OUT OF CITY CAME UNITED AND THERE'S A LOT ABOUT PORT VALE TOO!

On 17th October 1919, just after the start of the 1919/20 season, the footballing authorities "closed down" Leeds City FC and expelled them from the Football League, with their fixtures being taken over by Port Vale.

The crime committed was "making illegal payments to players during the First World War", to auction off the club assets to pay the debts. On the 17th October 1919, representatives of 30 League clubs assembled at the Metropole Hotel in Leeds to bid for everything from boots to goalnets to the players! 

The Yorkshire Post newspaper described it as "a melancholy spectacle", as the playing squad was sold as if they were cattle. Billy McLeod was bought by Notts County for £1250, John Hampson sold to Aston Villa and Harold Millership sold to Rotherham County both for £1000, while £100 was the bargain price that Lincoln City paid for Francis Chipperfield. 

Their whole squad went for around £10,000. You could claim this to be slavery but I would have thought emerging out of that hardship, a new club was soon playing at the Elland Road home of Leeds City called Leeds United!!

The official story reported on the club website is that Port Vale F.C. was formed in 1876, following a meeting at Port Vale House, from where the club was supposed to have taken its name. However, documented evidence of football from that era is exceptionally scarce and research by historian, Jeff Kent, indicateS that the club was probably formed in 1879, as an offshoot of Porthill Victoria F.C. and took its name from the valley of canal ports where the team played.  (look up the symbols on the club badge)

In the club's early days the team played their football at Limekiln Lane, Longport and after briefly from 1880, at Westport. The club moved to Moorland Road in Burslem in 1884, changing its name to Burslem Port Vale in the process, though the club stayed in Burslem for just one year before turning professional and moving to Cobridge to play at the Athletic Ground. In 1892, the club was invited to become founder members of the Football League Second Division, after proving themselves a strong club in the Midland League. They spent 13 seasons in the Second Division, either side of a two-season return to the Midland League (1896–97 and 1897–98).

Chart of table positions of Port Vale in the Football League.

The club was forced to resign from the league at the end of the 1906-7 season and were subsequently liquidated. However, the name of Port Vale was continued after the ambitious minor league side, Cobridge Church, opted to change their name. The new club subsequently moved into its new home at the Old Recreation Ground, in 1912. They returned to the Football League in October 1919, taking over the fixture list of Leeds City in the Second Division, who were forced to disband because of financial irregularities.

As of the 2024-25 season, Port Vale has never played top-flight football; it has spent 41 seasons in the second tier, 48 seasons in the third tier, 24 seasons in the fourth tier of the Football League, as well as 16 seasons in non-league football. 

No team has played more Football League seasons (113) without reaching the top-flight.

OUR BLACK FOOTBALLERS

THIS WAS PUBLISHED SOME YEARS AGO. It is a busy day for me today and much going on in English international football. I think this is appropriate to share with you, on such a busy and meaningful day.

There is a16ft statue of the world's first black professional footballer, which was unveiled at the FA's national football centre in Burton on this day a few years ago! Cast in bronze, it depicts goalkeeper Arthur Wharton flinging himself backwards to tip a ball over the bar. Wharton was born Jamestown, Gold Coast (now Accra, Ghana) in 1865 and played as an amateur for Darlington and Preston North End, and professionally for Rotherham Town and Sheffield United  Reputedly he was the first man in England to run 100 yards in 10 seconds.

The story of how it got there involves Sepp Blatter, Stevie Wonder, Rio Ferdinand and a 53-year-old Darlington artist called Shaun Campbell. It all started seven years ago in Middlesbrough Town Hall.

Campbell, a 53-year-old with English and Barbadian heritage, was giving a speech in the town as part of Black History Month. He picked up a brochure and read, for the first time, about Wharton - a Methodist missionary who moved from the Gold Coast to Darlington in the 1880s.

Campbell went back to his art furniture shop and painted a picture of Wharton. A customer saw it, asked Campbell who it was, and told the local newspaper, the Northern Echo and the campaign was born.  Campbell wanted a statue of Wharton in Darlington, either at the football ground (Feethams or the newly-built arena) or elsewhere in the town. But after gaining only a "measured amount of support" he decided to take the campaign nationwide.

And that - in September 2008 - is where Stevie Wonder came in.

"I was in Birmingham for a furniture trade fair," explains Campbell. "Along with my ticket, there was a flier for a Stevie Wonder concert. I thought, 'I'll stay on, watch the concert, that will be great'.

"Next thing you know, we're on stage in front of thousands of people and Stevie Wonder is waxing lyrical about Darlington and Arthur Wharton.

It was Wonder who suggested that Campbell broaden the campaign to make it about education, as well as the statue. And so the Arthur Wharton Foundation was born, with the aim of promoting racial harmony, equality and diversity.

In 2009, UEFA donated £17,500 to the campaign and received, in return, a maquette - a scaled-down version of the statue - which is still on display in their headquarters. "UEFA were magnificent from the moment I contacted them," says Campbell.

From there, the FA and FIFA also offered support, with Campbell presenting the maquette to Sepp Blatter  in Zurich in June 2012.

In the 1980s, a history lecturer called Ray Jenkins brought the tale to a modern audience  and, in 1998, the author Phil Vasili wrote a book called "The First Black Footballer" about Wharton.

A year earlier, Wharton's unmarked grave in Edlington, South Yorkshire, was given a headstone after a campaign by the charity Football Unites Racism Divides (FURD).

But it was Campbell who took Wharton's story to the world, persuading everyone from Rio Ferdinand to Andy Cole to Theo Walcott to pose with a maquette and back the campaign. Patrons of the foundation include Viv Anderson, George Boateng and Irvine Welsh.

Anderson - the first black player for the full England team - first learned about Wharton through an exhibition at the National Football Museum, then in Preston, in 2003.

"The campaign has been given legs by Shaun Campbell. If it wasn't for his passion and drive it would be dead in the water. Wharton's story has to be told."  Another of the foundation's patrons is Sheila Leeson, Wharton's granddaughter.

In October 2012, she travelled with the foundation to Ghana, where two teams competed for the Arthur Wharton Memorial Cup. The group met Wharton's Ghanaian descendants and went to his former school, Mfantsipim - the former UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, is another alumnus.

But it isn't just football that has remembered Wharton's achievements.  In 2013, Campbell presented a statue to Lamine Diack , president of the IAAF, at the Anniversary Games at London's Olympic Stadium. Wharton was also commemorated at England Athletics' Hall of Fame awards that year.

But it's the National Football Centre where Wharton will - in the words of St George's Park chairman David Sheepshanks - "educate and inspire a new generation of coaches and players from all backgrounds". The erection of the statue will be accompanied by an educational package, supplied by FURD.

Another statue has been approved at Rotherham United's ground and Campbell will keep spreading the message. Only last week, he was in Rome, giving a speech to Michel Platini and UEFA.  The campaign has come a long way - in every sense - from his art furniture shop in Darlington. 

MINTED!

It was in 1973 that Derby chairman, Sam Longson made one of those decisions that rocked the foundations of his football club. Brian Clough, who had delivered the Football League title to the Baseball Ground for the first time, was sacked after 12 matches into the new season. 

Longson and the "Board" were growing tired of "Ol' Big 'Ead's" outspoken nature, particularly after he had called Juventus' players "cheating bastards" following Forests' loss the Italian club in the previous season's European Cup semi-finals the previous season. After short spells at Brighton and Leeds he joined Derby's bitter rivals, Nottingham Forest, who twice became champions of Europe under Clough!

Sam Longson OBE (11 April 1900 – 17 January 1989) founded a road haulage business in Chapel-en-le-Frith that became the largest in Derbyshire. He sold the road haulage company by 1967. 

Longson joined the board of directors of Derby County in 1952 and became the chairman in December 1965. He was instrumental in the appointment of Brian Clough as Derby County manager in May 1967, under whose leadership the club won the league title in May 1972. 

Clough helped win support to Longson as Chairman after he briefly lost the position. Longson's relationship with Clough broke down in 1973 and he accepted Clough's resignation after a disagreement over the manager's media appearances. 

Longson appointed Dave MacKay to succeed Clough and the club won the league title again in 1975. Longson was appointed an OBE in the 1977 New Year's Honours. Later that year he disagreed with some directors on the board who advocated for the return of Clough as manager. Longson resigned as chairman on 24 February, though he remained as club president and was a director until 6 May 1980.

On this day in 1887, Preston etched their name in the history books, when they set an English goalscoring record, beating HYDE FC 26-0, in the First Round of the FA Cup, when Jimmy Ross scored eight goals past the "Tigers". He scored 19 goals during the club's Cup run, the first time that had happened (and since!). Jack Gordon and Sam Thompson each scored 5, making it the first time three players had scored 5 or more for the same club in one FACup tie,

On 22 November 1922, Wilf Minter, below, scored seven goals in an FA Cup match and still ended up on the losing side. The match was an FA Cup Fourth Qualifying Round replay, pairing Dulwich Hamlet from the Isthmian League against Minter's side, reigning Athenian League champions St. Albans. Their first meeting ended in a 1-1 draw at St. Albans, with the hosts nicking a late equalizer.

Played before a crowd of 4,060 at Dulwich's Champion Hill ground, the replay featured emergency replacements in both goals, which undoubtedly contributed to the scoreline. After the first 30 minutes, Minter had his first hat-trick and St. Albans were leading 1-3. Dulwich rallied to go ahead 5-3 in the 60th minute, but Minter notched another hat-trick in the next 10 minutes to push St. Albans ahead, 5-6. With 5 minutes remaining, Dulwich scored again to send the match to extra time. Dulwich struck first in extra time, but Minter again rose to the occasion, scoring his seventh to equalize five minutes from time. The teams appeared to be headed for another replay when a Dulwich player named Davis scored his fourth of the day to win the match 8-7.

IT COULD BE CARSLEY BUT LET'S HAVE CZECH

14th October, today, I could give you a background on the England manager situation but let's not get too depressed. Instead, enjoy some blood and thunder from this day 2006 and Petr Cech.

Chelsea gained a 1-0 Premier League victory over Reading at the Madjeski Stadium in a match not likely to be forgotten by anyone present that Saturday afternoon. In the first minute Chelsea 'keeper Petr Cech collided with Stephen Hunt, the Reading midfielder's right knee hitting Cech's head which resulted in the Czech 'keeper being stretchered off. Substitute 'keeper Carlo Cudicini took his place but in added time he too was stretchered off, unconscious, after a collision with Ibrahima Sonko. Chelsea captain John Terry took over in goal for the closing seconds of the fixture which saw Chelsea down to 9 players as Mikel John Obi had been sent off earlier, as had Reading's Andre Bikey. Reading's Ivar Ingimarsson scored the only goal of the match - an own goal - to give Chelsea the 1-0 win and end Reading's 14 month unbeaten home record. The injury to Petr Cech was initially believed to be concussion but was later found to be a potentially life-threatening depressed skull fracture. But the Czech goalkeeper was back in action for Chelsea again in January 2007 wearing what became a trademark headguard. Mind you that caused him a bit of strife with the Chelsea kit providers in the early days - the headguard wasn't one of theirs!

Association football career Position(s) Goalkeeper Youth career 1989–1999 Viktoria Plzeň Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1999–2001 Chmel Blšany 27 (0) 2001–2002 Sparta Prague 27 (0) 2002–2004 Rennes 70 (0) 2004–2015 Chelsea 333 (0) 2015–2019 Arsenal 110 (0) Total 567 (0) International career 1997–1998 Czech Republic U15 3 (0) 1998–1999 Czech Republic U16 15 (0) 1999 Czech Republic U17 3 (0) 1999–2000 Czech Republic U18 13 (0) 2000–2001 Czech Republic U20 7 (0) 2001–2002 Czech Republic U21 15 (0) 2002–2016 Czech Republic 124 (0) Medal record *Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ice hockey career Weight 92 kg (203 lb; 14 st 7 lb) Position Goaltender NIHL team Former teams Oxford City Stars Guildford Phoenix Chelmsford Chieftains Belfast Giants Playing career 2019–present

FK Chmel Blšany was a Czech football club based in the village of Blsany. The club played in the Czech First League between 1998 and 2006 and was the first professional club of goalkeeper Oetr Cech. The club disbanded in 2016 after resigning from the 2016-17 regional championship (5th tier of the Czech football league)

The club was established as Sokol Blšany in 1946. The club played at the Mestky Stadion with capacity of 2,300 seats. That meant that even with every citizen of Blšany village in the stand, there would be still about 1,500 free seats.

COFFEY AND OULU

Loads of football going on this weekend. Today matches include from the Men's UEFA Nations League: Liechenstein v Gilbraltar, Finland v England, Malta v Moldova, Greece v Rep of Ireland, Kazakhstan v Slovenia, Austria v Norway, Armenia v North Macedonia, Faroe Islands v Latvia.

Of course we are interested in Finland! England's Nations' League match against Finland in Helsinki today is the first time in 24 years that the Three Lions have played in the Nordic country.

But Finland's men's domestic league, the Veikkausliiga, is home to 12 footballers from the United Kingdom and three managers. Only during the 1996 season has that number of players been higher.

Many of them have found a home that they never anticipated, having faced hurdles when trying to make it in the English Football League.

"It's been a pretty crazy ride," AC Oulu striker Ashley Coffey. The 30-year-old was released by League Two side Bradford City's academy aged 15 after being told he was "too slow". A trial as a centre-back at boyhood club Leeds United followed, where Neil Warnock was managing.

"I was a season ticket holder at the time, so it was a bit surreal going on trial for three weeks, seeing players that I watched in the stands," said Coffey, who had also been a mascot at Elland Road as a child. "I didn't get a contract, so from there, I just thought, 'this is kind of over in terms of professional football, I'll get a qualification at university'. "I think I probably went out and drank and partied too much, but thoroughly enjoyed it!"

Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	West Auckland Town	14	(3)
2014–2016	Newton Aycliffe
2016–2018	Marske United
2018–2019	Whitby Town	12	(2)
2019	Huddinge	11	(12)
2020	Haninge	29	(28)
2021–2022	AFC Eskilstuna	47	(18)
2023–	AC Oulu	47	(24)

Coffey played in the Northern League while working as a youths' tutor, before a Swedish girlfriend suggested he try his luck by emailing clubs in her country. "I think it was around 50, 60 teams and maybe two or three got back to me," he recalled. Then came a trial in Sweden's fourth tier. After watching one training session, Huddinge IF offered him €200 (£167) a month, a transport ticket and a free pair of boots.

The following year, in 2020, he broke the third-tier goalscoring record with 28 goals in 29 games for IFK Haninge, before signing the first professional contract of his career with AFC Eskilstuna in the second tier, aged 27. "I realised that if I was going to do anything in football, I needed to really switch on and commit," said Coffey, who had been teaching at an English School before signing that full-time deal. "It was quite surreal, the first three four months I found really hard because I'd worked for something all my life and then instantly, you are just kind of living your dream."

Finally, the offer of top-flight football in Finland came last year. Coffey did not need any convincing."I made a bit of a gamble, but it's paid off and I've loved it," he said. "I didn't realise how harsh the winters were going to be - January, February was like -30C - we train in an inside dome, but in winter that's freezing as well. "Away trips are pretty brutal. There's one trip to Mariehamn that's on its own little island - that's about 13 hours just to get there," he added. He is third from right, in yellow (as you look at it).

THE BAY DERBY AND DEREK

Football in the Morecambe town dates back to the turn of the 20th century; however, it was not until 7 May 1920 that Morecambe FC was formed after a meeting at the local West View Hotel. The club then took its place in the Lancashire Combination League for the 1920-1 season. 

Sharing grounds with Morecambe Cricket Club at Woodhill Lane during the first season, football proved popular, with crowds in excess of 3,000 for derby fixtures with Lancaster City and Fleetwood Town. Although success on the field was hard to come by, with the club languishing near the bottom of the table, at the end of the first season the club moved grounds to Roseberry Park. A few years later after the purchase of the ground by the then-President, J.B. Christie, the ground's name was changed to Christie Park in his honour. Those early seasons proved difficult, and it was not until 1924–25 that the club began to enjoy some success, claiming the league title for the first time; this was later followed by success in the Lancashire Junior Cup, beating old rivals Chorley after two replays, and in front of over 30,000 spectators.

Christie bequeathed the ground to the club in 1927 and also helped incorporate the club into a Limited Company with a then share capital of £1,000. The rest of the 1920s and the whole of the 1930s saw a constant struggle to keep football alive on the North West coast, with poor results on the field and little or no revenue off the field.

This week, winless Morecambe, The Shrimps, sought to end their longest ever streak without a victory in the EFL with a tough game, on the road, at Barrow, who have taken 13 points from five home games this season.

Morecambe have not won in 15, the "joint-longest" across the top four divisions with Cambridge United, and have taken only five points from that run. They have however won three of the past four meetings between the sides, so Saturday is obviously the day for club manager, Derek Adams' team! 

DEREK'S Managerial career
2007–2010	Ross County
2011–2014	Ross County
2015–2019	Plymouth Argyle
2019–2021	Morecambe
2021–2022	Bradford City
2022–2023	Morecambe
2023–2024	Ross County
2024–	Morecambe

Head to Head in history!

01 Dec 2020	Morecambe v Barrow	W	1-0	League Two
20 Feb 2021	Barrow v Morecambe	W	1-2	League Two
10 Oct 2023	Morecambe v Barrow	W	3-1	Football League Trophy
31 Oct 2023	Barrow v Morecambe	L	1-0	League Two
01 Apr 2024	Morecambe v Barrow	W	2-1	League Two
12 Oct 2024	Barrow v Morecambe	L	0-1	League Two today Hooray

 Derek's playing career.

Senior career
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1992–1995	Aberdeen	0	(0)
1995–1996	Burnley	2	(0)
1996–1998	Ross County	72	(41)
1998–2004	Motherwell	159	(18)
1999–2000	→ Ayr United (loan)	4	(0)
2004–2005	Aberdeen	20	(4)
2005–2006	Livingston	25	(0)
2006–2009	Ross County	36	(4)
Total		318	(67)