Daniel Simpson was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who scored 53 goals in 151 competitive games for Burslem Port Vale between 1896 and 1903. A

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, he was twice the club's top-scorer and scored the only goal of the 1898

Staffordshire Senior Cup The Staffordshire Senior Challenge Cup is a football cup tournament based in the county of Staffordshire in England first competed for in 1877–78 (then under Sheffield Rules. Organised by the Staffordshire Football Association, it is competed ...

final.

Career

After a successful trial, Simpson played for Tunstall Town before joining Burslem Port Vale in February 1896. He scored his first goal in the Second Division on 3 April 1896, in a 4–2 defeat to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

. He scored twice in 12 games in 1895–96, after which the club was demoted to the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

. He scored 14 goals in 1896–97 and 11 goals in 1897–98 to become the club's joint-top scorer in two consecutive seasons, along with Dick Evans. He also scored the only goal of the

final on 5 March 1898. He hit seven goals in 22 appearances in 1898–99, following Vale's re-admittance into the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

. He finished the 1899–1900 season with three goals in 19 games. He featured seven times in 1900–01, scoring three goals. After suffering from poor health, he turned up at a match with Chesterfield at

Saltergate Saltergate, officially the Recreation Ground, was the historic home of Chesterfield Football Club, and was in use from 1871 until the club's relocation in July 2010, a 139-year history that made it one of the oldest football grounds in England ...

on 20 October at

half-time In several team sports, matches are played in two halves. Half-time (also written halftime or half time) is the name given to the interval between the two halves of the match. Typically, after half-time, teams swap ends of the field of play in or ...

after missing his train. Simpson got off to an excellent start to the 1901–02 campaign, finding the net in wins over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

and Woolwich Arsenal at the Athletic Ground. He finished the season with 12 goals in 28 games. However, he scored just once in six appearances in the 1902–03 season and was released from his

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

. In his nine seasons with the club he had played 151 matches (83 in the Football League) and scored 53 goals (23 in the Football League). His benefit match was held against

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

on 21 April 1900 – Stoke won the game 1–0.

Career statistics

Honours

Port Vale *

: 1898

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Danny Year of birth missing Year of death missing Footballers from Burslem English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Port Vale F.C. players English Football League players 19th-century English sportsmen