Who is the hottest Port Vale striker ... Tom Pope or Chris Young?
TOM Pope is a scoring sensation, but is he really a record breaker?
Port Vale historian Jeff Kent has cast doubts on the Sneyd Green assassin's claims to be the quickest player to 20 goals in a season for the Valiants.
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FLASHBACK: Former Vale striker Andy Jones, who once scored 37 goals in a season, celebrates another hat-trick with then manager John Rudge.
When Pope bagged a hat-trick against Bristol Rovers on Tuesday, he got to 20 goals faster then Wilf Kirkham, who reached the tally a day later, on November 21, in the 1925/26 season.
But hold your horses, Bycars Ender Kent points out that Pope's record of 20 goals by November 20 is only a record for Football League matches.
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He puts forward the case for Valiants hit-man Chris Young, who bagged 20 goals by November 2 in the Central League in the 1914/15 season.
What's more, the Vale historian points out that, although Kirkham reached 20 goals a day later than Pope in the calendar, he actually did it in fewer days because the season started later in 1925/26.
Kent, from Cotes Heath, admits these will not be the most well-received conclusions of his time as Vale historian.
However, he is no stranger to flying in the face of popular opinion.
Shareholders at Vale's EGM last year may remember him taking to the floor to make a speech in favour of retaining the 24.9 per cent maximum share-holding rule, even though this was seen by most fans as an obstacle to sweeping away an unpopular board and bringing in new owners.
"I wasn't expecting much support when I stood up," recalls Kent.
"In fact, there were 300 people there and I must have been booed by 200 of them."
Just in case, it's worth putting on record that Kent, a Vale fan since 1956, rates Pope as one of his favourite players.
He added: "My favourite-ever striker would be Andy Jones, but the way Tom is going he could replace him.
"In fact, Tom could break Andy Jones's post-war record of 37 goals in a season.
"If that happens then I think Tom would be every Vale fans' favourite player."
Jones's record haul helped the Valiants finish 12th in the old Third Division, in the 1986/87 campaign.
Kent added: "Andy Jones was a real swashbuckling player. I also liked Roy Chapman because he managed to score 25 goals in a poor Vale team when he was well into his thirties."
Chapman, the father of Stoke City striker Lee, was top scorer in the 1967/68 Vale side which finished 18th in the old Division Four.
Kent added: "Tom Pope has done brilliantly so far and, if he could beat Andy Jones's record, it would be a phenomenal achievement."
Kent's new book, What If There Had Been No Port In the Vale, looks at how things may have turned out for the club if events in it's history had been slightly different.
It's available, including local home delivery, for £12. For further details, contact Jeff on (01782) 791673 or by emailing witan@mail.com
MICHAEL BAGGALEY
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