1953–54 Port Vale F.C. Season
The 1953–54 season was Port Vale's 42nd season of football in the English Football League, and their fifth season overall in the Third Division North. Freddie Steele's side were crowned Third Division North champions with 69 points out of a possible 92, eleven points ahead of their nearest rivals. They also reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and would be denied an appearance in the final due to a controversial goal from a dubious penalty. These achievements were based upon a record-breaking 'Iron Curtain' defence, and a solid squad of nineteen players, most of whom had taken the club to second in the league the previous season. Seven still-standing club records were set this season, including three Football League records. One Football League record was for the fewest Football League goals conceded in a 46 match season – 26, just over one every two games. Just five of these were conceded at home, another Football League record. This was based upon 30 clean sheets, again ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Port Vale F
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories. Ports are extremely important to the global economy; 70% of global merchandise trade by value passes through a port. For this reason, ports are also often densely populated settlements that provide the labor for processing and handling goods and related services for the ports. Today by far the greatest growth in port development is in Asia, the continent with some of the world's largest and busiest ports, such as Singapore and the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhou ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ray King (footballer)
Raymond King (15 August 1924 – 19 July 2014) was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He made 278 league and cup appearances in an 11-year career in the Football League. He was the younger brother of Frank and George King. He began his career with Newcastle United, but spent World War II in the army, and also had to contend with a catalogue of injuries. After the war, he played for Leyton Orient, before injury again forced him out of the professional game. He spent time with Ashington, before making another comeback in May 1949, this time with Port Vale. He was in goal for the "Valiants" in one of the club's brightest periods, helping them to win the Third Division North title and to reach the FA Cup semi-finals in 1953–54. He won one cap for the England "B" team, and later went into management with non-League clubs Boston United, Poole Town and Sittingbourne. He later worked as a physiotherapist, and also spent time behind the scenes at Oxfor ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Dennis Herod
Dennis John Herod (27 October 1923 – 16 December 2009) was an English footballer. He played as a goalkeeper for Stockport County and Stoke City, both members of the Football League. Playing career Herod was born in Basford and joined Stoke City in 1940 from local non-league side Trent Vale United after impressing the watching Bob McGrory in the final of the Sentinel Shield. He made his debut during the 1940–41 with his first three matches ending in 5–1, 6–2 and 5–3 defeats, but despite this inauspicious start Herod was offered a professional contract. His war league appearances were restricted once he was called up to the 44th Royal Tank Regiment. Whilst training in Hampshire he guested for Aldershot along with Tommy Lawton, Joe Mercer and Stan Cullis. From 1943 Herod saw action in North Africa and Italy and narrowly escaped with his life when his tank received a direct hit in Normandy in August 1944, receiving only a fractured jaw. He returned to Stoke ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Stoke City F
Stoke is a common place name in the United Kingdom. Stoke may refer to: Places United Kingdom The largest city called Stoke is Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire. See below. Berkshire * Stoke Row, Berkshire Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Buckinghamshire * Stoke Hammond * Stoke Mandeville * Stoke Poges Cheshire * Stoke, Cheshire East * Stoke, Cheshire West and Chester, a civil parish Cornwall * Stoke Climsland Devon * Stoke, Plymouth * Stoke, Torridge, in Hartland parish * Stoke Canon * Stoke Fleming * Stoke Gabriel * Stoke Rivers Dorset * Stoke Abbott * Stoke Wake Gloucestershire * Stoke Orchard Hampshire * Stoke, Basingstoke and Deane * Stoke, Hayling Island * Stoke Charity * Basingstoke, Basingstoke and Deane * Alverstoke, Gosport Herefordshire * Stoke Bliss * Stoke Edith * Stoke Lacy * Stoke Prior Kent * Stoke, Kent Leicestershire * Stoke Gold ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Sentinel (Staffordshire)
''The Sentinel'' is a daily regional newspaper circulating in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire areas of England. It is owned by Reach plc and based at Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. It is the only newspaper delivering daily news and features on professional football clubs Stoke City, Port Vale and Crewe Alexandra. The Sentinel also operates a website with sections on news, sport and entertainment, as well as a comprehensive directory of local businesses. The publication, which became a morning paper in 2009, is printed from Monday to Saturday. Circulation area ''The Sentinels patch includes the six towns of The Potteries (Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke), Newcastle-under-Lyme, Leek, Cheadle, Cheddleton, Crewe, Nantwich, Alsager, Sandbach, Stafford, Stone, Biddulph, Congleton and Eccleshall. From 29 June 2015 to 3 January 2016 it had an average daily circulation of 30,957, down from 33,426 from 29 December 2014 to 28 June 2015, and 35,112 du ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Derek Tomkinson
Derek Tomkinson (6 April 1931 – 28 July 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as an inside forward for Burton Albion, Port Vale, Crewe Alexandra, and Macclesfield Town. He helped the "Valiants" to win the Third Division North title in the 1953–54 season. He also won the Cheshire Senior Cup with Macclesfield Town in 1960. Career Tomkinson joined Port Vale as an amateur in 1949 after his father took him to The Old Recreation Ground and asked staff, "could you give my boy a game?". He never played a first-team match and instead departed for Burton Albion in 1951. He returned to Port Vale in December 1952 to sign as a professional. He made his debut on Boxing Day 1951 in a 4–1 win over Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road. He played five further Third Division North games in 1952–53, as the "Valiants" finished second in the league. Having forced his way into first-team contention by scoring a hat-trick for the reserve team against the first XI, he went on to sc ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Albert Mullard
Albert Thomas Mullard (22 November 1920 – 27 May 1984) was an English footballer who played at right-half and inside forward. After spending most of World War II in a Prisoner-of-war camp he turned to professional football. He plied his trade in the Midlands with Walsall, Crewe Alexandra, and Stoke City, though his most successful time was with Port Vale, with whom he won the Third Division North title and reached the FA Cup semi-finals in 1953–54. He also turned out for non-league sides Hinckley United and Northwich Victoria. World War II Mullard worked as a labourer at a brickworks, but enlisted in the Royal Marines on 24 September 1940. He was posted to North Africa and was eventually sent to Crete as part of MNDBO1 (Marine Naval Base Defence Organisation). He participated in the Battle of Crete in May 1941 and was captured by German Mountain Troops on 31 May 1941 while fighting in the rearguard action to defend the British evacuation at Sfakia. He was moved to m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ken Griffiths
Kenneth James Griffiths (2 April 1930 – 10 August 2008) was an English footballer. A forward, he scored 59 goals in 221 games in the Football League. With Port Vale between 1945 and 1958, a bright period of the club's history, he scored 56 goals in 196 appearances in league and cup competitions. He helped the club to the Third Division North title and the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1953–54. He moved on to Mansfield Town in January 1958, before moving into non-league football with Stafford Rangers, Wellington Town, Sankeys, Macclesfield Town, Northwich Victoria, Nantwich Town and Wolstanton United. Career Griffiths started playing football for Abbey Hulton Youth Club and then with Basil Hayward for Northwood Mission. During World War II he joined the Royal Air Force. He played inside-left for his unit's team. Port Vale He joined Port Vale as an amateur in June 1945 and signed professional forms in February 1950, making his debut under Gordon Hodgson two months later in ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Cunliffe (footballer, Born 1930)
John Cunliffe (4 February 1930 – 15 November 1975) was an English footballer who played on the left wing. He made 309 appearances in the Football League, scoring 55 goals. Signed to Port Vale for almost the whole of the 1950s, he was on the wing for one of the most exciting periods of the club's history, with Vale Park still freshly built. He helped the club to the Third Division North title in 1953–54 and the Fourth Division title in 1958–59. In September 1959 he crossed the city to play one season with Stoke City. He then became a non-league player with Macclesfield Town, Stafford Rangers and Buxton. Career Cunliffe joined Gordon Hodgson's Port Vale in December 1950, and went on to feature in eight Third Division South games in 1950–51. He scored his first goal in the Football League on 30 April 1951, in a 2–0 win over Exeter City at Vale Park. He played 11 games in 1951–52 and 19 games in 1952–53, as new boss Freddie Steele took the "Valiants" to s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Colin Askey
Colin Askey (born 3 October 1932) is an English former footballer who played on the right wing. He made a total of 341 league and cup appearances in a 15-year career in the English Football League, scoring 40 goals. His son, John Askey, played for and managed Macclesfield Town. He is most famed for his time at Port Vale, where he scored 23 goals in 217 games between 1949 and 1958. This period was one of the most memorable in the club's history, as the "Valiants" stormed to the Third Division North title and FA Cup semi-finals in 1953–54. Following this he spent four years with Walsall and then two years at Mansfield Town. He won two successive promotions with the "Saddlers" in 1959–60 and 1960–61, and also won promotion out of the Fourth Division with the "Stags" in 1962–63. He then went into non-league football, playing for Wellington Town, Stafford Rangers, Winsford United, Macclesfield Town, and Milton United. Playing career Port Vale Askey was a ground-staff boy a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Roy Sproson
Roy Sproson (23 September 1930 – 24 January 1997) was an English footballer and football manager for Port Vale. A one-club man, he holds the all-time appearance record for Vale, making 837 starts (and 5 substitute appearances) for Vale between 1950 and 1972. This includes a run of 128 consecutive appearances between April 1954 and March 1957. He is also fourteenth on the all time Football League appearance list. Sproson remained with the club from its highest peaks in the early 1950s until the troughs of the last 1960s near the bottom of the English Football League. He served under eight managers before taking the reins himself between 1974 and 1977. A relic of a bygone era when it was common for players to only play for a few clubs throughout their entire careers, his record for the club is unlikely ever to be equalled or bettered. He finished with around 350 more appearances for the club than his closest rival, and teammate of fifteen years, Harry Poole. Playing care ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Albert Leake
Albert George Leake (17 April 1930 – 24 July 1999) was an English footballer who played as a half-back. He spent the entire 1950s with Port Vale, as the club enjoyed an exciting period of their history. He helped the "Valiants" to the Third Division North title in 1953–54, and Fourth Division title in 1958–59. After a total of 43 goals in 293 league and cup games, he left the club in 1961 for non-league Macclesfield Town, a club he served as manager from 1963 to 1967. He guided the club to a Cheshire County League and Cheshire Senior Cup double in 1963–64. He also played cricket for Staffordshire in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship between 1955 and 1960. He was a right-handed batsman who fielded as a wicket-keeper. Career Leake played for Stoke City and the RAF before joining Port Vale from Stoke in February 1950. He made his debut on 24 March 1951, in a 3–1 win over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Signed and given his debut by Gordon Hodgson, the manager's ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |