The 1888–89 season was Burslem Port Vale's first season and only season of football in The Combination, a short-lived regional league formed for clubs omitted from the inaugural Football League, before its premature abandonment in April 1889. Managed by an amateur committee and playing home fixtures at the Athletic Ground, the club finished the incomplete competition with a record of seven wins, four draws and 15 losses, scoring 40 goals and conceding 57. They were knocked out in the early stages of all cup competitions: the FA Cup in the Second Qualifying Round, the Staffordshire Senior Cup in the Fourth Round, and the North Staffordshire Challenge Cup at the semi-final stage. The season's top scorer was Jimmy Ditchfield with eight league goals (12 in all competitions), while attendances peaked at around 5,000 for the Potteries derby match against Stoke in February 1889.

Overview The Combination Burslem Port Vale prepared for their first-ever league campaign by signing Lewis Ballham from Stoke and Dick Danks from Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, they lost Harry Cookson to South Shore and Bob Ramsay to Stoke. Despite being overweight, forward Billy Reynolds scored the winning goal in the season-opening victory over Birmingham St George's at the Athletic Ground. Though they lost 2–1 at home to Halliwell, they recorded 6–1 and 3–0 home victories over Gainsborough Trinity and South Shore. However, a sequence of away fixtures followed, in which they picked two points on the road all season. Their home form remained steady, though, picking up 16 out of 26 points at home.

On 20 October, full-back W. E. Powell badly disjointing a knee in a 4–1 defeat at Crewe Alexandra. The injury was so severe that a doctor had to be brought onto the pitch before Powell was carried off. Powell was dubbed "Pull-it" Powell thereafter. In December, Lewis Ballham was forced to pay his former club Stoke £20 damages and costs at £1 a week by the Stoke County Court after being found guilty of breach of contract. Desperate to turn around their poor form, in March the club signed "the best centre-forward that ever left Scotland" in 19-year-old Frank McGinnes, who had built up a formidable reputation at Halliwell. The Combination league collapsed, but the team's poor form meant they were not invited to compete in either the new Football Alliance. The club management resolved to strengthen the team and had to be content with friendlies for the following campaign.

Cup competitions and friendlies Vale's interest in the FA Cup ended early as they were beaten 3–2 at Small Heath Alliance. Their friendlies in the first part of the season were also largely disappointing, losing 4–0 to Preston North End and 8–1 to Blackburn Rovers – both strong sides – but more worryingly they were humbled 4–0 at the little-known side Witton. A 3–1 home defeat to Lancashire village team Oswaldtwistle Rovers on 12 January was embarrassing, one of the worst results in the club's short history as they proved themselves "not worthy of a club their standing" on the day. On 16 February, they fell to a 5–1 defeat at home to Potteries derby rivals Stoke in front of a season-high crowd of 5,000. The return fixture ended in a 4–2 defeat, and Vale players had spent eight minutes protesting a throw-in, resulting in a lengthy halt to proceedings. They managed to beat Burton Wanderers 4–2 in the fourth round of the Staffordshire Senior Cup on 9 March, but were forced to replay the game after the visitors complained about the state of the Athletic Ground pitch; the replay was lost 3–1 as the team reverted to "the old game of a long kick and a sharp rush". They travelled to Anfield on 20 April and recorded a 1–0 victory over Everton, but the season petered out with defeat to Leek in the semi-finals of the North Staffordshire Challenge Cup and a 7–1 thumping after fielding a weakened side at Bootle.

Results WinDrawLoss The Combination

FA Cup

Staffordshire Senior Cup

North Staffordshire Challenge Cup

Friendlies

Squad statistics Appearances and goals Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; FB – Full back; HB – Half back; FW – Forward

|colspan="14"|Players who featured but departed the club during the season:

Top scorers PlacePositionNationNameThe CombinationFA CupOtherTotal1FWJimmy Ditchfield804122FWLewis Ballham605113FWBilly Reynolds40374FWJ.H. Sproston30365HBJos Randles20356HBBilly Poulson3003–FWDick Danks20138FWFred Stokes00229FWG McHarg1001–FWVessey0011–HBBilly Elson0011–––Own goals0134–––Scrimmage2103TOTALS3122659

Transfers

Transfers in Date from Position Nationality Name From Fee Ref. Summer 1888 GK Arthur Broomhall Stoke Free transfer Summer 1888 FB Udall Free transfer Summer 1888 FW F Wood Free transfer Autumn 1888 FW Lewis Ballham Stoke Free transfer Autumn 1888 HB Fred Farrington Free transfer Autumn 1888 HB E Chadwick Free transfer September 1888 GK Joseph Mawdesley Free transfer December 1888 FW G McHarg Free transfer 1889 FB Matthews Free transfer January 1889 GK Meakin Free transfer April 1889 HB Fred Farrington Halliwell Free transfer

Transfers out Date from Position Nationality Name To Fee Ref. December 1888 HB Jack Shields Quit Summer 1889 HB E Chadwick Released Summer 1889 GK Joseph Mawdesley Released Summer 1889 GK Meakin Released Summer 1889 FW G McHarg Burslem Port Vale Released Summer 1889 GK W Morgan Released Summer 1889 HB Robinson Released Summer 1889 FW J.H. Sproston Released Summer 1889 HB John Surtees Released Summer 1889 FB Udall Released Summer 1889 FW F Wood Free transfer

References Specific

General