Reference articles on history, science, culture and more
Encyclopedia

Albert Leake

English footballer (1930-1999)

Albert George Leake (17 April 1930, 24 July 1999) was an English footballer who played as a half-back.

He spent the entire 1950s with Port Vale, as the club enjoyed an exciting period of their history. He helped the "Valiants" to the Third Division North title in 1953-54 and Fourth Division title in 1958-59. After a total of 43 goals in 293 league and cup games, he left the club in 1961 for non-League Macclesfield Town, a club he served as manager from 1963 to 1967. He guided the club to a Cheshire County League and Cheshire Senior Cup double in 1963-64.

He also played cricket for Staffordshire in the Minor Counties Cricket Championship between 1955 and 1960. He was a right-handed batsman who fielded as a wicket-keeper.

01Career

Leake played for Stoke City and the RAF before joining Port Vale from Stoke in February 1950. He represented England Youth, winning six caps. He made his professional debut on 24 March 1951, in a 3-1 win over Bristol City at Ashton Gate. Signed and given his debut by Gordon Hodgson, the manager's early death meant that Leake had to win a regular first-team place under new boss Freddie Steele. He played eight Third Division South games in 1951-52, scoring his first senior goal on 1 September, in a 1-1 draw with Watford at Vale Park.

He became a first-team regular from December 1952, and scored four goals in 26 games in 1952-53, as the "Valiants" finished as runners-up of the Third Division North. He hit 20 goals in 48 appearances in 1953-54, as Vale won the Third Division North title and reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup. He was the scorer of the FA Cup semi-final goal against West Bromwich Albion in Vale's 2-1 defeat and also had an equaliser disallowed for offside. He had previously scored five of Vale's six goals from the third round onwards that were enough to defeat Queens Park Rangers, Cardiff City, Blackpool, and Leyton Orient.

Leake scored six goals in 30 games in 1954-55, as Vale retained their Second Division status. He hit four goals in 38 games in 1955-56, before losing his first-team place to Harry Poole. He hit four goals in 22 appearances in 1956-57, as Vale suffered relegation despite the best efforts of new boss Norman Low. He featured 34 times in 1957-58, and was an ever-present in the 1958-59 season as the club won the Fourth Division title. He scored three goals in 39 games in 1959-60; however, he lost his first-team place in April 1960. He did not play a Third Division game in 1960-61, and was instead transferred to Macclesfield Town in January 1961. Two years later, he was appointed as Macclesfield's new manager, and using firm discipline, he led the club to the Cheshire County League and Cheshire Senior Cup double in 1963-64. They went on to finish second in 1964-65, third in 1965-66, and fifth in 1966-67. Upon losing his position he joined Goldenhill Y. & A. as a player. He worked as a school attendance officer between 1966 and 1995. He died at Norton le Moors in Staffordshire on 24 July 1999.

02Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Port Vale 1950-51 Third Division South 1000, 10
1951-52 Third Division South 8200, 82
1952-53 Third Division North 24410, 258
1953-54 Third Division North 401387, 4820
1954-55 Second Division 27531, 306
1955-56 Second Division 36420, 384
1956-57 Second Division 22400, 224
1957-58 Third Division South 32020, 340
1958-59 Fourth Division 46010, 470
1959-60 Third Division 33251, 383
1960-61 Third Division 00000000
Total 269342290029143
Macclesfield Town 1960-61 Cheshire County League 2020010212
1961-62 Cheshire County League 3811070461
1962-63 Cheshire County League 4112050481
1963-64 Cheshire County League 40250110562
1964-65 Cheshire County League 3515040441
1965-66 Cheshire County League 2602050330
1966-67 Cheshire County League 824020142
Total 20891903502629
Career total 4774341935055352

03Honours

Port Vale

Macclesfield Town

Watch videos about Albert LeakeExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Albert Leake, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

Fathomly is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Wikimedia Foundation. Spotted a problem? Tell us.