The 1963–64 season was Port Vale's 52nd season of football in the English Football League, and their fifth season in the Third Division. Under manager Freddie Steele and chairman Tom Talbot, the club embarked on an ambitious recruitment drive — paying large transfer fees for players like Albert Cheesebrough (£20,000), Billy Bingham (£15,000), Jackie Mudie (£12,000), and Ron Wilson (£12,000) — but it proved to be a disappointing campaign both on the pitch and financially.

Vale finished a middling 13th in the league with 46 points from 46 matches, ten places below their previous season's third-place near-promotion position. The season's highlights came in the FA Cup, where Vale pulled off a major upset by beating top-flight Birmingham City at St Andrew's, then held Liverpool to 0–0 at Anfield before narrowly losing the Fourth Round replay at Vale Park. In the League Cup, Vale were eliminated at the First Round stage. Tony Richards finished as the club's top scorer with 13 goals (12 in the league), despite Vale's struggles to convert their investment into results. Support at Vale Park averaged 10,056, with the lowest attendance recorded as 4,497 against Wrexham on 25 April 1964, when Vale also secured their largest win of the campaign, a 5–0 victory.

Overall, the 1963–64 season proved a season of high spending and unfulfilled expectations. Despite cup heroics and a stable mid-table finish, Vale missed promotion, suffered financially, and underperformed given the hefty transfer outlays under Freddie Steele's leadership.

Overview

Third Division The pre-season saw manager Freddie Steele spend unprecedented sums of money, though Vale's spending was insignificant to the standard of many of their rivals. Steele brought in Northern Ireland international Billy Bingham from Everton for £15,000; Albert Cheesebrough from Leicester City for another £15,000; as well as Walsall's Tim Rawlings for £4,000. Chairman Tom Talbot approved these signings despite the club's financial problems. The club also took a tour of Northern Ireland, though a friendly with Benfica (arranged to match rivals Stoke City's match with Real Madrid) was cancelled due to fixture congestion. Manager Freddie Steele reverted the black and amber striped shirts of recent seasons to black and white as he felt it was a more "manly-looking outfit".

The season opened with a 1–0 defeat to Shrewsbury Town at Gay Meadow. This was followed with two victories, including a 4–1 win over Bristol City in which Tony Richards bagged a hat-trick. After another three poor away games came, followed by a 3–0 win over Brentford in which Cheesebrough scored a hat-trick, and a 4–0 win over nearby Crewe Alexandra in front of 17,118 fans. Richards sustained a bad leg injury in this win over Crewe. In the beginning of October, Steele bought "robust and direct" winger Ron Smith from Crewe for £6,500. Vale improved as a consequence, and three successive victories followed, leaving Vale in fifth spot. On 12 October, Vale recorded a 4–1 victory over Southend United. A 2–1 win at Wrexham a week later brought Vale up to fifth in the table. However, with Richards' return came a downturn in form, as Vale's impressive strikers failed to find the net in a run of one win in nine league games. This one win was a 1–0 victory over struggling Barnsley at Vale Park. However, a subsequent pitch invasion by youths emphasised a growing hooligan culture that would plague the club and the sport itself for decades. One youth was arrested for throwing a cup at goalkeeper Alan Hill. Unrelated to the violence, Cheesebrough left the field injured and subsequently required a cartilage operation.

In November, Vale paid Stoke City £12,000 for both ex-Scotland striker Jackie Mudie and left-back Ron Wilson. They made their debuts in a 2–0 defeat to Colchester United on 23 November. The defeats kept coming, and so Steele experimented with a 4–2–4 formation, dropping Richards from the first XI. Vale then went six league games unbeaten, including a 4–4 draw with Bristol Rovers at the Eastville Stadium where Mudie showed himself as a "master tactician" and scored two "brilliant" goals. On 11 January, a 1–0 home win over third-placed Oldham Athletic took them to within five points of the promotion places with a match in hand. However, despite Cheesebrough's return to fitness, a 1–0 home loss inflicted by Notts County sent Vale on a run of seven defeats and two draws in nine league games. By March, the club was in a relegation battle, though results then began to go Vale's way. Only one defeat in their final eleven games ensured safety, as the season ended with a 5–0 drubbing of already-relegated Wrexham.

They finished in 13th place with 46 points, a poor finish for the money spent on transfers. Only 53 goals were scored, as Richards and Cheeseborough were affected with injuries, and Bingham struggled to find his footing in the third tier. Their 49 goals conceded was an excellent record though.

Finances On the financial side, good attendance figures failed to prevent a massive loss of £42,650, resulting from a £45,567 deficit in transfer fees. A donation of £19,867 from the Sportsmen's Association and the social club could not disguise the disaster of poor finances. The wage bill had also risen by 20% to over £40,000. Leaving the club were Colin Grainger to Doncaster Rovers and Terry Harkin to Crewe Alexandra for a £3,000 fee.

Cup competitions In the FA Cup, Vale "turned on that old cup magic" against Fourth Division side Bradford City with a 2–1 win at Valley Parade. They defeated Workington 2–1 in a 'slipshod affair'. The third round held First Division club Birmingham City at St Andrew's. Three thousand of the 21,652 spectators were Vale fans, who 'sung and chanted their way through' a 2–1 victory as John Nicholson played on despite suffering from concussion. Vale had controlled most of the game, looking the more efficient and well-drilled team. In the fourth round, Vale were drawn against top-flight giants Liverpool at Anfield. The "Reds" had inflicted a 6–1 thrashing of Stoke on Boxing Day, in an ominous sign of the challenge the "Valiants" faced. Vale achieved a goalless draw in front of 52,327 fans – 8,000 of them Vale supporters – in a fantastic team performance. The replay at Vale Park ended in a 2–1 loss in front of 42,179 paying fans (as well as an additional 6,000 or so Liverpool supporters who 'mob stormed' the gates to enter the Railway Paddock). Crowd trouble ate into the £8,000 worth of gate receipts, and more significantly caused the death of a Leek man (Harold Birch), and saw serious injuries inflicted to Liverpool fans Harry Taylor and James McDonough, as well as Vale supporter Billy Poulson (son of the former player of the same name).

In the League Cup, a first-round exit came with a 2–1 defeat at Southend United's Roots Hall.

Results Football League Third Division

League table

Results by matchday

Matches

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad statistics Appearances and goals Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

Top scorers PlacePositionNationNameThird DivisionFA CupLeague CupTotal1FWTony Richards1210132FWJackie Mudie6107–FWBilly Bingham6107–FWAlbert Cheesebrough61075FWStan Steele51066MFRon Smith50057FWJohn Rowland40048FWHarry Poole30039MFTerry Miles2002–FWTerry Harkin101211FWBarry Hancock1001–FWTim Rawlings1001–DFRoy Sproson0101–DFSelwyn Whalley0101–––Own goals1001TOTALS537161

Transfers

Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. June 1963 MF Tim Rawlings Walsall £4,000 August 1963 FW Albert Cheesebrough Leicester City £20,000 August 1963 FW Billy Bingham Everton £15,000 October 1963 MF Ron Smith Crewe Alexandra £6,500 November 1963 FW Jackie Mudie Stoke City £12,000 November 1963 DF Ron Wilson Stoke City £12,000

Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. May 1964 GK John Cooke Macclesfield Town Free transfer July 1964 MF Terry Harkin Crewe Alexandra £3,000 July 1964 MF Jim Watton Doncaster Rovers Free transfer Summer 1964 FW Barry Hancock Crewe Alexandra Released

References Specific

General