Wilf Kirkham

The name Wilf Kirkham is associated with Port Vale Football Club by the majority of supporters purely from a statistical point of view in that he holds both club scoring records - most goals in a season, 38 league plus 3 FA Cup in 1926/27 and the most goals in a career, 154 league goals plus 11 in the FA Cup between the years 1923/29 and 1931/33. These are just the bare bones that appear in most journals about the Vale but we will look into his career in far more detail.

Wilf was born in Cobridge and showed great promise as a footballer at school and progressed from Cobridge Church F.C. on to Congleton Town before going to college at Sheffield to train as a teacher. Several league clubs approached him but his ambition was to play for his local side, the Vale, who in those days played at the Old Recreation Ground in Hanley.

He achieved his wish by turning professional in 1923 and made his debut on October 27th at Leeds where Vale lost 3-0. He made a steady start scoring seven goals in 20 games that season in the centre-forward role that he was soon to make his own. The following season the Second Division became fully aware of the name Wilf Kirkham as he rattled in 26 league goals out of the whole teams total of 48 with another seven being scored in just three FA Cup games.

In September 1925 he scored a hat trick as Vale won 3-0 at Stoke and then a month later was chosen to play for the Football League Vs The Irish League at Anfield. The Football League won 5-1 with Wilf netting a brace.

35 League goals flew into the oppositions net that season and he managed to increase that to 38 the following season, which to this day is still a Port Vale record. 1929 was a disastrous year for Vale who were not only relegated but saw Kirkham transfer to Stoke City!!!

He still continued to score goals at the southern end of the city notching two hat-tricks before suffering a broken leg on the opening day of the 1931/32 season. After recovering he found it difficult to regain his first team place and was transferred back to the Vale totally out of the blue in January 1932. On his return he scored an hat-trick for the reserves and made his first team comeback a week later against Stoke, funnily enough. Vale won 3-0 but this time Wilf didn't get his name on the score sheet.

Now playing more often than not at inside-left, Wilf helped the team to avoid relegation on the last day of the season by the skin of their teeth winning 2-0 at already promoted Leeds. The following season Wilf was again top scorer with 15 league goals and it was at this point he decided to call it a day and retire. Besides his huge total of 154 league goals another club record that is unlikely to ever be beaten was his total of 10 hat-tricks plus scoring four goals twice.

Upon ending his playing days he became headmaster of Cobridge C.E. School. His athletic prowess still came to the fore as he took up tennis to such a degree that he represented Staffordshire in the Hard Courts Doubles Championships in 1939. Another leg injury forced him to quit tennis and so he next switched to golf, again with a degree of success that bought him a few trophies. There was no stopping the man.

He progressed to Headmaster at Mill Hill School and then remained in the area after his retirement. Sadly he died in the mid seventies but his records have ensured that he will never be forgotten.