| Club: | Port Vale |
| Season: | 1939–40 |
| Chairman: | Frank Huntbach |
| Stadium: | The Old Recreation Ground |
| League: | Football League |
| Cup1: | Football League West League |
| Cup1 Result: | 8th (22 Points) |
| Cup2: | Football League War Cup |
| Cup2 Result: | Preliminary Round (knocked out by Walsall) |
| Cup3 Result: | First Round |
| League Topscorer: | Jack Roberts (13) |
| Season Topscorer: | Jack Roberts (14) |
| Highest Attendance: | 6,000 vs. Everton, 6 April 1940 |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,000 vs. New Brighton, 13 May 1940 |
| Average Attendance: | 2,568 |
| Largest Loss: | 0–7 and 1–8 |
| Pattern Sh1: | _white stripes |
| Pattern So1: | _band_white |
| Leftarm1: | ffffff |
| Body1: | ffffff |
| Rightarm1: | ffffff |
| Shorts1: | 000000 |
| Socks1: | 000000 |
| Prevseason: | 1938–39 |
The 1939–40 season was Port Vale's 34th season of football in the Football League, and second-successive season in the Third Division South.[1] All competitive football was suspended upon the breakout of war in Europe, just two games into the regular season. These two games were expunged from official records, and the Football League does not recognise the regional war leagues which replaced them and thus not included in official records. Port Vale finished eighth in the West League of the regional wartime league.
Having rebuilt the playing squad the previous season, the Port Vale management opted to supplement the relatively team with young signings; notable teenage arrivals were Scottish winger Murdoch Dickie from Crewe Alexandra and inside-forward Bert Flatley from York City. Ken Fish returned as an assistant trainer as well as a player, with the club deciding to do without a manager in favour of a selection committee. A goalless draw on the opening day down at Brighton & Hove Albion was followed by a 1–0 home defeat to Exeter City. Still, match number three against Northampton Town was cancelled after war was declared and the government prohibited all sports gatherings.[1] The Football League was formally cancelled, and the footballing authorities looked at alternative arrangements.[1] Permission was granted for football to take place in Stoke-on-Trent and friendlies took place as during this time.[1]
The Football League eventually decided upon regional leagues and placed Vale in the West Region, alongside the big clubs from Liverpool and Manchester. Attendances were low, with only the fixtures with Manchester United and Everton breaking the 4,000 mark at the Old Recreation Ground. They managed to beat Everton 2–1 in front on a season-high crowd of around 6,000, and also managed to pick up a 1–1 draw with Liverpool in front of just 4,000 spectators at Anfield. Vale suffered heavy defeats at Old Trafford, the Victoria Ground and Maine Road, as well as at home to Liverpool, but managed to record doubles against both Crewe Alexandra and Tranmere Rovers.[1] Despite fielding strong sides in the War Cup and Staffordshire Senior Cup they were eliminated in the opening rounds by Walsall and West Bromwich Albion respectively.[1] Jack Roberts finished as top-scorer with 14 goals in all competitions. The club could not afford to continue fielding a professional team and so fielded just a junior side until the 1944–45 season despite still losing vast sums of money maintaining the Old Recreation Ground.[1]
See main article: 1939–40 Football League.
Port Vale's score comes first
| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 26 August 1939 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 0–0 | 8,172 | ||
| 2 September 1939 | Exeter City | H | 0–1 | 5,102 |
| 21 October 1939 | Crewe Alexandra | H | 6–1 | 2,100 | P.Griffiths (2), Tunnicliffe (2), Nolan, Roberts | |
| 28 October 1939 | Liverpool | A | 1–1 | 4,000 | Nolan | |
| 11 November 1939 | Stockport County | A | 1–2 | 3,452 | P.Griffiths | |
| 18 November 1939 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 6–2 | 1,745 | H.Griffiths (3 [2 pens]), P.Griffiths, Tunnicliffe, Nolan | |
| 25 November 1939 | Manchester United | A | 1–8 | 1,500 | Tunnicliffe | |
| 2 December 1939 | Wrexham | H | 1–0 | 1,456 | Higgins | |
| 9 December 1939 | Everton | A | 1–3 | 1,000 | P.Griffiths | |
| 6 January 1940 | New Brighton | A | 2–2 | 1,500 | Tunnicliffe, P.Griffiths | |
| 10 February 1940 | Crewe Alexandra | A | 3–1 | 800 | Roberts (2), Cumberlidge | |
| 24 February 1940 | Liverpool | H | 3–8 | 2,039 | Sproson, Roberts, P.Griffiths | |
| 2 March 1940 | Chester | A | 3–0 | 1,000 | Higgins, Roberts, Tunnicliffe | |
| 9 March 1940 | Stockport County | H | 6–2 | 1,787 | Higgins (2), Tunnicliffe (2), P.Griffiths, Roberts | |
| 16 March 1940 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 5–1 | 2,000 | Tunnicliffe (2), Roberts (2), Higgins | |
| 23 March 1940 | Manchester United | H | 1–3 | 4,127 | Higgins | |
| 25 March 1940 | Stoke City | A | 1–5 | 9,450 | Roberts | |
| 30 March 1940 | Wrexham | A | 0–1 | 2,000 | ||
| 6 April 1940 | Everton | H | 2–1 | 6,000 | Griffiths, Higgins | |
| 4 May 1940 | Chester | H | 3–1 | 1,170 | Roberts (2), Blunt | |
| 6 May 1940 | Stoke City | H | 1–2 | 3,053 | Roberts | |
| 11 May 1940 | Manchester City | H | 2–5 | 1,242 | Roberts, Bellis | |
| 13 May 1940 | New Brighton | H | 3–0 | 1,000 | Triner (2), Bellis | |
| 18 May 1940 | Manchester City | A | 0–7 | 2,000 |
| Preliminary | 13 April 1940 | Walsall | H | 2–2 | 4,403 | H.Griffiths, Roberts | |
| Replay | 15 April 1940 | Walsall | A | 0–6 | 883 |
| 1 | 4 November 1939 | West Bromwich Albion | A | 1–2 | 2,000 | P.Griffiths |
| Pos. | Name | Football League | War League | Cups | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| GK | Arthur Jepson | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 26 | 0 | |
| GK | Jack Moore | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| DF | Harry Griffiths | 2 | 0 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 3 | |
| DF | Johnny Rowe | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
| DF | Edwin Blunt | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |
| DF | Jack Griffiths | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| DF | Jimmy Oakes | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | |
| DF | Fred Obrey | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | |
| DF | Bob Pursell | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 15 | 0 | |
| DF | Charlie Scrimshaw | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| DF | Jess Sproson | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | |
| MF | Wilf Smith | 2 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |
| MF | Arthur Cumberlidge | 2 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 1 | |
| MF | Alf Bellis | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | |
| MF | Don Triner | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | |
| MF | George Hannah | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| MF | Ronald Beresford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| MF | Murdoch Dickie | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| MF | Phil Griffiths | 0 | 0 | 22 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 25 | 10 | |
| MF | Billy Tunnicliffe | 0 | 0 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 10 | |
| FW | Jack Roberts | 2 | 0 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 20 | 14 | |
| FW | Tom Nolan | 0 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 3 | |
| FW | John Sanderson | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| FW | Bert Flatley | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| FW | Dennis Higgins | 0 | 0 | 18 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 7 | |
| FW | George Morrey | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| FW | Harry Ware | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| FW | Ken Fish | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| width=60 | Place | width=60 | Position | width=180 | Nation | width=150 | Name | width=80 | West (War) League | width=80 | War Cup | width=80 | Staffs Cup | width=80 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FW | Jack Roberts | 13 | 1 | 0 | 14 | |||||||||
| 2 | MF | Billy Tunnicliffe | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 | |||||||||
| – | MF | Phil Griffiths | 9 | 0 | 1 | 10 | |||||||||
| 4 | FW | Dennis Higgins | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | |||||||||
| 5 | FW | Harry Griffiths | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |||||||||
| 6 | FW | Tom Nolan | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |||||||||
| 7 | MF | Alf Bellis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| – | MF | Don Triner | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |||||||||
| 9 | DF | Edwin Blunt | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| – | MF | Arthur Cumberlidge | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| – | DF | Jess Sproson | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |||||||||
| – | – | – | Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||
| TOTALS | 52 | 2 | 1 | 55 | |||||||||||
| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | From | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1939 | MF | Free transfer | [2] | ||||
| June 1939 | FW | Free transfer | |||||
| July 1939 | FW | Free transfer | |||||
| October 1939 | MF | Free transfer |
| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Fee | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 1939 | MF | Contract cancelled | |||||
| February 1940 | FW | Retired | |||||