Photo Essay: Port Vale’s Mark Chamberlain receives an award in 1982

The background…

a) The programme

This Fourth Division game was played on the 30th January 1982. It finished in 1-1 draw with Colin Tartt scoring for the Valiants and 3,835 in attendance. Vale were in fine form at the time and this match was the ninth of a fifteen game unbeaten run.

b) The player

Mark Chamberlain was the rising star of this Vale side. Playing alongside his brother, Neville, Mark was a dashing winger who ended that season with eight goals from 55 games. His form was attracting bigger clubs and in the summer he was sold to Stoke City, alongside goalkeeper Mark Harrison for a fee of £180,000. Vale re-invested the money wisely with their revamped squad winning promotion to the third division the following season. Chamberlain went on to play in the top-flight and earn eight England caps.

c) The manager

John McGrath had joined the Valiants in 1979 and was instrumental in turning around Vale’s terrible form of the previous few seasons. McGrath was to peak the following season when he took the club to promotion. He was at the club for four years, being in charge of 203 games with a win ratio of 36%.

d) The award

The trophy which Chamberlain is receiving is from Match Weekly magazine. We believe it is their player of the month award for the Fourth Division.