Crewe Alexandra | Free transfer |
| Summer 1895 | MF | Jimmy Scarratt | | Released |
| Summer 1895 | MF | Jack Smith | | Released |