Harry Poole
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Henry Poole | ||
| Date of birth | 31 January 1935 | ||
| Place of birth | Northwood, Stoke-on-Trent, England | ||
| Playing position | Half-back / inside-forward / centre-forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Carmountside Youth Club | |||
| Milton Youth Club | |||
| National Association of Boys' Clubs | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1953–1968 | Port Vale | 451 | (73) |
| 1968–1969 | Sandbach Ramblers | ||
| Total | 451+ | (73+) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Henry Poole (born 31 January 1935) is an English former football player, noted for his swerving free kicks. Primarily a half back, he has the second highest amount of appearances for Port Vale. He made 499 league and cup appearances for the club in a fifteen-year association from 1953 to 1968. Whilst at the club the "Valiants" won the Fourth Division title in 1958–59. He is a cousin of author Jeff Kent.
Born in Stoke-on-Trent, Poole attended Carmountside Secondary Modern, alongside Terry Miles. Poole was slightly older, though the two would be teammates from their early teens, right into their 30s. After spending his youth with various clubs, Poole signed for Port Vale as an amateur in February 1953. He also appeared for Oxford City whilst on national service.
He signed professional forms with the Vale in April 1956, making his debut in a Second Division win against Middlesbrough on 28 April 1956. By 1956–57 he was a first team regular, playing 32 games, scoring his first goal for the club at Huddersfield Town on 17 November. However the club started poorly and were relegated under Freddie Steele, though Poole was described as 'one of the few rays of sunlight in an otherwise gloomy beginning'. He played 44 games in 1957–58, as the club finished fifteenth in the Third Division South, and so were invited to form the Fourth Division.
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