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.^[1] 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.

Burslem Port Vale

1894–95 season
Stadium	Athletic Ground
Football League Second Division	15th (18 Points)
FA Cup	First Qualifying Round (knocked out by Stourbridge)
Birmingham Senior Cup	Second Round (knocked out by Loughborough)
Staffordshire Senior Cup	Second Round (knocked out by Burton Wanderers)
Top goalscorer	League: Meshach Dean (7) All: Meshach Dean (8)
Highest home attendance	2,500 vs Leicester Fosse, 23 March 1895
Lowest home attendance	300 vs Woolwich Arsenal, 19 January 1895 Rotherham Town, 16 February 1895
Average home league attendance	1,367+
Biggest win	7–1 vs. Leicester Fosse, 23 March 1895
Biggest defeat	0–10 vs. Notts County, 26 February 1895
Home colours
← 1893–94 1895–96 →

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

Ever-present Tom Baddeley.

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.^[1] 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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.^[1]

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.

Key player Billy Beats.

League table

Pos	Team v t e	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

Source: ^{[citation needed]}
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal average; 3) Goals scored

Results

Football League Second Division

Main article: 1894–95 Football League

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

Source: Statto^[2]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

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

The Burslem Port Vale team in 1894.

FA Cup

Main article: 1894–95 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		FA Cup		Other		Total
		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	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
Summer 1894	DF		Dick Ray	Macclesfield	Free transfer	[3]
May 1894	DF		Jim Beech	Smallthorne Albion	Free transfer	[3]
May 1894	DF		Frank Haslam	Mansfield Town	Free transfer	[3]
July 1894	MF		Ted McDonald	Stoke	Free transfer	[3]
July 1894	MF		Walter Wilson	Mansfield Town	Free transfer	[3]
August 1894	MF		Eric Regan	Ardwick	Free transfer	[3]
September 1894	MF		James Smith	Kilmarnock	Free transfer	[3]
November 1894	FW		Dick Evans	Newcastle White Star	Free transfer	[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
October 1894	GK		Joe Frail	Gorton Villa	Free transfer	[3]
November 1894	MF		John Edwards	Stockport County	Free transfer	[3]
December 1894	MF		Walter Wilson	Nelson	Free transfer	[3]
March 1895	DF		Frank Haslam	Notts County	Free transfer	[3]
March 1895	MF		James Smith	Preston North End	Released	[3]
June 1895	FW		Billy Beats	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£80	[3]
Summer 1895	FW		Billy Eardley	Newcastle Swifts	Free transfer	[3]
Summer 1895	MF		Frederick Marple		Released	[3]
Summer 1895	DF		Dick Ray	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	[3]
Summer 1895	MF		Jimmy Scarratt		Released	[3]
Summer 1895	MF		Jack Smith		Released	[3]

References

Specific

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Trying to make the Grade (1888-1898)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 26–50. ISBN 978-0-9508981-4-8.
2. Port Vale 1894–1895 : Results & Fixtures Archived 7 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
3. Kent, Jeff (1996). Port Vale Personalities. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9529152-0-0.

General

• Kent, Jeff (1993). The Port Vale Record 1879-1993. Witan Books. ISBN 978-0-9508981-9-3.