1977–78 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1977–78 season
Chairman	Arthur McPherson
Manager	Roy Sproson (until October) Bobby Smith (October onwards)
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Third Division	21st (36 Points)
FA Cup	Second Round
League Cup	First Round
Player of the Year	Ken Beamish
Top goalscorer	League: Ken Beamish (13) All: Ken Beamish (16)
Highest home attendance	7,051 vs. Walsall (19 December 1977)
Lowest home attendance	3,220 vs. Hereford United (22 March 1978)
Average home league attendance	3,947
Home colours
← 1976–77 1978–79 →

The 1977–78 season was Port Vale's 66th season of football in the Football League, and their eighth successive season (14th overall) in the Third Division.^[1] Finishing in 21st place, they were relegated to the Fourth Division. Roy Sproson was sacked in October after a poor start to the season, though things did not improve under his replacement Bobby Smith, despite Smith spending big money to bring in new players. Smith also left the club at the end of the season.

Overview

Third Division

The pre-season saw manager Roy Sproson attempt to re-sign Sammy Morgan for £12,000, however Morgan refused personal terms.^[1] Former Player of the Year David Harris also refused terms and demanded a transfer, so Terry Alcock re-joined on a month's trial to take his place.^[1] Three players arrived on free transfers: Jeff Hemmerman and Grahame McGifford from Hull City, and Bill Bentley from Blackpool.^[1] On a 28 June meeting, Sproson was severely criticized for his poor judgement of players and his seeming to place greater priority on his newsagent business than the club.^[1] Sproson did not attend the meeting, but was informed the board would review his position after fifteen games.^[1] The Football Association also hit the club with a £500 fine for their continuing problem with player indiscipline, despite Sproson's argument that no Vale players had been sent off in the last two years.^[1]

The season began poorly, though Harris returned to the first eleven and Alcock thus departed.^[1] Keeper John Connaughton picked up a knee injury, whilst a reporter from The Sentinel was allegedly told "I'll kill you" by a club official after he criticized the team in the paper.^[1] The reporter noted that "there is disenchantment in the air".^[1] The situated was calmed on 27 September, when Vale beat high-flying Colchester United 3–2 at Layer Road, reserve keeper Trevor Dance making a double penalty save.^[1] This was only a reprieve for Sproson however, as Vale would go the next fourteen league games without a victory, and the Vale Park faithful turned against the team.^[1] This run was not too damaging however, as eleven of the games were draws.^[1] Included in this was a club record streak of six home draws, lasting from 10 October to 27 December. Sproson complained of Mick Cullerton's attitude, and had to endure speculation of former Stoke City manager Tony Waddington taking his job.^[1] Sproson was sacked in October, and he rejected the offer of an executive position at the club.^[1] Colin Harper was made caretaker-manager.^[1] The board tried and failed to attract Bill McGarry to the vacant managerial position, and so advertised the position with a significant salary increase to attract applicants.^[1] On 17 November, Bobby Smith was sacked as Bury manager, and the next day walked into the Vale job.^[1] He appointed Dennis Butler as his assistant, as Harper left the club.^[1] Sproson also returned to Vale with an offer 'to help in any capacity'.^[1] Victory finally came on New Year's Eve with a 3–0 win over Rotherham United.^[1] Soon after this the 'Vale Lottery' was introduced, which proved to be a real money-spinner, and a five-a-side pitch was built for training.^[1]

In January, veteran defender Graham Hawkins was signed as a player-coach from Blackburn Rovers for £6,000.^[1] Forward Neville Chamberlain also joined the club as a professional, becoming the club's first black pro.^[1] John Froggatt also joined the club, signing from Colchester United for £10,000.^[1] Chairman Arthur McPherson celebrated this abandonment of frugality by declaring "we are going places".^[1] Chris Harper slated the board for their decisions, calling them 'berserk'. Froggatt scored fifteen seconds into his debut in a 4–0 win over Exeter City.^[1] However this would be as good as it got for both Froggatt and Vale that season. In February, Vale beat Fort Lauderdale Strikers in a friendly, but also started a five games sequence without a win.^[1] Ged Stenson arrived the next month from Everton for a 'bargain' £3,000, and John Lumsdon joined on loan from Stoke City.^[1] Vale improved, and were unbeaten in six of their seven March games, with Chamberlain scoring on his debut.^[1] Yet on 28 March they started a club-record streak of twelve home games without a win that would continue into the following season. Encouragement came from the youth side, who reached the Quarter Finals of the FA Youth Cup.^[1] With four games to go, Vale were point clear of the drop, however by losing all of their remaining games they doomed themselves to the Fourth Division.^[1]

They finished in 21st place with 36 points, three short of Rotherham United and safety.^[1] Their tally of 46 goals scored was the third-lowest in the division.^[1] They had failed to keep a clean sheet on their travels all season, achieving just one away win.^[1] Player of the Year Ken Beamish hit sixteen goals, far outscoring his rivals.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a loss of £1,575 was made.^[1] The massive transfer outlay was paid for by huge donations of £51,428 from the Sportsmen's Association and the Development Fund.^[1] The lottery also brought in £600 a week.^[1] Gate receipts had brought in £78,965, a downturn in attendance being outweighed by an increase in ticket prices.^[1] Seven players were handed free transfers, five of which were: Mick Cullerton and Grahame McGifford (Northwich Victoria); Derek Brownbill (Cleveland Cobras); Alan Lamb (Dundee); and Kevin Kennerley (Stafford Rangers).^[1] Manager Bobby Smith also departed, having taken the vacant position at Swindon Town – Vale received £10,500 in compensation.^[1] Dennis Butler rejected the opportunity to leave with him, and instead was appointed as Smith's replacement at Vale.^[1] Graham Hawkins became Butler's assistant.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Smith's first game in charge was a goalless draw at Midland Counties League side Arnold.^[1] The replay in Burslem was won 5–2, the club's biggest win since January 1969.^[1] In the Second Round, Vale drew 1–1 with Walsall at Fellows Park, before losing the replay 3–1 after Connaughton allowed a speculative shot from 25 yards out to trickle through his hands.^[1] He later admitted "I deserve to be strung up!".^[1]

In the League Cup, Vale beat Preston North End 2–1 in the home leg, though the fixture was unsettled by crowd violence.^[1] Preston won the return leg at Deepdale, and also the replay at Edgeley Park, Stockport.^[1]

Final league table

		P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Wrexham	46	23	15	8	78	45	+33	61
2	Cambridge United	46	23	12	11	72	51	+21	58
3	Preston North End	46	20	16	10	63	38	+25	56
4	Peterborough United	46	20	16	10	47	33	+14	56
5	Chester	46	16	22	8	59	56	+3	54
6	Walsall	46	18	17	11	61	50	+11	53
7	Gillingham	46	15	20	11	67	60	+7	50
8	Colchester United	46	15	18	13	55	44	+11	48
9	Chesterfield	46	17	14	15	58	49	+9	48
10	Swindon Town	46	16	16	14	67	60	+7	48
11	Shrewsbury Town	46	16	15	15	63	57	+6	47
12	Tranmere Rovers	46	16	15	15	57	52	+5	47
13	Carlisle United	46	14	19	13	59	59	+0	47
14	Sheffield Wednesday	46	15	16	15	50	52	-2	46
15	Bury	46	13	19	14	62	56	+6	45
16	Lincoln City	46	15	15	16	53	61	-8	45
17	Exeter City	46	15	14	17	49	59	-10	44
18	Oxford United	46	13	14	19	64	67	-3	40
19	Plymouth Argyle	46	11	17	18	61	68	-7	39
20	Rotherham United	46	13	13	20	51	68	-17	39
21	Port Vale	46	8	20	18	46	67	-21	36
22	Bradford City	46	12	10	24	56	86	-30	34
23	Hereford United	46	9	14	23	34	60	-26	32
24	Portsmouth	46	7	17	22	41	75	-34	31

P = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Results

Port Vale's score comes first

Legend

Win

Draw

Loss

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	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42	43	44	45	46
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A
Result	L	D	W	L	W	D	L	W	L	L	D	D	D	D	D	L	D	D	D	D	L	D	W	L	W	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	D	W	D	W	D	D	L	D	D	D	L	L	L	L
Position	20	19	17	20	12	15	20	17	21	23	22	22	21	21	21	22	21	21	21	20	21	21	18	18	17	18	20	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	20	21

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Third Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
20 August 1977	Chesterfield	H	1–3	4,091	Hemmerman (pen)
27 August 1977	Wrexham	A	1–1	5,797	Brownbill
3 September 1977	Lincoln City	H	2–1	3,520	Hemmerman (2 [1 pen])
10 September 1977	Exeter City	A	1–4	5,026	Cullerton
12 September 1977	Bradford City	H	1–0	3,814	Lamb
17 September 1977	Sheffield Wednesday	H	0–0	5,136
24 September 1977	Walsall	A	0–2	4,897
27 September 1977	Colchester United	A	3–2	4,820	Beamish (2), Beech
1 October 1977	Bury	H	1–2	3,672	Cullerton
8 October 1977	Shrewsbury Town	A	0–3	3,553
10 October 1977	Gillingham	H	2–2	3,418	Bailey, Brownbill
15 October 1977	Swindon Town	A	1–1	6,327	Sutcliffe
22 October 1977	Peterborough United	H	0–0	3,502
29 October 1977	Hereford United	A	1–1	5,393	Sutcliffe
5 November 1977	Preston North End	H	0–0	4,208
12 November 1977	Chester	A	1–2	3,321	Brownbill
15 November 1977	Portsmouth	A	1–1	7,071	Hemmerman
19 November 1977	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–1	3,576	Hemmerman (pen)
3 December 1977	Carlisle United	A	1–1	4,323	Bailey (pen)
9 December 1977	Plymouth Argyle	H	3–3	3,650	Beamish, Harris, Lamb
26 December 1977	Cambridge United	A	0–2	6,124
27 December 1977	Oxford United	H	1–1	3,997	Harris
31 December 1977	Rotherham United	H	3–0	3,861	Beamish (2), Sutcliffe
2 January 1978	Preston North End	A	0–2	10,940
7 January 1978	Portsmouth	H	2–0	3,481	Beamish (2)
14 January 1978	Chesterfield	A	0–2	4,619
28 January 1978	Lincoln City	A	0–3	3,205
8 February 1978	Exeter City	H	4–0	3,333	Froggatt, Sutcliffe, Beamish, (pen)
11 February 1978	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–3	9,659	Griffiths (pen)
25 February 1978	Bury	A	0–3	4,475
28 February 1978	Walsall	H	2–2	4,682	Beamish, Lamb
4 March 1978	Shrewsbury Town	H	1–2	3,499	Griffiths (pen)
8 March 1978	Bradford City	A	1–1	6,205	Bailey
11 March 1978	Swindon Town	H	1–0	3,723	Chamberlain
17 March 1978	Peterborough United	A	1–1	4,277	Chamberlain
22 March 1978	Hereford United	H	1–0	3,220	Froggatt
25 March 1978	Oxford United	A	1–1	4,120	Beamish
28 March 1978	Cambridge United	H	1–1	4,240	Griffiths (pen)
1 April 1978	Rotherham United	A	0–2	3,707
4 April 1978	Gillingham	A	1–1	7,627	Beamish
8 April 1978	Chester	H	0–0	3,615
11 April 1978	Wrexham	H	1–1	6,912	Hawkins
14 April 1978	Tranmere Rovers	A	1–2	2,460	Beamish
22 April 1978	Carlisle United	H	0–1	3,942
24 April 1978	Colchester United	H	0–3	3,684
29 April 1978	Plymouth Argyle	A	2–3	9,474	Beamish, Froggatt

FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	26 November 1977	Arnold	A	0–0	3,600
R1 Replay	28 November 1977	Arnold	H	5–2	5,205	Sutcliffe (2), Bailey, Beamish, Ridley
R2	17 December 1977	Walsall	A	1–1	5,978	Beamish
R2 Replay	19 December 1977	Walsall	H	1–3	7,051	Beamish

League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	13 August 1977	Preston North End	H	2–1	4,630	Beech, Alcock
R1 2nd Leg	16 August 1977	Preston North End	A	1–2	5,816	Hemmerman (pen)
R1 Replay	23 August 1977	Preston North End	N	1–2	2,201	Alcock

Player statistics

Appearances Pos. Name Football League FA Cup League Cup Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals GK John Connaughton 38 0 4 0 3 0 45 0 GK Trevor Dance 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 DF Neil Griffiths 33 4 4 0 3 0 40 4 DF David Harris 41 2 4 0 0 0 45 2 DF Garry Dulson 20 0 2 0 0 0 22 0 DF Terry Alcock 3 0 0 0 3 2 6 2 DF Phil Sproson 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 DF Colin Harper 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 DF Graham Hawkins 16 1 0 0 0 0 16 1 DF John Lumsdon 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 DF Grahame McGifford 20 0 4 0 3 0 27 0 DF Bill Bentley 32 0 2 0 3 0 37 0 DF Brian Bithell 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 MF John Ridley 40 0 4 1 3 0 47 1 MF Terry Bailey 39 3 4 1 1 0 44 4 MF Kenny Beech 26 1 1 0 3 1 30 2 MF Alan Lamb 40 3 4 0 3 0 47 3 MF Peter Sutcliffe 30 4 4 2 0 0 34 6 MF Kevin Kennerley 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 MF Mick Moore 13 0 0 0 0 0 13 0 MF Russell Bromage 6 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 FW Derek Brownbill 21 3 4 0 3 0 28 3 FW Mick Cullerton 17 2 0 0 0 0 17 2 FW Ken Beamish 42 13 4 3 3 0 49 16 FW John Froggatt 12 3 0 0 0 0 12 3 FW Jeff Hemmerman 15 5 2 0 3 1 20 6 FW Neville Chamberlain 10 2 0 0 0 0 10 2

Scorers All competitions Scorer Goals Ken Beamish 16 Jeff Hemmerman 6 Peter Sutcliffe 4 Neil Griffiths Terry Bailey Alan Lamb 3 Derek Brownbill John Froggatt Neville Chamberlain 2 Mick Cullerton Kenny Beech David Harris Terry Alcock Graham Hawkins 1 John Ridley League Scorer Goals Ken Beamish 13 Jeff Hemmerman 5 Peter Sutcliffe 4 Neil Griffiths Terry Bailey 3 Alan Lamb Derek Brownbill John Froggatt Neville Chamberlain 2 Mick Cullerton David Harris Kenny Beech 1 Graham Hawkins

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
June 1977	FW		Jeff Hemmerman	Hull City	Free transfer	[3]
June 1977	DF		Grahame McGifford	Hull City	Free transfer	[3]
July 1977	DF		Bill Bentley	Blackpool	Undisclosed	[3]
July 1977	DF		Colin Harper	Ipswich Town	Free transfer	[3]
October 1977	MF		Russell Bromage		Free transfer	[3]
December 1977	FW		Neville Chamberlain		Free transfer	[3]
December 1977	DF		Phil Sproson		Free transfer	[3]
January 1978	DF		Graham Hawkins	Blackburn Rovers	£6,000	[3]
February 1978	FW		John Froggatt	Colchester United	£10,000	[3]
March 1978	MF		Mick Moore	Wigan Athletic	£3,000	[3]
March 1978	MF		Ged Stenson	Everton	£3,000	[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
1978	DF		Terry Alcock	Halifax Town	Free transfer	[3]
January 1978	DF		Colin Harper	Waterford	Sacked	[3]
April 1978	DF		John Brodie		Retired	[3]
May 1978	FW		Derek Brownbill	Cleveland Cobras	Free transfer	[3]
May 1978	FW		Mick Cullerton	Northwich Victoria	Free transfer	[3]
May 1978	FW		Jeff Hemmerman	Portsmouth	Free transfer	[3]
May 1978	MF		Kevin Kennerley	Stafford Rangers	Free transfer	[3]
May 1978	MF		Alan Lamb	Dundee	Free transfer	[3]
May 1978	DF		Grahame McGifford	Northwich Victoria	Free transfer	[3]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
September 1977	DF		Brian Bithell	Stoke City	October 1977	[3]
March 1978	DF		John Lumsdon	Stoke City	Summer 1978	[3]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
February 1978	MF		Kevin Kennerley	Swansea City	February 1978	[3]

References

Specific

1. Kent, Jeff (1990). "Surviving on a Shoestring (1969–1979)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 227–257. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
2. Port Vale 1977–1978 : Results & Fixtures. 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 0-9508981-9-8.