Port Vale

1964–65 season
Chairman	Tom Talbot
Manager	Freddie Steele (until February) Jackie Mudie (from February)
Stadium	Vale Park
Football LeagueThird Division	22nd (32 Points)
FA Cup	Second Round (knocked out byMillwall)
League Cup	First Round (knocked out byLuton Town)
Top goalscorer	League:Albert Cheesebrough (7) All: Albert Cheesebrough (7)
Highest home attendance	8,190 vs.Colchester United, 29 August 1964
Lowest home attendance	3,071 vs.Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, 13 February 1965
Average home league attendance	5,508
Biggest win	2–0 (four games)
Biggest defeat	0–4 (five games)
Home colours
← 1963–64 1965–66 →

The1964–65 season wasPort Vale's 53rd season of football in theEnglish Football League, and their sixth season in theThird Division.^[1] Under managerFreddie Steele (until February) and chairman Tom Talbot, the club endured a disastrous league season, finishing 22nd with 32 points, resulting in relegation to theFourth Division.

Offensively, Vale were the poorest scorers in the entire Football League, mustering just 41 goals in 46 games, withAlbert Cheesebrough topping the charts with a mere seven goals in both league and overall tallies. Aclub record run of 13 home matches without a clean sheet, stretching from 26 September to 15 March, highlighted defensive woes. The season began poorly and Steele departed by mutual consent in February 1965, with veteran forwardJackie Mudie stepping in as caretaker manager and igniting a brief revival. However, Vale remained five points adrift of safety, and relegation could not be avoided.

In cup competitions, Vale exited theFA Cup in the Second Round, losing toMillwall, and were knocked out of theLeague Cup in the First Round. Home attendance averaged 5,508, with the highest gate recorded at 8,190 for the opening home fixture againstColchester United on 29 August 1964.

Overall, the 1964–65 season was marked by managerial upheaval and poor results, culminating in relegation and the club's worst-ever goalscoring record.

The pre-season sawmanagerFreddie Steele attempt to sign legendarySpurs strikerBobby Smith, this audacious attempt failed partly due to the financially precarious situation the club found itself in after the previous season.^[1] Instead Steele signedRon Andrew fromStoke City for £3,000, as well as goalkeeperReg Davies fromLeyton Orient.^[1]

The season began with a 4–1 beating atBorough Park from newly-promotedWorkington afterTony Richards found himself sidelined following an insect bite.^[1] They picked up just three points in their next six league games. The fans were already showing their disappointment in the team 20 minutes before the end of the first home game – a 2–1 defeat toColchester United.^[1]Ken Hancock andJackie Mudie were both dropped following this game.^[1] Richards made his return only to suffer a knee injury which required surgery, thereby keeping him out of action for the rest of the campaign.^[1] On 5 September,Billy Bingham had played his last game, as hebroke his leg in a 4–0 beating byBrentford atGriffin Park.^[1] Two successive mid-September 1–0 victories (both goals scored byAlbert Cheesebrough) were rare bright rays of sunshine for the "Valiants".^[1] A 'punchless' and 'guileless' run of twelve games without a win followed, which saw the club drop to third from bottom, as attendances tailed off accordingly.^[1] On 5 October, a mere 4,247 turned out to witness a 2–2 draw withMansfield Town. Cheeseborough also picked up an injury, whilst Mudie found he was now unable to play on hard surfaces.^[1] Reserves filled the gaps in thefirst XI as atVale Park "the loud mouths on the terraces certainly did a good job [of] hinderingStan Trafford" on his home debut on 17 October.^[1] Goals in short supply, numerous players were tried in the centre-forward role, to no avail.^[1]

On 21 November, Vale picked up their third league win of the campaign, beating lowlyBarnsley 2–0 atOakwell.^[1] Youth players continued to be drafted in as Vale finished the year with four straight league defeats, picking up injuries and sendings off along the way.^[1] In December, Ken Hancock was sold toIpswich Town for £10,000 to balance the books following sliding attendance figures.^[1] The club gave a debut to 16-year-oldClint Boulton on Boxing Day, a 3–0 defeat toHull City in whichRon Smith damaged his eye. Steele made nine changes for the return fixture two days later, which ended in a 4–0 defeat after Cheesebrough was sent off on 30 minutes for arguing with the referee. A 2–1 victory overpromotion-chasersBrentford on 2 January failed to spark a revival, partly because the Bees were forced to play almost the entire match with ten players and an outside player in goal following an injury toChic Brodie.^[1] Steele tried to play a settled team, but that proved to be as unsuccessful as when he switched the team round constantly.^[1] By the end of the month the club were bottom of the league and morale was low.^[1] On 16 January,Stan Steele broke his toe in a 4–0 defeat atBristol Rovers as the team's "defensive weaknesses were glaring exposed".

In mid-February, the club four points short of safety, Freddie Steele left the club by mutual consent, as Jackie Mudie was appointedcaretaker manager.^[1] Following a 4–0 hammering fromGillingham, Mudie signed veteran stopperJimmy O'Neill fromDarlington, and the formerIreland international seemed to improve the team, as just two defeats in eight games followed after he replaced regular custodianReg Davies.^[1] Mudie instilled discipline into the team, and so was made manager permanently on 3 March.^[1] He then ensured Reg Davies wastransferred to Leyton Orient.^[1] He tried and failed to re-signTerry Harkin fromCrewe Alexandra.^[1] One win in their final six games doomed the Vale torelegation, just as survival seemed possible.^[1] Only 3,521 witnessed a final day victory overWalsall.^[1]

They finished in twenty-second position, their 32 points five short of safety.^[1] Losing ten home games, they recorded just two wins on their travels.^[1] No team in the top four divisions scored fewer than Vale's 41 goals, as Cheeseborough took the honour of top-scorer with a mere seven goals – this was the lowest total for a Vale top-scorer in a Football League season sinceMeshach Dean scored six in1892–93 (in a 22-game league season).^[1] The club embarked on a post-season tour of Germany, where they playedSC Tasmania 1900 Berlin at thePoststadion on 15 June.^[2]

On the financial side, £15,497 was recorded despite a £16,320 donation from the Sportsmen's Association, the Development Fund, and the social club.^[1] The average home attendance was a mere 5,508, almost half that of the previous season.^[1] Gate receipts had plummeted to just £24,117, compared to a wage bill of £41,092; meanwhile, a £6,250 profit was made on transfers.^[1] A clear-out of players could not be avoided, as twelve were handedfree transfers, including: Billy Bingham (retired);Stan Steele (left the country);Ron Smith (Southport); Ron Andrew (retired);Tim Rawlings (Nuneaton Borough); Stan Trafford (retired); and Albert Cheesebrough (joinedMansfield Town for free, although Vale had wanted £5,000 for him).^[1]

In theFA Cup, Vale made 'an inglorious passage' past amateursHendon of theIsthmian League with a difficult 2–1 victory.^[1]Fourth Division clubMillwall proved to be too tough an opponent in the second round however, as the "Lions" picked up a 'decisive' 4–0 win atThe Den.^[1]

Once again, the club exited at the first hurdle in theLeague Cup, this time losing 1–0 at home toLuton Town with 18-year-oldDavid Mitchell at centre-forward.^[1]

Workington v Port Vale

22 August 19641	Workington	4–1	Port Vale	Workington
		Report	Andrew	Stadium:Borough Park Attendance: 5,228

Carlisle United v Port Vale

24 August 19642	Carlisle United	1–1	Port Vale	Carlisle
		Report	Cheesebrough	Stadium:Brunton Park Attendance: 11,809

Port Vale vColchester United

29 August 19643	Port Vale	1–2	Colchester United	Burslem
	Poole 20'	Report	Stark 24' Salisbury 26'	Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 8,190

Port Vale vCarlisle United

31 August 19644	Port Vale	1–3	Carlisle United	Burslem
	Cheesebrough	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 8,003

Luton Town v Port Vale

9 September 19646	Luton Town	1–1	Port Vale	Luton
		Report	Poole	Stadium:Kenilworth Road Attendance: 11,649

Port Vale vBristol Rovers

12 September 19647	Port Vale	1–1	Bristol Rovers	Burslem
	Steele	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 7,571

Port Vale vLuton Town

14 September 19648	Port Vale	1–0	Luton Town	Burslem
	Cheesebrough	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 6,381

Oldham Athletic v Port Vale

19 September 19649	Oldham Athletic	0–1	Port Vale	Oldham
		Report	Cheesebrough	Stadium:Boundary Park Attendance: 9,575

Port Vale vExeter City

26 September 196410	Port Vale	0–1	Exeter City	Burslem
		Report	Banks	Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 7,006 Referee: J.Catlin

Mansfield Town v Port Vale

28 September 196411	Mansfield Town	2–2	Port Vale	Mansfield
	Scanlon Graham	Report	Porter Mitchell	Stadium:Field Mill Attendance: 10,709

Port Vale vMansfield Town

5 October 196413	Port Vale	2–2	Mansfield Town	Burslem
	Rowland Cheesebrough	Report	B Hall Cooper	Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 4,247

Peterborough United v Port Vale

12 October 196415	Peterborough United	2–2	Port Vale	Peterborough
	Smith Deakin	Report	Miles	Stadium:London Road Stadium Attendance: 9,878 Referee: D. Wells

Port Vale vBristol City

17 October 196416	Port Vale	1–2	Bristol City	Burslem
	Miles	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 5,564

Port Vale vPeterborough United

19 October 196417	Port Vale	0–1	Peterborough United	Burslem
		Report	Barnes	Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 6,110 Referee: L. Hamer

Queens Park Rangers v Port Vale

23 October 196418	Queens Park Rangers	3–1	Port Vale	Shepherd's Bush,West London
	I. Morgan R. Morgan Bedford	Report	Machin	Stadium:Loftus Road Attendance: 4,489

Port Vale vWatford

26 October 196419	Port Vale	2–2	Watford	Burslem
	Machin Rawlings	Report	McAnearney Oliver	Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 5,271

Port Vale vShrewsbury Town

31 October 196420	Port Vale	1–1	Shrewsbury Town	Burslem
	Mitchell	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 6,363

Reading v Port Vale

7 November 196421	Reading	1–1	Port Vale	Reading, Berkshire
		Report	Mudie	Stadium:Elm Park Attendance: 7,360

Barnsley v Port Vale

21 November 196422	Barnsley	0–2	Port Vale	Barnsley
		Report	Porter Smith	Stadium:Oakwell Attendance: 5,288

Colchester United v Port Vale

19 December 196424	Colchester United	2–0	Port Vale	Colchester
	Langley Trevis	Report		Stadium:Layer Road Attendance: 2,528

Port Vale vHull City

26 December 196425	Port Vale	0–3	Hull City	Burslem
15:15GMT		Report	Clarke 9' Wagstaff 34' Chilton 70'	Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 6,099

Hull City v Port Vale

28 December 196426	Hull City	4–0	Port Vale	Kingston upon Hull
15:00GMT	Wagstaff 12',63',79' Henderson 27'	Report		Stadium:Boothferry Park Attendance: 12,468

Port Vale vBrentford

2 January 196527	Port Vale	2–1	Brentford	Burslem
	Miles Mudie	Report	Lawther	Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 4,533

Port Vale vSouthend United

8 January 196528	Port Vale	2–2	Southend United	Burslem
	Rowland (pen.) Miles	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 4,852

Exeter City v Port Vale

6 February 196531	Exeter City	2–1	Port Vale	Exeter
	Banks	Report	Poole	Stadium:St James Park Attendance: 5,465 Referee: T.Wells Assistant referees: A. Newman, E.Garfield

Port Vale vBournemouth & Boscombe Athletic

13 February 196532	Port Vale	1–2	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	Burslem
	Mitchell	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 3,071

Port Vale vOldham Athletic

15 March 196536	Port Vale	2–1	Oldham Athletic	Burslem
	Cheesebrough Trafford	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 5,057

Port Vale vReading

20 March 196537	Port Vale	2–0	Reading	Burslem
	Machin Steele	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 4,162

Southend United v Port Vale

26 March 196538	Southend United	2–1	Port Vale	Southend-on-Sea
		Report	Cheesebrough	Stadium:Roots Hall Attendance: 6,017

Port Vale vWorkington

29 March 196539	Port Vale	2–0	Workington	Burslem
	Steele Rowland	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 7,175

Port Vale vBarnsley

3 April 196540	Port Vale	2–0	Barnsley	Burslem
	(og.) Machin	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 6,311

Port Vale vGrimsby Town

20 April 196544	Port Vale	2–3	Grimsby Town	Burslem
	Rowland	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 3,569

Watford v Port Vale

24 April 196545	Watford	1–0	Port Vale	Watford
	Harris	Report		Stadium:Vicarage Road Attendance: 7,627

Port Vale vWalsall

26 April 196546	Port Vale	2–1	Walsall	Burslem
	Boulton Bannister	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 3,521

Port Vale vHendon

14 November 1964R1	Port Vale	2–1	Hendon	Burslem
	Smith Mitchell	Report		Stadium:Vale Park Attendance: 8,039

Key to positions: GK –Goalkeeper; DF –Defender; MF –Midfielder; FW –Forward

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Third Division		FA Cup		League Cup
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	ENG	Ken Hancock	22	0	20	0	1	0	1	0
	GK	ENG	Reg Davies	14	0	13	0	1	0	0	0
	GK	IRL	Jimmy O'Neill	13	0	13	0	0	0	0	0
	GK	ENG	Ken Oxford	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Roy Sproson	48	0	45	0	2	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Selwyn Whalley	16	0	15	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Terry Lowe	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	Terry Alcock	31	0	28	0	2	0	1	0
	DF	ENG	Clint Boulton	5	1	5	1	0	0	0	0
	DF	SCO	Ron Wilson	23	0	21	0	2	0	0	0
	DF	ENG	John Nicholson	49	0	46	0	2	0	1	0
	MF	ENG	Terry Miles	35	5	33	5	1	0	1	0
	MF	ENG	Tim Rawlings	14	1	12	1	1	0	1	0
	MF	ENG	Ron Smith	28	2	25	1	2	1	1	0
	MF	ENG	Mel Machin	12	4	11	4	1	0	0	0
	MF	ENG	Ron Andrew	8	1	8	1	0	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Harry Poole	39	3	37	3	1	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Stan Steele	35	3	34	3	1	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	John Rowland	43	5	40	5	2	0	1	0
	FW	ENG	Tony Richards	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	SCO	Jackie Mudie	19	2	18	2	1	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Mick Porter	12	2	11	2	0	0	1	0
	FW	NIR	Billy Bingham	5	0	5	0	0	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Albert Cheesebrough	32	7	32	7	0	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	Stan Trafford	12	1	12	1	0	0	0	0
	FW	ENG	David Mitchell	19	4	17	3	1	1	1	0
	FW	ENG	Paul Bannister	2	1	2	1	0	0	0	0

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Third Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	FW	England	Albert Cheesebrough	7	0	0	7
2	MF	England	Terry Miles	5	0	0	5
–	FW	England	John Rowland	5	0	0	5
4	MF	England	Mel Machin	4	0	0	4
–	FW	England	David Mitchell	3	1	0	4
6	FW	England	Harry Poole	3	0	0	3
–	FW	England	Stan Steele	3	0	0	3
8	FW	England	Mick Porter	2	0	0	2
–	FW	Scotland	Jackie Mudie	2	0	0	2
–	MF	England	Ron Smith	1	1	0	2
11	FW	Northern Ireland	Stan Trafford	1	0	0	1
–	MF	England	Tim Rawlings	1	0	0	1
–	FW	England	Paul Bannister	1	0	0	1
–	DF	England	Clint Boulton	1	0	0	1
–	MF	England	Ron Andrew	1	0	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	1	0	0	1
			TOTALS	41	2	0	43

Transfers in [edit] Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. June 1964 DF ENG Ron Andrew Stoke City £3,000 [4] July 1964 GK ENG Reg Davies Leyton Orient Free transfer [4] February 1965 GK IRL Jimmy O'Neill Darlington Free transfer [4]

Transfers out [edit] Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. August 1964 MF ENG Colin Grainger Doncaster Rovers Free transfer [4] December 1964 GK ENG Ken Hancock Ipswich Town £10,000 [4] March 1965 GK ENG Reg Davies Leyton Orient 'small' [4] April 1965 DF ENG Ron Andrew Free transfer [4] April 1965 FW NIR Billy Bingham Southport Free transfer [4] April 1965 FW ENG Mick Porter Portmadoc Free transfer [4] April 1965 MF ENG Tim Rawlings Nuneaton Borough Free transfer [4] April 1965 MF ENG Ron Smith Southport Free transfer [4] April 1965 FW ENG Stan Steele Port Elizabeth City Free transfer [4] April 1965 FW ENG Stan Trafford Released [4] July 1965 FW ENG Albert Cheesebrough Mansfield Town Free transfer [4]

Specific

General

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

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• English football clubs 1964–65 season

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