Port Vale 1968-69

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New manager Gordon Lee used the season to consolidate the club after it was readmitted to the Football League immediately after being expelled for illegal payment of players. Lee was big on coaching, and replaced cross country running exercises with realistic match-day situations. Stanley Matthews became more of a scout and only visited Burslem on a weekly basis, he also agreed to allow the £9,000 owed to him in payments delayed until the club were on a sounder financial footing. His name removed from his office door, he ‘gradually drifted out of the picture’.

The final day was a 1-1 draw with wooden-spoon club Bradford Park Avenue, though the Vale had five goals disallowed. Nevertheless, this game was the first of a club-record nineteen league game streak without a loss that would end on 22 November 1969 the following season. They finished in thirteenth place with 46 points from their 46 games, scoring 46 and conceding 46 goals. Vale’s first mascot, Prince Val, appeared in the club programme and on other merchandise during the 1968- 1969 season.

Also in 1969, Doulton & Co Ltd took over J W Beswick (Ltd) based in the Gold Street works in Longton. James Wright Beswick was originally in the coal-mining industry, but his pits at Chell had to close down in 1892. Doulton continued to produce his Beswick animal models and figurines under the Beswick name.

In the early 1950s, they produced a wealth of these lifelike animal pieces including cats, dogs, farm animals and wildlife that were widely sold and collected by many. They also began to manufacture a range of Disney characters including Snow White, Mickey Mouse and Bambi. These together with other character studies from that time became highly sought-after by collectors.