1978–79 Port Vale F.C. season explained

Club:Port Vale
Season:1978–79
Manager:Dennis Butler
Chairman:Arthur McPherson
Stadium:Vale Park
League:Football League Fourth Division
League Result:16th (42 Points)
Cup1:FA Cup
Cup1 Result:First Round
Cup2:League Cup
Cup2 Result:First Round
(knocked out by Chester)
Cup3 Result:Bernie Wright
League Topscorer:Bernie Wright (14)
Season Topscorer:Bernie Wright (15)
Highest Attendance:5,226 vs. Barnsley, 14 April 1979
Average Attendance:3,287
Largest Loss:0–4 (twice) and 2–6
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Prevseason:1977–78
Nextseason:1979–80

The 1978–79 season was Port Vale's 67th season of football in the Football League, and their first season (seventh overall) back in the Fourth Division following their relegation from the Third Division.[1] Bernie Wright was highly impressive with his fifteen goals, though the rest of the team limped to a sixteenth-place finish, and exited both cup competitions at the first stage. This occurred with unrest in the boardroom behind the scenes, unrest amongst fans on the terraces, and annoyance from Butler towards the fans for abusing his players. Butler broke club transfer-records in both signing players and selling them.

Overview

Fourth Division

The pre-season saw new manager Dennis Butler sign big striker Bernie Wright from Bradford City for £9,000 and right-back Neil Wilkinson on a free transfer from Blackburn Rovers. Butler also took the team on a three match tour of Scotland. Just before the start of the season Ken Todd was signed for a club-record £37,000, despite Todd having only made a handful of appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers. In the summer former Valiant Tommy McLaren committed suicide, friend and teammate Ray Williams said 'leaving the club shattered him'. On 2 October a Memorial Fund match was played, raising £3,000.

The season opened with just two victories in eleven league games, as both Todd and keeper John Connaughton were sidelined with injuries. The two wins came away from home, 5–1 over rivals Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road (Wright scoring a hat-trick) and 3–1 at Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium. Butler then threw himself into the transfer market, selling John Froggatt to Northampton Town for £8,000, and then Mick Moore and Terry Bailey to Wigan Athletic and Northwich Victoria respectively, both for £2,000. Another 'shrewd piece of business' came when star forward Ken Beamish was sold to Bury for £35,000, whilst Gerry Keenan moved the other way for £15,000. In October, Felix Healy was signed from Finn Harps for £8,000, and Neil Wilkinson and £3,000 were traded to Crewe in exchange for outside-right Kevin Tully. Winning five games in a sequence of eight, Todd was still a disappointment to fans, who began getting 'on his back'. Butler's signings did not stop however, and instead he sold John Ridley to Leicester City for a club-record £55,000. He then signed Andy Proudlove from Buxton for £1,000 – despite interest from Stafford Rangers. Then in came midfielder Peter Farrell from Bury for a new club-record £40,000. They ended their club-record streaks of 42 away games without keeping a clean sheet on 30 September, and of twelve home games without a win on 21 October.

Going into December four games unbeaten, Butler then splashed out £30,000 on Chester's Bob Delgado. Despite this, Vale were thumped 6–2 by Barnsley in front of 10,532 at Oakwell. In January, legendary England goalkeeper Gordon Banks was appointed as coach, and results began to pick up as Vale were lifted into eighth spot. Healy left the club in February, only to return two weeks later. Behind the scenes there was trouble when Arthur McPherson ruled that club shares could only be transferable to a male relation, in order 'to safeguard plans by the current directors'. More defeats came, and the big money signings were targeted by fans for abuse. Butler reacted by calling the fans 'a bunch of yobs'. From mid-March, Vale went seven games with only one victory and one goal scored. On 21 March violence returned to Vale Park, when Portsmouth keeper Peter Mellor saved a penalty, floored Peter Farrell and made an 'assortment of gestures' to the Bycars End – he found himself attacked by a Vale fan on the pitch for his efforts. On 13 April, Vale surrendered a three-goal lead at Springfield Park to lose 5–3 to Wigan Athletic. Danger of ending up in the re-election zone was ended with a late four game unbeaten spell, despite heavy defeats from Reading and York City.

They finished in sixteenth place with 42 points, with an awful defensive record of seventy goals conceded. Despite this, their scoring tally away from Burslem was the highest in the Football League, and they were given £2,125 as a reward. Player of the Year Bernie Wright secured fifteen goals in what was a poor season for the club.

Finances

On the financial side, a record £52,000 loss was made despite a remarkable £225,000 income from the club's commercial department. Butler's transfer dealings had lost the club £36,000, whilst wages more than doubled from £113,000 to £259,000. The club's liabilities stood at £187,000. Despite all of this, the club made 'surprisingly sparing use of the pruning knife', letting go of just four players, most significantly David Harris (Halifax Town) and Andy Proudlove (Stafford Rangers). Behind the scenes, long-time club servant and president Mark Singer was fired. However, chairman Arthur McPherson did not comment to the press.

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, weeks of preparation in Blackpool failed to prevent Vale from exiting at the first stage with a 1–0 defeat to Bradford City at Valley Parade.

In the League Cup, Third Division Chester knocked the Vale out 4–1 on aggregate.

League table

See main article: 1978–79 Football League.

Results

Port Vale's score comes first

Football League Fourth Division

Matches

DateOpponentVenueResultAttendanceScorers
19 August 1978 Scunthorpe UnitedH2–23,027Wright, Bromage
22 August 1978 WimbledonA0–12,638
25 August 1978 Crewe AlexandraA5–14,413Wright (3), Bloor, Beamish
2 September 1978 RochdaleH1–13,222Beamish
9 September 1978 AldershotH1–13,045Beamish
12 September 1978 Doncaster RoversA3–13,405Bromage, Todd, Beamish
16 September 1978 PortsmouthA0–29,937
23 September 1978 BournemouthH1–23,140Griffiths (pen)
26 September 1978 Northampton TownH2–23,245N.Chamberlain (2)
30 September 1978 Hereford UnitedA0–13,963
7 October 1978 Grimsby TownH1–13,433N.Chamberlain
14 October 1978 Halifax TownA3–01,591Wright (2), Tully
18 October 1978 Bradford CityA3–24,136Sutcliffe, Wright, Healy
21 October 1978 Torquay UnitedH1–24,108Todd
28 October 1978 DarlingtonA0–41,793
4 November 1978 Hartlepool UnitedH2–03,195N.Chamberlain, Beech
11 November 1978 RochdaleA1–01,882Keenan
18 November 1978 Crewe AlexandraH2–24,607Farrell (pen), Healy
9 December 1978 Stockport CountyH2–13,689Wright, Farrell (pen)
26 December 1978 BarnsleyA2–610,532Todd, Keenan
30 December 1978 Newport CountyA0–14,075
1 January 1979 Huddersfield TownH1–04,021Wright
9 January 1979 Wigan AthleticH2–13,746Wright, Todd
13 January 1979 AldershotA1–13,708Sinclair
16 January 1979 Doncaster RoversH1–33,381o.g.
6 February 1979 BournemouthA1–33,416o.g.
24 February 1979 Halifax TownH0–13,117
3 March 1979 Torquay UnitedA2–21,711Todd, Wright
10 March 1979 DarlingtonH2–12,566Hawkins, Beech
13 March 1979 Northampton TownA0–11,572
21 March 1979 PortsmouthH0–02,738
24 March 1979 WimbledonH1–02,906Beech
27 March 1979 Scunthorpe UnitedA0–21,580
31 March 1979 ReadingA0–06,704
3 April 1979 Grimsby TownA0–18,072
7 April 1979 York CityH0–02,712
13 April 1979 Wigan AthleticA3–58,452Todd (2), Wright
14 April 1979 BarnsleyH3–25,226N.Chamberlain, Wright, Todd
16 April 1979 Huddersfield TownA2–33,236M.Chamberlain, Beech
21 April 1979 Newport CountyH1–12,444Wright
24 April 1979 Bradford CityH2–12,264Farrell, N.Chamberlain
27 April 1979 Stockport CountyA0–03,345
1 May 1979 Hereford UnitedH1–12,160Hawkins
5 May 1979 ReadingH0–33,603
7 May 1979 York CityA0–42,344
10 May 1979 Hartlepool UnitedA2–12,007Sinclair, Farrell

FA Cup

See main article: 1978–79 FA Cup.

!Round!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Goalscorers
R125 November 1978 Bradford CityA0–15,625

League Cup

See main article: 1978–79 Football League Cup.

!Round!!Date!!Opponent!!Venue!!Result!!Attendance!!Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg12 August 1978 ChesterH0–32,819
R1 2nd Leg16 August 1978 ChesterA1–13,741Wright

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.NameFootball LeagueFA CupLeague CupTotal
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
GK John Connaughton1901020220
GK Trevor Dance2700000270
DF Neil Griffiths2610010271
DF David Harris1101010130
DF Phil Sproson2301010250
DF Graham Hawkins4321020462
DF Bill Bentley3101020340
DF Neil Wilkinson70002090
DF Gerry Keenan3221000332
DF Bob Delgado2400000240
DF Billy Leese00000000
DF Russell Bromage2020010212
MF John Ridley70000070
MF Terry Bailey00001010
MF Kenny Beech2341000244
MF Peter Sutcliffe81000081
MF Mick Moore00001010
MF Andy Proudlove50000050
MF Ged Stenson1100020130
MF Ken Todd4181000428
MF Kevin Tully81100091
MF Mark Chamberlain81000081
MF Peter Farrell2841000294
MF Ian Elsby50000050
MF Alan Bloor61000061
MF Felix Healy2321000242
FW Ken Beamish64002084
FW John Froggatt20001030
FW Neville Chamberlain2660020286
FW Bernie Wright461410114815
FW Brian Sinclair1820000182

Top scorers

width=60Placewidth=60Positionwidth=180Nationwidth=150Namewidth=80Fourth Divisionwidth=80FA Cupwidth=80League Cupwidth=80Total
1FWBernie Wright140115
2MFKen Todd8008
3FWNeville Chamberlain6006
4MFKenny Beech4004
–MFPeter Farrell4004
–FWKen Beamish4004
7DFGraham Hawkins2002
–DFGerry Keenan2002
–MFFelix Healy2002
–FWBrian Sinclair2002
–DFRussell Bromage2002
12MFKevin Tully1001
–MFMark Chamberlain1001
–MFAlan Bloor1001
–MFPeter Sutcliffe1001
–DFNeil Griffiths1001
–––Own goals2002
TOTALS570160

Transfers

Transfers in

Date fromPositionNationalityNameFromFeeRef.
June 1978 DF Free transfer [2]
June 1978 FW £9,000
August 1978 FW Free transfer
August 1978 MF £37,000
September 1978 MF Free transfer
September 1978 DF £15,000
October 1978 FW £8,000
October 1978 MF Exchange
November 1978 MF Bury £40,000
November 1978 MF £1,000
December 1978 DF £30,000

Transfers out

Date fromPositionNationalityNameToFeeRef.
August 1978 MF £2,000
August 1978 MF £2,000
September 1978 DF Retired
September 1978 FW £8,000
September 1978 FW £35,000
October 1978 MF £55,000
October 1978 DF Exchange
December 1978 MF £15,000
May 1979 DF Free transfer
May 1979 MF Free transfer

Loans out

Date fromPositionNationalityNameToDate toRef.
May 1978 GK May 1978
May 1978 MF August 1978
May 1978 DF Cleveland Cobras August 1978
May 1978 DF Cleveland Cobras July 1978
May 1978 MF August 1978
August 1978 GK Cleveland Cobras August 1978

References

Specific
General

Notes and References

  1. Book: Kent, Jeff. The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. 1990. 227–257. Surviving on a Shoestring (1969–1979). 0-9508981-4-7.
  2. Book: Kent, Jeff. Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. 1996. 0-9529152-0-0.

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