Port Vale one hit wonders: number ten Winston White
In this series we look back at players who only made a solitary appearance for the Valiants. This week we look at winger Winston White…
Winston White in numbers…
A brief visit during a testing time for Port Vale..
Winston White made almost six hundred senior appearances during his seventeen year career but only managed a matter of minutes for the Valiants.
The winger began his career at Leicester City but by the end of the 1982-83 season he had been released by Hereford United and was looking for a new club. A brief spell with Chesterfield at the start of the 1983-84 season saw him make a solitary appearance and on the 12th October he came to Vale Park on trial. He was to enter a club in chaos.
Manager John McGrath was desperate so after an appearance for the reserves, White was fast-tracked into the first team. He came on as a sub for yet another defeat – this time a 2-1 away loss to Newport County on the 29th October. Two days later, White had left…
Following promotion in 1983, the new season was a complete disaster for John McGrath’s side. When White arrived, the Vale had started the season by losing eight of their opening eleven matches. Keeper Barry Siddall had made it clear he wanted to leave. Striker Bob Newton already had – leaving to join Chesterfield with the unimpressive Martin Henderson coming to Vale. Manager John McGrath was desperate so after an appearance for the reserves, White was fast-tracked into the first team. He came on as a sub for yet another defeat – this time a 2-1 away loss to Newport County on the 29th October. Two days later, White had left. His spell at Port Vale had totalled seventeen days and one first-team appearance.
He had yet another brief spell, this time at Stockport County before joining Bury, where he was to stay for the next four years.
The winger was probably counting his lucky stars at leaving the Valiants. The club lost six of the next seven League games and on the 26th November hit rock bottom as they lost 7-0 to Burnley. Player availability became so desperate that 41 year-old coach Alan Oakes was asked to play against Plymouth Argyle. The club had won just twice by the end of 1983 and despite McGrath’s replacement John Rudge turning the form around with ten wins in the second part of the season, the club were relegated.
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