Playing career

Mitchell joined Burslem Port Vale

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club currently playing in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire — one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as...

, most probably in the summer

Summer

Summer is the warmest of the four temperate seasons, between spring and autumn. At the summer solstice, the days are longest and the nights are shortest, with day-length decreasing as the season progresses after the solstice...

 of 1897. He had a fantastic start to his Vale career; scoring a hat-trick

Hat-trick

A hat-trick or hat trick in sport is the achievement of a positive feat three times during a game, or other achievements based on threes. The term was first used in 1858 in cricket to describe HH Stephenson's feat of taking three wickets in three balls. A collection was held for Stephenson, and he...

 on his debut in a 4–0 home win over Kettering

Kettering Town F.C.

Kettering Town Football Club are a football club originating in Kettering, Northamptonshire but currently based in the nearby village of Irthlingborough. The club play in the Conference National after winning the Conference North in 2007–08...

 in a Midland Football League

Midland Football League

There have been at least two different football competitions in England which used the name Midland Football League.One existed until 1982 before merging with the Yorkshire League to form the Northern Counties League....

 match on 25 September 1897. Despite this feat, he was unable to establish himself as a regular and was released in the summer of 1899, having played 15 games (including 4 in the Football League

The Football League

The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...

and 6 in the Midland League) and scored 8 goals (including 1 in the Football League and 6 in the Midland League).