On February
7th 1920, Vale took part in the Scottish Cup proper for the
first time, travelling to Hampden to play Queen's Park. Queen's
were still one of the top sides in Scotland at the time and
featured the legendary Alan Morton, who would go on to join
Rangers and become known as the 'Wee Blue Devil'. Not surprisingly
Vale's maiden voyage into the Scottish Cup ended with a 3-0
defeat. |
Among the
famous players from this time were; Hugh Aird, Ford Currie,
Andrew Dickson, Jimsie Green, Wat Kerr, Bert Pearce, Jock
Robson, Andrew Turner, George Turner, George Yellowlees and
Willie Wilson. With such a good side it was inevitable that
bigger sides would be interested. Goalkeeper Jock Robson (reckoned
by many to be the greatest player ever to represent Vale)
and Ford Currie went to Arsenal, Airdieonians took Hugh Aird
and George Turner, while Bert Pearce played trials with Blackburn
Rovers. |
In January
1922, Vale found themselves drawn at home against Morton in
the Scottish Cup, a top division side at the time. The game
was too big for Caddon Park to host, so was switched to Greenock,
with the game ending 4-0 in favour of the Renfrewshire side.
Morton went on to reach their first ever Scottish Cup Final
that season, a goal from Jim Gourlay enough to defeat Rangers
- who featured the 'Wee Blue Devil' Alan Morton by this point
- at Hampden and lift the trophy for the only time in their
history so far. |
| Vale won the King Cup for the
first time in 1922, which was also the year the club moved from
Caddon Park to their present home in the enclosure at Victoria
Park, leased from the town council. |
Until this
point, Vale had mainly drawn players from Innerleithen and
Walkerburn, but transport links were improving with Harper's
Buses from Peebles and Brooke & Amos from Galashiels providing
regular bus services to the area. The result was that players
were starting to move to and from other areas. Peebles Rovers
were playing in the Scottish League 3rd Division at this time
and a number of players moved between the clubs, with local
men Wat Kerr, Andrew Dickson, George Turner, Hugh Aird and
Bert Pearce seeing Scottish League action with Rovers. Peebles
players who gave service to Vale included Ben Greaves, Pens
Anderson, Jim Dodds, Donald Murray, Cuth Wells, Same James,
Tony French and Sandy Euman. Players from Edinburgh also started
to feature in the Vale team. In fact such was the movement
of players that when the club party boarded the train at Innerleithen
Station en route to the Scottish Cup tie at Brechin in 1927,
only two local players - Jackie Patterson and Bert Pearce
- were alongside club officials, with the rest joining the
train at Peebles and Edinburgh. The trip ended in disappointment
as Vale went down 8-3 in Angus. |
Vale were
still playing in the Border League, but it was a haphazard
affair, with clubs playing fixtures whenever they wanted and
many seasons ended unfinished, which was just the way football
was in those days. The East of Scotland Football Association
decided to step in and form the East of Scotland League in
1923, which featured five Border clubs - Berwick Rangers,
Coldstream, Gala Fairydean, Selkirk and Vale - and Civil Service
Strollers and Edinburgh Civil Service from Edinburgh. Edinburgh
Civil Service dropped out after six games of the season and
were replaced by Leith Amateurs from the Lothian Amateur League.
Coldstream were the first winners of the East of Scotland
League, but the following year Vale took the championship,
losing only one game and with a goal difference of +32. |
The East
of Scotland Qualifying Cup was won again in 1925 and in 1927
Vale decided to join the Midlothian Junior League. This only
lasted one season however, and they were back in the East
of Scotland League, which in their absence had expanded to
include 15 clubs; eight from the Borders and seven from Edinburgh.
By the end of the decade, capital sides Clerwood Amateurs
and Corstorphine Amateurs had merged under the Clerwood name,
while Bathgate and Cameron Highlanders had entered into the
league to bring membership up to 16. |
| 1 |
Coldstream |
12 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
28 |
15 |
+13 |
17 |
| 2 |
Berwick Rangers |
12 |
6 |
4 |
2 |
25 |
12 |
+13 |
16 |
3 |
Gala Fairydean |
12 |
6 |
1 |
5 |
25 |
19 |
+6 |
13 |
| 4 |
Leith Amateurs |
12 |
5 |
1 |
6 |
18 |
24 |
-6 |
11 |
5 |
Civil Service Strollers |
12 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
18 |
14 |
+4 |
10 |
6 |
Vale of Leithen |
12 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
23 |
37 |
-14 |
10 |
| 7 |
Selkirk |
12 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
14 |
30 |
-16 |
7 |
| NOTE:
Leith Amateurs replaced Edinburgh Civil Service after
six matches of the season. |
|
| 1 |
Vale of Leithen |
12 |
8 |
3 |
1 |
49 |
17 |
+32 |
19 |
| 2 |
Civil Service Strollers |
12 |
8 |
1 |
3 |
23 |
15 |
+8 |
17 |
3 |
Berwick Rangers |
12 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
26 |
25 |
+1 |
12 |
| 4 |
Coldstream |
10 |
4 |
3 |
3 |
20 |
19 |
+1 |
11 |
5 |
Leith Amateurs |
9 |
4 |
0 |
5 |
13 |
18 |
-5 |
8 |
6 |
Selkirk |
12 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
14 |
24 |
-10 |
7 |
| 7 |
Gala Fairydean |
11 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
13 |
40 |
-27 |
4 |
|
| 1 |
Civil Service Strollers |
11 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
29 |
13 |
+16 |
17 |
| 2 |
Gala Fairydean |
12 |
8 |
0 |
4 |
39 |
31 |
+8 |
16 |
3 |
Leith Amateurs |
12 |
7 |
1 |
4 |
40 |
28 |
+12 |
15 |
| 4 |
Coldstream |
11 |
5 |
3 |
3 |
24 |
20 |
+4 |
13 |
5 |
Berwick Rangers |
12 |
5 |
1 |
6 |
29 |
23 |
+6 |
11 |
6 |
Vale of Leithen |
12 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
18 |
32 |
-14 |
7 |
| 7 |
Selkirk |
12 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
14 |
44 |
-30 |
3 |
|
| 1 |
Civil Service Strollers |
16 |
8 |
5 |
3 |
49 |
24 |
+25 |
21 |
| 2 |
Selkirk |
16 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
33 |
24 |
+9 |
19 |
3 |
Gala Fairydean |
16 |
9 |
1 |
6 |
55 |
48 |
+7 |
19 |
| 4 |
Coldstream |
16 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
38 |
30 |
+8 |
19 |
5 |
Berwick Rangers |
16 |
8 |
2 |
6 |
40 |
33 |
+7 |
18 |
6 |
Vale of Leithen |
16 |
7 |
2 |
7 |
51 |
55 |
-4 |
16 |
| 7 |
Leith Amateurs |
16 |
5 |
4 |
7 |
39 |
39 |
= |
14 |
8 |
Edinburgh University |
16 |
4 |
3 |
9 |
33 |
43 |
-10 |
11 |
9 |
Hawick United |
16 |
2 |
3 |
11 |
37 |
79 |
-42 |
7 |
|
| 1 |
Peebles Rovers |
28 |
17 |
5 |
6 |
81 |
45 |
+36 |
39 |
| 2 |
Berwick Rangers |
28 |
16 |
6 |
6 |
88 |
51 |
+37 |
38 |
3 |
Corstorphine Amateurs |
27 |
14 |
4 |
9 |
89 |
54 |
+35 |
32 |
| 4 |
Clerwood Amateurs |
27 |
14 |
2 |
11 |
71 |
60 |
+11 |
30 |
5 |
Gala Fairydean |
25 |
12 |
6 |
7 |
70 |
57 |
+13 |
30 |
6 |
Civil Service Strollers |
23 |
13 |
3 |
7 |
53 |
36 |
+17 |
29 |
| 7 |
Murrayfield Amateurs |
17 |
13 |
2 |
2 |
51 |
30 |
+21 |
28 |
8 |
Edinburgh City |
27 |
11 |
5 |
11 |
64 |
60 |
+4 |
27 |
9 |
Coldstream |
23 |
10 |
5 |
8 |
73 |
54 |
+19 |
25 |
10 |
Vale of Leithen |
28 |
8 |
8 |
12 |
59 |
69 |
-10 |
24 |
11 |
Edinburgh University |
25 |
8 |
4 |
13 |
62 |
80 |
-18 |
20 |
12 |
Duns |
21 |
7 |
3 |
11 |
49 |
52 |
-3 |
17 |
13 |
Selkirk |
26 |
6 |
5 |
15 |
38 |
62 |
-24 |
17 |
14 |
Leith Amateurs |
25 |
6 |
3 |
16 |
50 |
87 |
-37 |
15 |
15 |
Hawick United |
24 |
1 |
1 |
22 |
37 |
138 |
-101 |
3 |
|
| 1 |
Bathgate |
27 |
22 |
4 |
1 |
88 |
29 |
+59 |
48 |
| 2 |
Edinburgh City |
30 |
19 |
5 |
6 |
86 |
34 |
+52 |
43 |
3 |
Cameron Highlanders |
28 |
19 |
1 |
8 |
92 |
60 |
+32 |
39 |
| 4 |
Murrayfield Amateurs |
22 |
18 |
1 |
3 |
75 |
25 |
+50 |
37 |
5 |
Berwick Rangers |
28 |
12 |
6 |
10 |
74 |
59 |
+15 |
30 |
6 |
Peebles Rovers |
28 |
14 |
1 |
13 |
60 |
57 |
+3 |
29 |
| 7 |
Gala Fairydean |
28 |
13 |
3 |
12 |
63 |
72 |
-9 |
29 |
8 |
Vale of Leithen |
27 |
12 |
4 |
11 |
55 |
59 |
-4 |
28 |
9 |
Clerwood Amateurs |
22 |
11 |
6 |
6 |
67 |
44 |
+23 |
26 |
10 |
Leith Amateurs |
27 |
7 |
7 |
13 |
59 |
63 |
-4 |
21 |
11 |
Civil Service Strollers |
26 |
7 |
6 |
13 |
38 |
73 |
-35 |
20 |
12 |
Selkirk |
27 |
7 |
5 |
15 |
47 |
80 |
-33 |
19 |
13 |
Hawick United |
28 |
8 |
1 |
20 |
55 |
94 |
-39 |
17 |
14 |
Coldstream |
30 |
6 |
4 |
20 |
63 |
102 |
-39 |
16 |
15 |
Duns |
28 |
5 |
2 |
21 |
51 |
99 |
-48 |
12 |
16 |
Edinburgh University |
17 |
4 |
2 |
11 |
37 |
60 |
-23 |
10 |
|
|