1973–74 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1973–74 season
Chairman	Mark Singer
Manager	Gordon Lee (until January) Roy Sproson (from 14 January)
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Third Division	20th (42 Points)
FA Cup	Third Round (knocked out by Luton Town)
League Cup	First Round (knocked out by Stockport County)
Player of the Year	David Harris
Top goalscorer	League: John Woodward (16) All: John Woodward (18)
Highest home attendance	8,505 vs. Bristol Rovers, 17 February 1974
Lowest home attendance	2,556 vs. Charlton Athletic, 27 April 1974
Average home league attendance	3,959
Biggest win	3–0 (twice)
Biggest defeat	0–3 (twice)
Home colours
← 1972–73 1974–75 →

The 1973–74 season was Port Vale's 62nd season of football in the Football League, and their fourth-successive season (tenth overall) in the Third Division.^[1] They finished in twentieth spot, though were seven points clear of relegation. Manager Gordon Lee left the club in January and was replaced by club legend Roy Sproson.

The pre-season saw Sammy Morgan sold to Aston Villa for £22,222 (plus top-up fees).^[1] Gordon Lee drafted in tall young players David Harris and John Ridley from the youth set-up, as well as versatile Keith Chadwick from Crewe Alexandra.^[1] The club also erected a 2.5 feet (0.76 m) high steel fence around the Bycars End to help combat hooliganism.^[1]

The season opened with four games unbeaten, though Tommy McLaren soon damaged his ligaments, and the team suffered in his absence.^[1] On 1 October, Vale beat Wrexham 1–0 in an 'ugly' game that saw five players booked and Colin Tartt and opposition player Arfon Griffiths separated by police following a scrap in the tunnel.^[1] Later in the month Roy Cross badly injured his knee and would later have to leave the professional game due to the injury.^[1] Vale slipped down the league, and by Christmas they were sixth from bottom, with only John Woodward in good form.^[1] Lee then took out striker Keith Leonard on loan from Aston Villa, and bought left-back Neil Griffiths from Chester for a £5,000 fee.^[1] He also changed the formation from 4–4–2 to 4–3–3, hoping to give Brian Horton more room in the centre of the park.^[1] After an upturn in form in the new year, Bill Summerscales broke his neck, and Lee departed for the management position at Blackburn Rovers.^[1] Lee had been seen to have done an excellent job with little money.^[1]

Club legend Roy Sproson was appointed as caretaker manager, who advocated an 'entertaining' style of play as opposed to battling for every point.^[1] Winning his first match 1–0 at Shrewsbury Town, he cracked his head on the concrete trainer's box after leaping up to celebrate McLaren's goal.^[1] On 17 February, 8,505 turned up at Vale Park to witness a 3–1 win over high-flying Bristol Rovers in an experimental Sunday game.^[1] Later Leonard returned to Villa Park at the end of his loan deal, and £5,000 was not enough to tempt Villa to part with his services permanently.^[1] On 10 March, Vale won 2–1 at home to Plymouth Argyle after the visitors were reduced to eight men; match reporter Chris Harper wrote that "just as Davey had earlier struck Tartt, the lanky Provan felled David Harris while Saxton dropped Bobby Gough with a boot in the lower regions".^[2] Vale then went eleven games without a win, and on 25 March they could have ended this run, but 'a shocking mistake' from Alan Boswell handed Walsall an equaliser as he palmed a header into his own net.^[1] The team continued to rack up yellow cards, and following a warning from The Football Association, Sproson arranged for local referee Roy Capey to lecture the players on sportsmanship.^[1] In the middle of April, Sproson was given the management job on a permanent basis, despite his team falling to fifth from bottom.^[1] Sproson stated that he was 'calculated' and 'controlled', compared to Lee who 'fizzes like a bottle of pop'.^[1] By the time they broke their poor run with a 2–1 home win over managerless Charlton Athletic, other results had already ensured their safety from the drop.^[1]

They finished in twentieth position with 42 points, though this meant they were seven points clear of relegated Cambridge United in 21st place.^[1]

On the financial side, an average home attendance of under 4,000 failed to prevent a profit of £17,831.^[1] This profit came from the early sale of Morgan and donations of £16,443 from the Sportsmen's Association and the Development Fund.^[1] The club's total debt stood at £121,647, as Chairman Singer warned of more player sales to balance the books.^[1] Two players leaving for free at the end of the season were Bobby Gough (Southport) and Alan Boswell (Oswestry Town) – Boswell was described as 'capable of brilliant saves and conceding soft goals'.^[1]

In the FA Cup, Vale won away at Stockport County 1–0 before advancing past Northern Premier League Scarborough in the Second Round. After a 1–1 draw in Burslem with Second Division Luton Town, they lost the replay at Kenilworth Road 4–2.

In the League Cup, Vale exited at the first stage with a 2–0 defeat at Edgeley Park to Fourth Division Stockport County.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
18	Hereford United	46	14	15	17	53	57	0.930	43
19	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	16	11	19	52	58	0.897	43
20	Port Vale	46	14	14	18	52	58	0.897	42
21	Cambridge United	46	13	9	24	48	81	0.593	35	Relegated
22	Shrewsbury Town	46	10	11	25	41	62	0.661	31

Port Vale's score comes first

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 August 1973	Shrewsbury Town	H	3–0	3,717	Horton, Mountford, Woodward
1 September 1973	Oldham Athletic	A	1–1	5,716	Lacey
8 September 1973	Huddersfield Town	H	4–2	5,003	Woodward (2), Mountford, McLaren
10 September 1973	Cambridge United	H	2–1	5,829	Horton (pen), Gough
15 September 1973	York City	A	1–3	3,370	Williams
17 September 1973	Wrexham	A	0–0	7,730
22 September 1973	Southend United	H	0–0	4,323
29 September 1973	Chesterfield	A	1–2	4,754	o.g.
1 October 1973	Wrexham	H	1–0	4,791	Brodie
6 October 1973	Hereford United	H	1–3	5,802	Woodward
13 October 1973	Bristol Rovers	A	1–1	8,880	McLaren
20 October 1973	Bournemouth	H	0–0	4,006
24 October 1973	Cambridge United	A	2–4	3,612	Lacey, Woodward
27 October 1973	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–2	9,383
3 November 1973	Rochdale	H	3–1	3,223	Williams (2), Woodward
10 November 1973	Aldershot	A	0–0	3,577
12 November 1973	Blackburn Rovers	H	1–2	3,633	Woodward
17 November 1973	Halifax Town	A	0–1	2,255
1 December 1973	Charlton Athletic	A	0–2	4,390
8 December 1973	Grimsby Town	H	1–1	3,157	Woodward
22 December 1973	Chesterfield	H	0–1	2,916
26 December 1973	Southport	A	1–0	2,721	Williams
29 December 1973	Huddersfield Town	H	0–3	7,702
1 January 1974	Oldham Athletic	H	3–0	4,300	Woodward (2), Williams
12 January 1974	York City	H	2–2	3,537	Woodward, Williams
19 January 1974	Shrewsbury Town	A	1–0	2,771	McLaren
26 January 1974	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–0	3,004	Harris
2 February 1974	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	2–1	3,728	Horton, Williams
9 February 1974	Southend United	A	0–1	4,376
17 February 1974	Bristol Rovers	H	3–1	8,505	Williams (2), Leonard
23 February 1974	Hereford United	A	1–2	6,565	Woodward
2 March 1974	Southport	H	2–1	3,220	o.g., Gough
10 March 1974	Plymouth Argyle	H	2–1	3,128	Woodward (2)
16 March 1974	Bournemouth	A	2–2	7,968	o.g., Harris
20 March 1974	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	1–2	9,365	Harris
23 March 1974	Aldershot	H	0–1	3,254
25 March 1974	Walsall	H	1–1	3,659	Lacey
30 March 1974	Rochdale	A	1–1	982	Mountford
1 April 1974	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–3	3,050
6 April 1974	Blackburn Rovers	A	1–1	5,298	Mountford
13 April 1974	Halifax Town	H	1–1	2,707	McLaren
16 April 1974	Watford	H	1–2	3,056	Horton
20 April 1974	Grimsby Town	A	0–2	6,443
24 April 1974	Watford	A	1–2	5,883	o.g.
27 April 1974	Charlton Athletic	H	3–1	2,556	Woodward (2), Ridley
30 April 1974	Walsall	A	0–0	4,228

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	24 November 1973	Stockport County	A	1–0	3,364	Summerscales
R2	15 December 1973	Scarborough	H	2–1	3,528	Harris, Woodward
R3	5 January 1974	Luton Town	H	1–1	8,127	Harris
R3 Replay	9 January 1974	Luton Town	A	2–4	5,833	Mountford, Woodward

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	29 August 1973	Stockport County	A	0–2	3,314

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Alan Boswell	42	0	4	0	0	0	46	0
GK	Reg Edwards	4	0	0	0	1	0	5	0
DF	Bill Summerscales	22	0	4	1	1	0	27	1
DF	Roy Cross	11	0	0	0	1	0	12	0
DF	John Brodie	45	1	3	0	1	0	49	1
DF	Tony Loska	9	0	1	0	0	0	10	0
DF	Neil Griffiths	24	0	2	0	0	0	26	0
DF	Andy Carr	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
DF	David Harris	32	3	4	2	0	0	36	5
MF	Tommy McLaren	42	4	4	0	1	0	47	4
MF	Brian Horton	41	4	4	0	1	0	46	4
MF	Tony Lacey	44	3	4	0	1	0	49	3
MF	Colin Tartt	42	0	2	0	1	0	45	0
MF	John Ridley	10	1	0	0	0	0	10	1
MF	Keith Chadwick	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
MF	Ron Pountney	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW	Bobby Gough	24	2	1	0	1	0	26	2
FW	Bob Mountford	38	4	4	1	1	0	43	5
FW	John Woodward	43	16	4	2	1	0	48	18
FW	Ray Williams	39	9	4	0	0	0	43	9
FW	Keith Leonard	13	1	0	0	0	0	13	1

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Third Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	FW	England	John Woodward	16	2	0	18
2	FW	England	Ray Williams	9	0	0	9
3	FW	England	Bob Mountford	4	1	0	5
–	DF	England	David Harris	3	2	0	5
5	MF	Scotland	Tommy McLaren	4	0	0	4
–	MF	England	Brian Horton	4	0	0	4
7	MF	England	Tony Lacey	3	0	0	3
8	FW	England	Bobby Gough	2	0	0	2
9	MF	England	John Ridley	1	0	0	1
–	DF	England	John Brodie	1	0	0	1
–	FW	England	Keith Leonard	1	0	0	1
–	DF	England	Bill Summerscales	0	1	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	4	0	0	4
			TOTALS	52	6	0	58

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
July 1973	MF		Keith Chadwick	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	[4]
December 1973	DF		Neil Griffiths	Chester	Exchange	[4]

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
August 1973	FW		Sammy Morgan	Aston Villa	£22,222	[4]
December 1973	DF		Tony Loska	Chester	Exchange	[4]
May 1974	GK		Alan Boswell	Oswestry Town	Free transfer	[4]
May 1974	FW		Bobby Gough	Southport	Free transfer	[4]

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
November 1973	FW		Keith Leonard	Aston Villa	February 1974	[4]

Specific

General

• Kent, Jeff (1993). The Port Vale Record 1879-1993. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-9-8.