The 1950–51 season was Port Vale's 39th season of football in the English Football League, and their sixth full season in the Third Division South. It was the first at the newly-built Vale Park, which replaced the Old Recreation Ground in the summer of 1950. Under manager Gordon Hodgson and chairman William Holdcroft, Vale achieved a 12th‑place finish with 45 points, concluding their league campaign with a record of 16 wins, 13 draws and 17 defeats from 46 matches (scoring 60 goals, conceding 65).

In the FA Cup, Potteries derby rivals Stoke City visited Vale Park in the Third Round, drawing 2–2 away before Vale fell 1–0 in a replay in front of a packed 49,500 crowd. Cliff Pinchbeck led the scoring, finishing as both league top scorer (16 goals) and overall top scorer (19). Attendances held up well at the new stadium, with an average crowd of 10,832, although the lowest turnout was just 2,630 for the fixture against Exeter City on 30 April 1951. The season also saw the debut of club legend Roy Sproson, and was tinged with tragedy: manager Hodgson died the following summer after cancer, making it his final term in charge.

Overview

Third Division South The pre-season saw expansion for the league, and so the addition of two new teams to the division; nevertheless, only one promotion place was available for the 24 teams. For Vale, two attacking players were added to the squad; Syd Peppitt arrived from Stoke City for £4,000, and Roland Lewis was signed from Congleton Town.

The season opened with a 2–0 defeat to Norwich City at Carrow Road, though the real excitement came five days later on 24 August, when Vale Park hosted its first league game; 30,196 turned up to see Newport County beaten 1–0 with a Walter Aveyard goal. The stadium had cost £50,000 and held 40,000 spectators, though work was still needed to complete the covers. Three straight losses followed, and as a result, four players were transfer listed. As the weather turned bleak, the attendance suffered, as less than a fortnight after its opening, the stadium hosted 15,884 fans for the win over Ipswich Town (a reduction of almost 50%). The lack of cover did nothing to encourage fans to show up. Nevertheless, the team won six of their opening seven home games, losing six of their first seven away games. On 14 October, Vale were beaten 2–0 at bottom club Walsall. On 28 October, they travelled to The Den, where they fought to earn a 2–2 draw with high-flying Millwall, Tommy Cheadle playing on despite breaking three teeth in a hefty collision. On 11 November they drew 1–1 with Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium. This game saw the first of Roy Sproson's 842 club appearances. The Christmas Day stalemate with Bristol Rovers had to be played at the Victoria Ground as the Vale Park pitch suffered from inadequate drainage that made it vulnerable to postponements.

Results tailed off after Christmas, leaving Vale in a re-election fight by the start of February. This was partly due to an outbreak of flu, which affected eleven of the players. A run of eight wins in eleven games soon allayed any fears of Vale losing their league status. A 3–0 win at Exeter City was the club's first away win in 25 attempts, and was duly followed by a 3–2 victory at Leyton Orient two weeks later. The club were so confident as to sell right-half Bill McGarry to Huddersfield Town for £12,000 – he would later be selected in the England squad for the 1954 FIFA World Cup. On 31 March, Vale won 4–3 at home to Gillingham, despite Billy Hales scoring a hat-trick on his debut for the visitors. Waterlogging of the Vale Park pitch caused numerous games to be postponed, as well as abandonment when the team were 5–1 ahead against Crystal Palace. This meant six home games would be played between 23 April and 3 May. This gave young reserves a chance to impress. The one victory, 2–0 at home to Exeter City, came on a total quagmire.

They finished 12th with 45 points, 25 points short of promotion. Cliff Pinchbeck proved to be the only regular scorer, with 19 goals, though he was on the transfer list at his own request.

Finances On the financial side, a profit of £5,367 was recorded thanks to a transfer credit of £12,315. Gate receipts had fallen to £27,650, though the wage bill was slashed to £20,063. Leaving the club were new signings Peppitt and Lewis, the former joining Worcester City. On 16 May, the club hosted Progrès Niederkorn of Luxembourg, who were on their British tour, Vale won 4–1. After the game 3,000 tons of soil were removed from the stadium, as a new drainage system was installed. On 14 June, manager Gordon Hodgson died following a lengthy battle against cancer, his funeral at Carmountside was conducted by Reverend Norman Hallam. His replacement was Ivor Powell, who was signed as player-manager from Aston Villa.

FA Cup In the FA Cup, the "Valiants" progressed past Third Division North New Brighton and Lancashire Combination Nelson with two 3–2 home victories. Drawn against First Division Potteries derby rivals Stoke in the third round, it was the first competitive derby game since 1933. Vale showed some 'lively attacking' to achieve a 2–2 draw at the Victoria Ground on 6 January in front of a crowd of 49,500. Vale Park had problems with drainage, and so the replay two days later had to be played at the Victoria Ground as well – this time, 40,977 fans showed up. Stoke won by the odd goal from Frank Bowyer, though Vale were consoled by the £2,800 worth of gate receipts they had earned.

Results Football League Third Division South

League table

Results by matchday

Matches

FA Cup

Squad statistics Appearances and goals Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

|colspan="14"|Players who featured but departed the club during the season:

Top scorers PlacePositionNationNameThird Division SouthFA CupTotal1FWCliff Pinchbeck163192FWWalter Aveyard73103FWMick Hulligan7184FWLen Barber7075FWStan Palk6066HBAlan Martin5057FWSyd Peppitt303–FWAlan Bennett2139HBBill McGarry202–FWKen Griffiths20211FWJohn Cunliffe101–––Own goals202TOTALS60565

Transfers

Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. May 1950 FW Syd Peppitt Stoke City £4,000 May 1950 FW Stan Smith Stoke City Free transfer May 1950 FW Pat Willdigg Stoke City Free transfer

Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. March 1951 HB Bill McGarry Huddersfield Town £12,000 Summer 1951 FW Syd Peppitt Worcester City Released 1951 FW Derek Tomkinson Burton Albion Free transfer

References Specific

General