Eighteen goals in sixteen games – Port Vale striker Bobby Blood’s astonishing run

A legendary forward for the club, striker Bobby Blood went on an extraordinary run of goalscoring form during Port Vale’s return to League football.

The background

In 1919, Port Vale had returned to the Football League after a twelve year absence. Vale had resigned from the League in 1907 and then World War One had halted football. However, the club had been revived after its name was taken over by Cobridge Church and eventually took over the fixtures of Leeds City after that club folded. The season itself was fairly unspectacular apart from a tremendous run of goalscoring from rookie forward Bobby Blood.

The player

Born in Buxton at the turn of the century, Bob Blood took part in a successful trial with the Valiants and was signed in 1919 for the princely sum of £50. It turned out to be money well spent. The actual transfer of Blood had come against medical advice. Doctors had warned against the signing as Blood had a hole in one leg sustained during service in World War One and had one leg shorter than the other. Vale’s management ignored the warnings and reaped the rewards.

To go back to the injury – Blood had served his country in World War One as a soldier in the Sherwood Forresters. He was injured in an attack on Béthune, an important railway town. Nearly 3,000 English troops lost their lives in the area and Blood nearly lost his leg as a result of his injury. He recovered to return to his unit nine months later and finished the war with the rank of sergeant major.

Having worked tirelessly to build up the muscles in his leg (he trained for hours kicking a ball up a steep slope) Blood now possessed a ferocious shot. In his debut season he was nothing short of a sensation – scoring 26 goals in 32 games.

Two illustrations of Blood’s power came in the following 1920-21 season where he continued to score regularly. Against Bristol City, Blood hit a full-blooded shot but the keeper managed to get his hand to it to save it. However, the shot was hit so powerfully it broke the City goalkeeper’s wrist. In the same season, a Stockport County defender who cleared a Blood shot off the line in a game had to be taken to hospital with concussion.

He could have gone on to be a club legend but unfortunately club finances were in a dire condition. Just two years after signing for Vale he was sold to West Brom for a club record £4,000. He ended his spell at Vale with the stunning record of 45 goals in 54 games.

Reportedly, Blood was reluctant to move but was told he had to go or the Valiants may fold. He continued his rich scoring vein with Albion and had further spells with Stockport County and Winsford United before finishing his career with hometown outfit Buxton.

Bob lived to the ripe old age of 94. He passed away in 1988 in his beloved Buxton.

The run of games

Blood had already quickly adjusted to his first season of League football. He had four goals for the club before the fixture with Clapton Orient on the 24th November. Blood would score twice that day and would go on to net another sixteen times in his next fifteen matches. His scoring run included all four goals in a 4-0 win over Rotherham, a hat-trick against Nottingham Forest while there were also two braces for the prolific forward.