1990–91 Port Vale F.C. season

Port Vale

1990–91 season

Chairman

Bill Bell

Manager

John Rudge

Stadium

Vale Park

Football League Second Division

15th (57 Points)

Fourth Round

Second Round

First Round

Top goalscorer

League: Darren Beckford (21)
All: Darren Beckford (23)

Highest home attendance

19,132 vs. Manchester City (26 January 1991)

Lowest home attendance

5,265 vs. Oxford United (24 September 1990)

Average home league attendance

8,092

Home colours

← 1989–90

1991–92 →

The 1990–91 season was Port Vale's 79th season of football in the Football League, and second successive (34th overall) season in the Second Division.^[1] For the first time since 1926–27 they played in a league above rivals Stoke City. Vale finished in mid-table, exiting the FA Cup at the Fourth Round, the League Cup at the Second Round, and the Full Members Cup at the First Round. John Rudge continued to uncover hidden 'gems', signing Dutchman Robin van der Laan for £80,000. Darren Beckford was top-scorer once again, though the club's Player of the Year award went to Ray Walker.

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw John Rudge follow up a recommendation by signing young Irish forward Derek Swan from Bohemians for £15,000.^[1] Meanwhile, more than £250,000 was taken in by the club from season-ticket sales.^[1] Much of this went on improving Vale Park, with 3,750 yellow and white seats fitted in the Railway Paddock, and 1,121 seats added to the upper tier of the Bycars End.^[1] The Bycars End roof was removed for safety reasons, whilst a police box was constructed between the Railway Paddock and the Hamil End.^[1] Admission rates increased to £5 for a terrace place, £6 for a seat in the Paddock and £7 in the stand.^[1] Season tickets ranged between £75 and £105. With police bills set to spiral upwards, a record five-figure shirt sponsorship deal was struck with Kalamazoo (a business systems company).^[1] A 25,000 seater stadium was planned for Festival Park, however Chairman Bill Bell was 'frightened to death by the cost', and the plans were binned.^[1]

The season opened with two defeats, though a 2–0 win over Leicester City on 1 September kick-started the Vale's campaign. A week later they beat Portsmouth 4–2 at Fratton Park. However their 3–2 win over Middlesbrough was followed by seven league games without a win. Left-back Colin Gibson scored on his debut, having arrived on loan from Manchester United; whilst future-Nigerian international Reuben Agboola also arrived on loan from Sunderland. The streak ended when Ray Walker and Darren Beckford found their scoring form, firing the club to five victories in seven games, including a 5–1 home win over Plymouth Argyle. The Vale lost their form around Christmastime however, and they remained in indifferent form until the end of the season. Rudge took in Nick Platnauer on loan from Notts County, though results failed to pick up.

In February, Ronnie Jepson was sold to Preston North End for £80,000, having previously been loaned out to Peterborough United. Gary West also spent much of the season away from Vale Park, spending time on loan at Gillingham and Lincoln City (signing permanently for Lincoln at the end of the season for a £25,000 fee). All of the money raised from Jepson's sale went on bringing Dutchman Robin van der Laan to Burslem from Wageningen. Right-back Paul West also arrived for a £3,800 fee from non-league Alcester Town. In March, Gary Ford and £80,000 were traded to Mansfield Town in exchange for Kevin Kent. Also of note during this spell was a hat-trick for Beckford in a 3–0 win over Blackburn Rovers on 9 March, and a run of four goals in the final four games for Robbie Earle. Striker Brian Mills made his debut in a final day win over Swindon Town, and would later be picked for the England squad for the 1991 FIFA World Youth Championship.

They finished in fifteenth place with 57 points, twelve points away from Middlesbrough in the play-offs, but nine points clear of relegated West Bromwich Albion. Beckford scored 23 goals in all competitions, whilst Earle contributed twelve goals.

Finances

The club's shirt sponsors were Kalamazoo.

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale advanced into the Fourth Round with a 2–1 victory over Fourth Division Peterborough United. There they lost at home to First Division Manchester City in front of a season-high crowd of 19,132.

In the League Cup, the "Valiants" faced Oxford United. A 2–0 defeat on the home leg meant they were eliminated after a goalless draw at the Manor Ground.

In the short-lived Full Members Cup, Vale lost 1–0 to Notts County at Meadow Lane to exit the competition at the first stage.

Final league table

Main article: 1990–91 Football League

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	W	D	L	GF	GA	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Oldham Athletic	46	17	5	1	55	21	8	8	7	28	32	83	53	+ 30	88
2	West Ham United	46	15	6	2	41	18	9	9	5	19	16	60	34	+ 26	87
3	Sheffield Wednesday	46	12	10	1	43	23	10	6	7	37	28	80	51	+ 29	82
4	Notts County	46	14	4	5	45	28	9	7	7	31	27	76	55	+ 21	80
5	Millwall	46	11	6	6	43	28	9	7	7	27	23	70	51	+ 19	73
6	Brighton & Hove Albion	46	12	4	7	37	31	9	3	11	26	38	63	69	– 6	70
7	Middlesbrough	46	12	4	7	36	17	8	5	10	30	30	66	47	+ 19	69
8	Barnsley	46	13	7	3	39	16	6	5	12	24	32	63	48	+ 15	69
9	Bristol City	46	14	5	4	44	28	6	2	15	24	43	68	71	– 3	67
10	Oxford United	46	10	9	4	41	29	4	10	9	28	37	69	66	+ 3	61
11	Newcastle United	46	8	10	5	24	22	6	7	10	25	34	49	56	– 7	59
12	Wolverhampton Wanderers	46	11	6	6	45	35	2	13	8	18	28	63	63	± 0	58
13	Bristol Rovers	46	11	7	5	29	20	4	6	13	27	39	56	59	– 3	58
14	Ipswich Town	46	9	8	6	32	28	4	10	9	28	40	60	68	– 8	57
15	Port Vale	46	10	4	9	32	24	5	8	10	24	40	56	64	– 8	57
16	Charlton Athletic	46	8	7	8	27	25	5	10	8	30	36	57	61	– 4	56
17	Portsmouth	46	10	6	7	34	27	4	5	14	24	43	58	70	– 12	53
18	Plymouth Argyle	46	10	10	3	36	20	2	7	14	18	48	54	78	– 24	53
19	Blackburn Rovers	46	8	6	9	26	27	6	4	13	25	39	51	66	– 15	52
20	Watford	46	5	8	10	24	32	7	7	9	21	27	45	59	– 14	51
21	Swindon Town	46	8	6	9	31	30	4	8	11	34	43	65	73	– 8	50
22	Leicester City	46	12	4	7	41	33	2	4	17	19	50	60	83	– 23	50
23	West Bromwich Albion	46	7	11	5	26	21	3	7	13	26	40	52	61	– 9	48
24	Hull City	46	6	10	7	35	32	4	5	14	22	53	57	85	– 28	45

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	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H
Result	L	L	W	W	L	W	D	L	L	D	L	D	L	W	W	L	W	D	W	W	L	L	D	L	D	W	L	L	W	L	L	W	D	D	L	W	D	W	L	L	W	L	D	D	D	W
Position	24	24	12	9	15	7	9	13	13	14	15	15	16	17	15	18	15	13	10	8	10	12	12	12	15	14	15	16	15	15	16	14	15	15	16	16	16	15	15	16	15	15	16	17	16	15

Sourced from Statto.^[2]

Football League Second Division

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
25 August 1990	Oxford United	A	2–5	4,837	Jeffers, Earle
28 August 1990	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	1–2	12,746	Beckford (pen)
1 September 1990	Leicester City	H	2–0	8,837	Earle, Beckford
8 September 1990	Portsmouth	A	4–2	8,835	Beckford (2), Cross, Earle
15 September 1990	Newcastle United	H	0–1	10,040
17 September 1990	Middlesbrough	H	3–1	7,880	Beckford (2), Earle
22 September 1990	Barnsley	A	1–1	8,533	Beckford
29 September 1990	Hull City	A	2–3	5,185	Gibson, Cross
1 October 1990	Notts County	H	0–1	7,723
6 October 1990	Charlton Athletic	H	1–1	6,706	Beckford
13 October 1990	Ipswich Town	A	0–3	10,438
20 October 1990	Sheffield Wednesday	A	1–1	24,527	Gibson
22 October 1990	West Bromwich Albion	H	1–2	8,824	Walker (pen)
27 October 1990	Bristol City	H	3–2	7,451	Walker (2 [1 pen]), Beckford
3 November 1990	Swindon Town	A	2–1	8,364	Ford, Beckford
10 November 1990	Bristol Rovers	A	0–2	5,661
17 November 1990	Oldham Athletic	H	1–0	11,384	Cross
23 November 1990	Blackburn Rovers	A	1–1	8,061	Walker (pen)
1 December 1990	Plymouth Argyle	H	5–1	6,717	Beckford (2), Jeffers, Ford, Walker
15 December 1990	Oxford United	H	1–0	5,953	Beckford
22 December 1990	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	0–1	6,750
26 December 1990	Watford	A	1–2	8,084	Earle
29 December 1990	West Ham United	A	0–0	23,603
1 January 1991	Millwall	H	0–2	8,418
12 January 1991	Leicester City	A	1–1	9,307	Earle
19 January 1991	Portsmouth	H	3–2	6,314	Aspin, Glover, Beckford
2 February 1991	Newcastle United	A	0–2	14,480
16 February 1991	Oldham Athletic	A	0–2	12,907
23 February 1991	Bristol Rovers	H	3–2	7,166	Millar, Beckford, Walker (pen)
26 February 1991	Wolverhampton Wanderers	A	1–3	15,919	Earle
2 March 1991	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–2	5,145
9 March 1991	Blackburn Rovers	H	3–0	7,004	Beckford (3)
12 March 1991	Notts County	A	1–1	6,305	Beckford
16 March 1991	Hull City	H	0–0	6,103
18 March 1991	Ipswich Town	H	1–2	5,820	van der Laan
23 March 1991	Charlton Athletic	A	1–0	5,225	van der Laan
30 March 1991	Watford	H	0–0	6,661
3 April 1991	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	2–1	9,733	Beckford, van der Laan
6 April 1991	West Ham United	H	0–1	9,658
9 April 1991	Middlesbrough	A	0–4	15,063
13 April 1991	Millwall	A	2–1	10,860	van der Laan, Beckford
15 April 1991	Barnsley	H	0–1	6,939
27 April 1991	West Bromwich Albion	A	1–1	13,650	Earle
4 May 1991	Bristol City	A	1–1	11,555	Earle
6 May 1991	Sheffield Wednesday	H	1–1	13,317	Earle
11 May 1991	Swindon Town	H	3–1	7,713	Mills (2), Earle

FA Cup

Main article: 1990–91 FA Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R3	5 January 1991	Peterborough United	H	2–1	7,490	Walker (pen), Beckford
R4	26 January 1991	Manchester City	H	1–2	19,132	Beckford

League Cup

Main article: 1990–91 Football League Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R2 1st Leg	24 September 1990	Oxford United	H	0–2	5,265
R2 2nd Leg	10 October 1990	Oxford United	A	0–0	2,333

Full Members Cup

Main article: 1990–91 Full Members Cup


Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	20 November 1990	Notts County	A	0–1	2,320

Player statistics

Appearances

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup		Full Members Cup		Total
Pos.	Name	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Mark Grew	14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	14	0
GK	Trevor Wood	32	0	2	0	2	0	1	0	37	0
DF	Alan Webb	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
DF	Simon Mills	41	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	45	0
DF	Darren Hughes	17	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	18	0
DF	Dean Glover	41	1	2	0	2	0	1	0	46	1
DF	Tim Parkin	29	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	32	0
DF	Neil Aspin	41	1	2	0	2	0	1	0	46	1
DF	Reuben Agboola	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
DF	Paul West	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DF	Gary West	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
MF	Robbie Earle	35	11	2	0	0	0	0	0	37	11
MF	Andy Porter	40	0	1	0	2	0	1	0	44	0
MF	Ray Walker	45	6	2	1	2	0	1	0	50	7
MF	Kevin Finney	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
MF	John Jeffers	31	2	2	0	2	0	1	0	36	2
MF	Paul Millar	17	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	18	1
MF	Robin van der Laan	18	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	18	4
MF	Nick Platnauer	14	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	15	0
MF	Gary Ford	30	2	2	0	2	0	1	0	35	2
MF	Colin Gibson	6	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	2
MF	Kevin Kent	11	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
FW	Darren Beckford	43	21	2	2	2	0	0	0	47	23
FW	Ronnie Jepson	15	0	2	0	2	0	0	0	19	0
FW	Nicky Cross	19	3	0	0	2	0	1	0	22	3
FW	Brian Mills	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2

Scorers

All competitions

Scorer	Goals
Darren Beckford	23
Robbie Earle	12
Ray Walker	7
Robin van der Laan	4
Nicky Cross	3
Colin Gibson	2
Gary Ford
Brian Mills
John Jeffers
Paul Millar	1
Neil Aspin
Dean Glover

League

Scorer	Goals
Darren Beckford	21
Robbie Earle	12
Ray Walker	6
Robin van der Laan	4
Nicky Cross	3
Colin Gibson	2
Gary Ford
Brian Mills
John Jeffers
Paul Millar	1
Neil Aspin
Dean Glover

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
January 1991	DF	Paul West	Alcester Town	£8,000	^[3]
February 1991	MF	Robin van der Laan	FC Wageningen	£80,000	^[3]
March 1991	MF	Kevin Kent	Mansfield Town	£80,000	^[3]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
January 1991	MF	Paul Atkinson	Gateshead	Retired	^[3]
February 1991	FW	Ronnie Jepson	Preston North End	£80,000	^[3]
March 1991	MF	Gary Ford	Mansfield Town	Exchange	^[3]
May 1991	MF	Kevin Finney	Lincoln City	Free transfer	^[3]
June 1991	FW	Darren Beckford	Norwich City	£925,000	^[3]
July 1991	MF	Robbie Earle	Wimbledon	£775,000	^[3]
August 1991	FW	Paul Millar	Cardiff City	£60,000	^[3]
August 1991	GK	Gary West	Lincoln City	£25,000	^[3]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
September 1990	MF	Colin Gibson	Manchester United	October 1990	^[3]
November 1990	DF	Reuben Agboola	Sunderland	December 1990	^[3]
January 1991	FW	Nick Platnauer	Notts County	April 1991	^[3]

Loans out

Date from	Position	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
October 1990	GK	Mark Grew	Blackburn Rovers	December 1990	^[3]
October 1990	FW	Paul Millar	Hereford United	November 1990	^[3]
November 1990	GK	Gary West	Gillingham	November 1990	^[3]
January 1991	GK	Gary West	Lincoln City	January 1991	^[3]

References

Specific

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Kent, Jeff (1990). "From Rags to Riches (1979–1990)". The Valiants' Years: The Story Of Port Vale. Witan Books. pp. 258–290. ISBN 0-9508981-4-7.
↑ Port Vale 1990–1991 : Results & Fixtures. Statto Organisation. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 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.

Port Vale F.C. seasons

1890–91 1891–92 1892–93 1893–94 1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 99–1900

1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10

1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20

1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30

1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40

1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50

1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60

1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70

1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80

1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90

1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 99–2000

2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10

2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20

Port Vale Football Club

History Managers Records Seasons

Grounds	Athletic Ground Old Recreation Ground Vale Park

Players	25+ appearances <25 appearances Player of the Year Winners

Matches	1989 Play-off Final 1993 League Trophy Final 1993 Play-off Final 1996 Anglo-Italian Final 2001 League Trophy Final Potteries derby

1990–91 in English football

« 1989–90

1991–92 »

FA competitions

Football League

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Graham Taylor
UEFA Euro 1992 (qualification – Group 7)

Club seasons

First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Leeds United Liverpool Luton Town Manchester City Manchester United Norwich City Nottingham Forest Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur Wimbledon

Second Division	Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Bristol Rovers Charlton Athletic Hull City Ipswich Town Leicester City Middlesbrough Millwall Newcastle United Notts County Oldham Athletic Oxford United Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Portsmouth Sheffield Wednesday Swindon Town Watford West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers

Third Division	Birmingham City Bolton Wanderers Bournemouth Bradford City Brentford Bury Cambridge United Chester City Crewe Alexandra Exeter City Fulham Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Leyton Orient Mansfield Town Preston North End Reading Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Stoke City Swansea City Tranmere Rovers Wigan Athletic

Fourth Division	Aldershot Blackpool Burnley Cardiff City Carlisle United Chesterfield Darlington Doncaster Rovers Gillingham Halifax Town Hartlepool United Hereford United Lincoln City Maidstone United Northampton Town Peterborough United Rochdale Scarborough Scunthorpe United Southport Stockport County Torquay United Walsall Wrexham York City

Others	Colchester United Newport

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