Port Vale 1923-27

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After spending time with Cobridge Church and Congleton Town in his youth career, Wilf Kirkham signed for Port Vale and turned professional in 1923. He split his time between playing football and teaching before becoming a headmaster at Cobridge C.E. and Mill Hill School; was also a successful tennis and golf player and even signed for Stoke City before returning to The Valiants in 1932 to finish a 10 year stay at both Stoke-on-Trent clubs.

The Cobridge born centre-forward broke a club record by scoring 38 league goals during the 1926-27 league season, and 41 goals in all competitions. He scored 6 braces, 4 hat-tricks, and also scored 4 goals in one game twice. He also holds 3 other goal scoring records for the club including the most league goals scored (153) and 163 in all competitions. Wilf also achieved a tally of 13 competitive hat-tricks.

During this period in the club’s history, a young apprentice lithographer began to show initial signs of her talent after attending evening classes at the Burslem School of Art and London’s Royal College of Art in the mid 1920’s.

A. J. WIlkinson’s factory, Newport Pottery off Newport Lane, became the base for the decorating shop where Clarice Cliff worked and, later, the design studio used at the start of the ‘Bizare’ years. ‘Bizarre’ was the first, most prolific, and longest lasting of the Clarice Cliff ranges.

Hand-painted Bizarre was the name chosen by Arthur Colley Shorter, who she later married, the managing director of Wilkinson Ltd. Her bold abstract, geometry and saturated coloured designs dominated the ceramics market in the 1930’s throughout the Art Deco movement.