View the programme from the club’s first game at the Old Recreation Ground

This programme is from the 1913-14 Central League season – and the first match which Port Vale played at their Old Recreation Ground stadium.

Background

The Valiants had moved to their sixth ground after a period of financial issues had seen them vacate the Athletic Ground in Cobridge. Six years after opening the ground, the Valiants were elected into the Football League.

This match

Played in front of a bumper crowd of 18,000 who were undeterred by terrible weather on the day. It ended in a thoroughly entertaining 3-3 draw. The Sentinel newspaper described Vale’s performance as “very satisfactory”

This season

Vale ended the season in a creditable fourth place (out of twenty sides) with visitors Blackburn finishing one place behind in fifth.

Match report

Here’s a brief match report on the game:

The programme

One interesting element of the programme is in the opening paragraph of the introduction. It says that the club is 35 years old in 1913, contradicting the “official” foundation date of 1876 (if this programme is correct the foundation year is 1878).