Port Vale F.C. - History

History

For a more detailed look at the club's history, see History of Port Vale F.C.. For a statistical breakdown by season, see List of Port Vale F.C. seasons.

Though no precise details are known of the club's foundation, comprehensive research by historian Jeff Kent indicated that it was probably formed in 1879 as an offshoot of Porthill Victoria football club and took its name from its location, in the valley of canal ports. However, the story still given on the club website is that Port Vale F.C. was formed in 1876, following a meeting at Port Vale House, from where the club was supposed to have taken its name. They played their football at Limekiln Lane, Longport and from 1880 at Westport. The club moved to Burslem in 1884, changing its name to Burslem Port Vale in the process, they played at Moorland Road before moving into the Athletic Ground in 1885. In 1892 the club were founder members of the Football League Second Division.

The club dropped 'Burslem' from their name in 1907 – a dark time of financial difficulties where the club were forced to resign from the league. However the club's fortunes soon improved, they moved into their new home of The Old Recreation Ground in 1912 and returned to the Football League in October 1919, taking over the fixture list of Leeds City in the Second Division, who were disbanded because of financial irregularities.

The club saw their first relegation during the 1928–29 season, going from the Second Division to the Third Division North. They came up the following season as champions, the 1930–31 season saw a 5th place finish in the second tier of English football, their greatest league finish ever. After this peak, the club were once again relegated in the 1935–36 season and remained in the third tier until World War II.

In 1950, Vale Park was completed, the club's fifth ground, a year later Freddie Steele became manager. Steele quickly established himself at the club, masterminding the celebrated 'Iron Curtain' defence. The 1953–54 saw Vale storming to the Third Division North title as well as reaching the semi–finals of the FA Cup, losing out to eventual winners West Brom in very controversial fashion, seeing an Albert Leake goal disallowed for offside. Three years later, the club were once again relegated, and once again became founder members of a league – this time the Football League Fourth Division. Their first season in this new division was extremely successful as the club took the title with a club record 110 goals.

During the 1960s, the Vale fans witnessed numerous good cup runs, though never reaching close to their 1954 semi–final appearance. In 1967, Stanley Matthews took over (from Jackie Mudie who spent two years as manager), his reign ended in tears in 1968 as Vale were expelled from the Football League over seemingly 'illegal payments' made to players (this punishment was reduced on appeal to a re-election vote, which the club successfully won).

Gordon Lee took the helm after Vale's expulsion, and soon after the club were back in the Third Division when they were promoted in 1970. However, the 1970s did not prove a successful period for the Valiants, as the club languished in the bottom half of the Third Division for much of the decade. Lee left in 1974, and a succession of managers failed to prevent relegation in 1977–1978. The season ending in 1980 saw Port Vale finish 20th in the Fourth Division (88th overall), the club's worst ever finish. Despite this poor finish in John McGrath's first season, they eventually achieved their first success for thirteen years 1982–83, when Vale were promoted to the Third Division in third place, passing Crewe on the way up.

Following McGrath's dismissal, his assistant John Rudge was appointed manager at Vale Park in December 1983. Though he was unable to halt Vale's immediate return to the bottom tier of the Football League, he succeeded in steadying the ship. Vale were promoted back to the third tier in 1985–86, losing just once at Vale Park they finished in fourth spot, helped by the goals of prolific Welshman Andy Jones. A major cup upset came on 30 January 1988, when Vale side defeated First Division Tottenham Hotspur 2–1, thanks to a superb strike from Ray Walker. After three seasons in the third tier, another promotion, to the Second Division, followed in 1988–89. Robbie Earle scored the winning goal at Vale Park to complete a 2–1 aggregate play-off final victory over Bristol Rovers.

They suffered relegation on the final day of the 1991–92 league campaign. In 1992–93, Vale bounced back well, and were in the promotion picture for most of the season, however, they narrowly missed out as runners–up to local rivals Stoke City, when Bolton Wanderers pipped them on the final day. Instead Vale would visit Wembley twice in just over a week. First, in the Final of the Autoglass Trophy – the club's first appearance at the national stadium – Vale ran out 2–1 winners against Stockport County. However Vale then lost 3–0 in the play–off final to West Bromwich Albion. Vale went on to confirm promotion as runners-up on the final day of the following season. That season also included an FA Cup win over Premier League Southampton with a Bernie Slaven goal. Ian Taylor was to become the club's first million pound sale, when Sheffield Wednesday invested in the midfielder. During the 1995–96 season, more FA Cup glory came when holders Everton were defeated 2–1. The team also had some success in the Anglo-Italian Cup, as they qualified for the Final at Wembley, where they lost 5–2 to then Italian Serie B side Genoa. Vale made a slow start to the 1996–97 campaign, with protests forming against Chairman Bill Bell, and the sale of Steve Guppy to Leicester City for £800,000. Despite this Rudge masterminded an eighth place finish – their highest in the pyramid since 1931.

In 1997–98, the relegation was avoided on the final day as goals from Martin Foyle, Jan Jansson and Lee Mills secured a 4–0 win over Huddersfield Town, at the expense of Manchester City and Stoke City. The next season was another struggle, and John Rudge was controversially sacked in January 1999. He was replaced by former player Brian Horton, who spent big to secure the club's a second–consecutive final–day escape. There was no escaping the drop in 1999–2000 however, as they were some thirteen points short of safety. Horton led the club to LDV Vans Trophy success in 2001, beating Brentford in the final at the Millennium Stadium, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and Steve Brooker getting the goals. Following this the Valiants lost the services of veterans Tony Naylor and Allen Tankard, and a disappointing 14th place finish followed in 2001–02. At the end of 2002, Bill Bell eventually called in the administrators, with the club around £1.5 million in debt. Valiant 2001 eventually secured control of the club after a long and drawn–out process as the season neared its close.

The club came out of administration in 2003–04 under a new board of fan–ownership. However, Horton left in February 2004, unwilling to accept the financial cutbacks imposed by the new board. Replaced by former player Martin Foyle, his teams 17th and 13th place finishes were followed by a poor start to the 2007–08 season, which resulted in his dismissal in November 2007. He had put together a successful strike partnership in Leon Constantine and Akpo Sodje, but many other signings did not live up to expectation. Succeeded by promising non-league manager Lee Sinnott, the new man proved unable to prevent the club from sliding into League Two after a 23rd–place finish, as well as crashing out to Chasetown (an 8th tiered club) in the FA Cup. Sinnott was sacked in September 2008 after a poor start to 2008–09. Dean Glover subsequently took over as caretaker manager for the second time in twelve months, and was quickly appointed as manager on a permanent basis. Glover failed to win over the supporters, and the 2008–09 season finished with the club in 18th place in League Two. His contract terminated in May 2009, Micky Adams became the new manager.

Adams quickly endeared himself to the supporters with wins over the Championship's two Sheffield sides in the League Cup, United and Wednesday, before they lost out to Scunthorpe United in the Third Round, after extra time. Arriving into the play–off places for the first time in the season with just two games remaining, they stumbled at the finish to end up in a respectable tenth place. History repeated itself for the start of 2010–11, with new signing Justin Richards scoring a brace in a 3–1 win at Queens Park Rangers in the League Cup First Round. Adams left the club in December 2010, with Vale second in the table, and it was left to Jim Gannon to finish the promotion job. Gannon's remarkably turbulent reign ended after just 74 days. During this time he got into a bust-up with assistant manager Geoff Horsfield which received national press, alienating fans and players alike in the process. Mark Grew failed to lift the club back into the play-offs, though at the end of the season supporters were delighted to learn that Micky Adams would be returning as manager. However the club continued to lose money, and fans demanded a change in the boardroom after a series of promised investments failed to bear fruit. Genuine hopes of promotion in 2011–12 were brought to an end after the club were issued with a winding up petition by HM Revenue and Customs on 29 February 2012; the club were by this time unable to pay tax bills, creditors, or staff wages. The club entered administration on 9 March. The ten point deduction left the club in mid-table, and the club remained without an owner for the start of the 2012–13 season. Paul Wildes completed his takeover of the club on 20 November 2012.