The Iron Man & the Stuff of Legend

You are going to be disappointed if you think this article might be a review for a new movie in the Iron Man Franchise from Marvel Studios. Our iron man isn’t Robert Downey Jr. It is in fact Freddie Steele who became one of Port Vale’s most loved and respected managers.

And Iron Man? Well, that’s from sports reporter Bob Ferrier’s football club news roundup published in the 1951 Christmas Eve edition of the Daily Mirror under the headline ‘Iron Man Going Home Again.’ 

Bob wrote: ‘Mr. Freddie Steele, manager, and player – in each case successfully – of Mansfield Town, better known as an iron-man centre forward from sunny Stoke, the Stoke of Matthews, the Mountfords and Franklin. Freddie is to be the new manager of Port Vale in succession to Ivor Powell the Welsh international wing-half.

The only thing delaying the completion of the agreement is the matter of the transfer fee for Mansfield since Steele intends to play for his new club.  

So, for Freddie his Christmas box is a full turn in the soccer wheel. After seventeen seasons at Stoke, he goes back to his native Potteries.’

Born in Hanley in 1916, Freddie Steele was signed by Stoke City when he was fifteen years old, making his first team and First Division debut on 22 December 1934 in the 4-1 away win at Huddersfield Town. Four days later, Freddie scored in his home debut in the 3-0 win against West Bromwich Albion. Like many other talented players, Freddie’s career was interrupted by the Second World War. However, between 1934 and his transfer to Mansfield Town in 1949, he made 251 senior appearances for the Potters, scoring 159 goals as well as setting a then-club record for goals scored in a season (33 during the 1936-37 season). As player-manager at Mansfield Town, he made 62 senior appearances, scoring 44 goals.  

A Struggling Vale

By the time Bob’s piece was published the Vale were struggling. 

In October 1946, Vale appointed Gordon Hodgson as their manager. Born in the Transvaal, South Africa in 1904, Hodgson, a boilermaker by trade, was a keen amateur footballer. His side toured England in late 1924 and young Hodgson soon attracted the attention of Liverpool when he scored a hat-trick against them on 1 October. The Merseysiders couldn’t let talent like this slip through their fingers and Hodgson signed for them on 17 November 1925. He also played cricket for Lancashire.

Given he had little money to indulge in the transfer market, Hodgson put together sides that kept Port Vale mid-table in the Third Division South, apart that is from the 1947-48 season, when Vale reached the dizzy heights of eighth place. Just when his managerial career seemed to be taking off (he was interviewed for the vacancy at Liverpool), Hodgson died of throat cancer in June 1951 aged just 47. He was succeeded by Ivor Power, former QPR, Aston Villa and Welsh international wing-half.  

However, things did not bode well for Power from the outset. Just thirty seconds into the opening League fixture of the 1951-52 season, a deafening silence swept Vale Park as visitors Reading took the lead. The game ended in a 2-0 defeat and many of the 16,663 fans left the ground wondering what had gone wrong. Surely, things could only get better. For a while they did.

There followed an unbeaten run of six games. After that it fell apart. Despite managing to draw at home, Vale lost every away fixture and the 2-0 defeat at Leyton Orient on 17 November, left them propping up the Division. Something had to change. Five days later Powell’s contract was terminated, and he was released to Barry Town.

Trainer Ken Fish was put in temporary charge. On 1 December, the team’s trip to Shrewsbury Town ended in a 2-0 defeat, though the following Saturday the 4136 fans who bothered to turn up for the home fixture were treated to a rare event as Vale beat Aldershot 4-1 with Albert Mullard scoring two and Mick Hulligan and Dickie Cunliffe netting one apiece. 

On Saturday, 15 December, the away fixture at Brighton ended in a 2-1 defeat. By the time Vale played Northampton Town the following Saturday, twenty-two players had been tried out in the senior team, resulting in just three victories in the League and an unseemly 3-1 first round exit from the FA Cup at the hands of Colchester United.

Later, some players would site Powell’s management style as being a major contributing factor in the team’s poor performance.

Freddie Steele’s transfer to Port Vale was officially completed on 28 December. In doing so it made Football League history as it was the first time a player-manager had been transferred from one club to another. On completion Steele said. “I am very sorry to leave Mansfield where I was happy with the directors and players. However, I feel I shall be able to help Port Vale. Naturally I’m pleased to be back in my native town.”

Freddie used the season’s remaining League games in bringing stability to the team. Freddie was a fan of what was called the Iron Curtain defence in which goalkeeper, full backs and half backs form a cohesive unit whose aim is to close down opposition attacks. However, the Iron Curtain tactic required a settled squad for it to be truly effective.

The Iron Curtain

Port Vale wasn’t the first team to use the Iron Curtain. 

Glasgow Rangers owed their postwar successes to it. By the start of the 1948-49 season, Rangers’ Iron Curtain comprised goalkeeper Bobby Brown, defenders Jock Shaw and George Young and midfielders Ian McColl, Willie Woodburn, and Sammy Cox. 

Rangers played in the 30-game per season Scottish League Division One and their Iron Curtain defence played a pivotal role in their winning the 1946-47, 1948-49, 1949-50, and 1952-53 Championships as well as being runners-up in 1947-48, 1950-51, and 1951-52. They also won the 1947-48, 1948-49 and 1949-50 Scottish FA Cup finals and the 1946-47 and 1948-49 Scottish League Cup finals. 

There is a possibility that Freddie experimented with the Iron Curtain at Mansfield Town. The side had a settled squad at the back with goalkeeper Denis Wright appearing in 45 League games, defenders, and midfield players Don Bradley in 42, Sammy Chessell, Johnny Grogan, and Jack Lewis each making 46 appearances. Under Freddie, Mansfield finished runners-up in the Third Division North and made it to the fifth round of the FA Cup where they were beaten 2-0 by First Division Blackpool. 

Back at Port Vale, Freddie decided to use the season’s remaining games to restructure the side. Goalkeeping duties were shared by George Heppell and Ray King. Stan Turner was the regular choice at right back, whilst Reg Potts replaced Basil Hayward at left back. The midfield coalesced around the versatile Albert Leake along with Tommy Cheadle and Roy Sproson. 

Up front, things were still a little fluid. Freddie himself played at centre forward for fourteen games, scoring seven goals. However, Ken Griffiths would make the number ten shirt (inside left) his own, and Alan Bennett and Mick Hulligan quickly established themselves on wings. 

Freddie did not play in the away match at Watford on 29 December, though by 12 January he was fit enough to make his home debut against second-placed Brighton & Hove Albion. It was Vale’s best home gate (17,860) of the season, the match ending 1-1. Two weeks later, Freddie scored his first goal for the club in the 3-2 away win at Torquay United, when he took the ball from his own half to grab the winner.

Feddie had reinvigorated the team. He made fourteen League appearances himself, scoring seven goals, making him that season’s third highest scorer for the club behind Albert Mullard (13) and Ken Griffiths (8). Under Steele’s watch the club had won sixteen of their remaining twenty games to finish a respectable thirteenth on 43 points. By the end of the season, though 24 players had been used, the key elements for the Iron Curtain defence were in place, including defenders Stan Turner and Reg Potts, and midfielders Tommy Cheadle and Roy Sproson. 

Because of anomalies in the promotion/relegation rules between the Second Division and Third Divisions North and South, Port Vale were moved to the Third Division North for the 1952-53 season. 

Though the Iron Curtain tactics proved unpopular with fans, it proved to be highly effective on the field. The 1952-53 season Freddie only nineteen players. Vale’s defensive lineup comprised goalkeeper Ray Hancock, defenders Stan Turner and Reg Potts and midfielders Tommy Cheadle and Roy Sproson. There was versatility in that Albert Leake and Albert Mullard were both at home wearing either the No4 or No8 shirt. Of the 46 League games, Ray Hancock and Stan Turner played in 43, Reg Potts and Tommy Cheadle in 46, Roy Sproson in 45 and Albert Mullard in 40. Up front, Mick Hulligan played in 42, Basil Hayward in 37 and Ken Griffiths in 44.

The season ended with Vale in the runners up position just one point behind Oldham Athletic. Of the 46 League games played, Vale had won 20, drawn 18 and lost eight.  

However, at the time only the top club from each of the Third Division (North) and the Third Division (South) were promoted. Disappointing as it was, it proved to be a foretaste of things to come.

The 1953-54 season was to be the stuff of legend and it would be achieved using just nineteen players. Apart from cover for injuries, the major change in the regular line-up was goalkeeper Ray Hancock being replaced by Ray King. 

Iron Curtain aside, up front Vale managed several impressive wins in the League. On 3 October, 18,776 home fans were treated to a 5-0 hammering of York City. A few weeks later, on 28 November, Rochdale were taken apart with a hat-trick from Ken Griffiths, a couple from Albert Leake, and a single from Basil Hayward. Even better, on 10 April 1954, Stockport County endured a nightmare visit to the Potteries. The 19,513 fans were treated to 7-0 goalfest with a hat-trick from Basil Hayward, a brace from Colin Askey, and one apiece from John Cunliffe and Derek Tomkinson.

However, the club’s 1953-54 FA Cup run was the best since 1928. After disposing of Darlington 0-1 in the First Round Proper, it then took a replay to get the better of Southport. A 0-1 win over QPR at Loftus Road in the Fourth Round gave Port Vale the opportunity to test their Iron Curtain tactics on First Division meat.  

On 30 January 1954, at a snowy Ninian Park, Cardiff City were blown away 0-2, though in fairness, Cardiff’s keeper Ron Howells had been forced to leave the pitch following a collision with defender Derrick Sullivan. In the days before substitutes were allowed, Cardiff defender Alf Sherwood put on the green jersey and played between the sticks for around 70 minutes. 

Of the surviving teams entered for the Fifth Round draw, eight were from the First Division, four from the Second, three from the Third Division South. Port Vale was the sole survivor from the Third Division North. The draw resulted in a home tie against FA Cup holders Blackpool.

On 20 February 1954, Vale Park was rammed to the rafters as 42,000 fans packed in to see a Blackpool side that boasted seven internationals including the great Stanley Mathews. On paper Blackpool ought to have ripped Port Vale to shreds.

Port Vale were not fazed. Afterall, they had nothing to lose save the game itself. On the other hand, defeat at the hands of a lowly club would be a massive blow to Blackpool’s ego. Vale played their hearts out on a waterlogged pitch where two goals from the irrepressible Albert Leake put them through to the Sixth Round, and a tie against the sole survivors of Third Division South, Leyton Orient. The draw meant that a Third Division side would make it through to the semi-finals.

8000 Vale fans travelled to Brisbane Road where once again Albert Leake found the back of the net. It was close-run. In the dying moments George Poulton might well have given Orient the equalizer but was thwarted by Vale keeper Ray King. 

Vale were now just ninety minutes away from Wembley and a Cup Final tie against Preston North End or Sheffield Wednesday. 

On Wednesday, 24 March, Vale topped the Third Division North, having accrued 53 points from 34 games. Barnsley were second and Bradford City third separated by goal difference on 48 points apiece. Both had played 36 games.

However, football journalists were speculating upon Vale’s forthcoming FA Cup semi-final. Paul Burden, football writer for the Daily Record prophetically penned ‘FA Cup semi-finalists on Saturday with gallant Third Division Port Vale, pitted against the First Division leaders, West Bromwich Albion – I cannot believe there will be a successful giant-killing act here.’  

Freddie Steele made just one change for the semi-final against West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park on 27 March. Derek Tomlinson came in for Ken Griffiths who was still suffering from a knee injury. Vale’s allocation of 25,000 tickets were snapped up within hours of going on sale. 

With five minutes to go in the first half, Albert Leake put Vale ahead. It stayed 0-1 until the 62nd minute when Vale skipper Tommy Cheadle scored an own goal. The ball came off his head and keeper Ray King shouted to Tommy to leave it alone. However, Tommy didn’t hear and then slipped whilst attempting to pass the ball back and put it in the net. Eight minutes later, Tommy Cheadle was judged to have fouled George Lee inside the penalty box. Vale players protested that not only had the challenge occurred well outside the box, but that Lee had handled the ball. 

The referee would have none of it. Former Port Vale star Ronnie Allen took the penalty. As Allen used to practice taking penalties with Ray King, the Vale keeper knew where the ball was going to go. Despite getting his fingertips to it, Allen had hit the ball with such force that it still went in. Vale continued to battle on, and Albert Leake had a goal disallowed for off-side.

Though Vale’s FA Cup run was at an end, they were top of the Third Division North, three points clear as well as three games in hand over second placed Barnsley. Vale’s FA Cup run now saw them facing five games in eight days including a testimonial against an all-star XI in aid of long serving players. 

The all-star XI featured some of the great players of the period including Frank Swift, Matt Busby, Joe Mercer, Raich Carter, Dally Duncan with Stanley Matthews down to make an appearance should he be fit enough. Also playing for the all-stars was Vale’s very own Freddie Steele and it was Freddie who scored both all-stars’ goals in their 2-1 win which incidentally was Vale’s only defeat at home that season.

Vale went on to amass 69 points, taking the title 11 points clear of runners-up Barnsley. 

In winning the title, Vale set three Third Division North records. They kept a clean sheet for 30 of their 46 League games. They lost only three League fixtures, a record for that division, and conceded just 21 goals which was also a League record. Gateshead and Bradford City had the next best defensive record having conceded 55 goals apiece.

Having gained promotion to the Second Division, sports journalists were soon asking if the Iron Curtain would continue to hold. That however is another story. 

Clive Hardy

Clive is our Transport and Railway writer, with years of experience he is a fount of knowledge on all things transport nostalgia.