History
1876: Port Vale Football Club was formed in 1876 and took its name from the venue of the inaugural meeting at 'Port Vale House' situated in a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent. Upon moving to Burslem in 1884 the club changed its name to 'Burslem Port Vale' and after several seasons in the Midland League became founder members of the Football League Division Two in 1892.
1896: The first few years, however, were a struggle and in 1896 the club failed to gain re-election and returned to the Midland League. Following an F.A Cup victory in 1898 over First Division Sheffield United the club once again returned to the Football League. It was still an uphill battle though, and in 1907 the club were forced to resign due to financial difficulties and almost went into oblivion. The prefix 'Burslem' was dropped from the name as a new ground in Hanley was acquired in 1913. In October 1919 after eight seasons in the Central League the Club returned in dramatic circumstances to the Football League. Following the expulsion of Leeds City for making illegal payments the club was elected to take over their remaining fixtures and responded by finishing in a creditable 13th place.
1928: In 1928-29 the Club experienced relegation for the first time, but bounced back to win the Third Division (North) Championship and in 1931 went on to finish in 5th place in Division Two which still remains the club's highest ever league position. The club was again relegated in 1936 despite knocking the first division champions, Sunderland, out of the FA Cup and spent the next 18 years fluctuating between Third Divisions North and South due to its central geographical location.
1950: In 1950 the Club moved to its present home at Vale Park which due to its size and the planned developments became known as 'The Wembley of the North'. 1953-54 saw the best season in the Club's history as it romped to the Third Division (North) Championship, losing only three games and conceding just twenty-one goals, whilst also reaching the semi-finals of the F.A Cup only to lose controversially to West Bromwich Albion. The stay in Division Two lasted only three years until 1957, then going straight down to become founder members of the newly formed Fourth Division. It turned out to be a successful season though as a Club record 110 goals helped to take the title.
1960: The next few seasons saw the F.A Cup providing the highlights as the 5th Round was reached in 1960 and 1962 with 4th Round matches in both 1963 and 1964 with a draw at Champions elect Liverpool in the latter campaign. Relegation back to Division Four in 1965 and a barren spell followed with the ignominy of having to seek re-election after being charged with making illegal paymenst to players in 1968.
1970: Gordon Lee became manager and put together a promotion winning team in 1970 and then after again reaching the 5th Round of the F.A Cup in 1977 were relegated the following season. The Club continued to sink to its lowest ever position in 1980 and this saw the arrival of John Rudge as coach to manager John McGrath. A promotion campaign was mounted in 1982-83 to revive the Club's fortunes but unfortunately a year later relegation saw the club going straight back down with John Rudge taking over the reins as manager for the first time. Promotion was again achieved in 1986 and striker Andy Jones rose to International status with Wales following his 37 goal haul in 1987.
1988: A major turning point in the Club's history arrived in January 1988, when a late winner in the F.A Cup against non-league Macclesfield Town earned a plum 4th Round home tie against Tottenham Hotspur. When Port Vale won 2-1 to earn national recognition the club's fortunes appeared to take off. In 1988-89 a third place and promotion via the play-offs took the club back to Division Two for the first time in thirty-two years. This rekindled the long awaited local derbies with Stoke City and all went well until midway through the 1991-92 season when a run of eighteen games without a win ended in relegation.
Fortunately the directors stood by John Rudge and in the 1992-93 season after a long battle finished in third place on eighty-nine points, a record total at the time for a team failing to gain promotion. This meant a second participation in the play-offs but it ended in defeat at Wembley against West Bromwich Albion. The previous weekend yielded a never-to-be-forgotten day though, as the Club's first ever Wembley visit ended in victory in the Autoglass Trophy Final backed by over 25,000 supporters to climax a run that included a 1-0 win at holders, Stoke City. Goals by Paul Kerr and Bernie Slaven in the final securing a 2-1 victory over Stockport County.
1993: In 1993-94 the Club finished second in Division Two to gain automatic promotion and in the 1995-96 season played a record sixty-two games which saw them reach the Anglo-Italian Cup Final at Wembley and the 5th Round of the F.A Cup. In the latter, victory over reigning Cup holders, Everton was rewarded by Sponsor, Littlewoods presenting the Club with a special 'Giantkillers' award.
Despite being quoted as pre-season relegation favourites in 1996/97, we confounded their critics to finish in our highest position since 1934 by finishing 8th.
1997/98 will be best remembered for the last match victory at Huddersfield that saw the club safe from the threat of relegation and the exciting F.A Cup games versus eventual double winners Arsenal, where only a penalty shoot out separated the teams.
In 1998/99 the Club again retained their First Division status at the death, this time under new manager, Brian Horton.
The continual struggle against the odds eventually caught up with the club and in May 2000 Vale suffered relegation to the Second Division.
Expectations for the new season among supporters were high but the Valiants had a poor first half of the season which included a first round defeat in the Worthington Cup against Chester City.
Worse was to come in November 2000 when Vale were knocked out of the first round of the FA Cup by non-league Canvey Island. The second half of the season saw a complete turn around in preformances and results on the field that saw Vale rise from the depths of the relegation zone to a respectable 11th position. Records for consecutive away wins were equalled which is more amazing when you consider that in the previous two seasons Vale had won just 2 away games. The Valiants remained unbeaten for a total of 16 consecutive games which was eventually halted by a narrow 1-0 defeat away to league leaders Millwall.
The highlight of the season though, was without a doubt, the victory over Brentford in the LDV Vans Trophy at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff on 22nd April with a 2-1 over the Bees courtesy of goals from Bridge-Wilkinson and Brooker.
Vale's run in the competition started with a 3-0 win over Notts County at Vale Park on 9th January which in itself saw the end of what must be an unwanted record. Vale had failed to win a single cup game of any sort during the previous 53 months.
We progressed to the final with further wins over Chester City, Darlington, Stoke City and Lincoln City.
The 2002/2003 season was always going to be a struggle, with finances dictating the situation and the club unable to afford a squad large enough to make any headway in Division Two.
In December, the club was forced to go into administration and unfortunately, staff cuts duly followed, with Assistant Manager Mark Grew and Chief Scout Ray Williams the big name casualties.
Chairman Bill Bell eventually made way for the new owners, Valiant 2001 and on the field of play, Brian Horton's men managed to see off the threat of relegation - but only just!
New Chairman Bill Bratt warned supporters and staff alike that things would not get better over night and the club had a transfer embargo slapped on them to make things even more difficult.
Yet the start of the 2003/2004 season saw expectations rise sharply, as the side started off really well and we were soon sitting pretty at the top of Division Two.
Steve McPhee had managed only three goals the previous season, but it was soon evident the the young Scot was about to make a mockery of that derisory total.
The whole place had been given a massive lift by the new owners, but their hands were tied and there was little they could do which would allow Brian Horton to add to the squad.
We were still in with a shout of a play off place, when the manager and the club, perhaps a little surprisingly, parted company and the board wasted no time in replacing him with crowd favourite Martin Foyle.
Foyle himself wasted no time in bringing in another former favourite, Dean Glover, who had left to join Stone Dominoes the previous season.
In the 2006-2007 season we got off to a terrific start, winning our opening four league matches, and then following that up by beating Championship outfit Preston North End in the Carling Cup. A drop in form and a larger than expected injury list took its toll, though there was further Carling Cup success as we saw off two more Championship clubs, in QPR and Norwich, before going out of the competition at White Hart Lane. We actually took the lead against Tottenham when top scorer Leon Constantine found the net, but the home side came back to force extra time and tired legs saw the Valiants concede a further two goals before returning to the Potteries with heads held high.
Following a poor start to the 2007-2008 season, Manager Martin Foyle left the club by mutual consent and Dean Glover took over the reigns as Caretaker manager, until a new man was appointed. The new manager was Lee Sinnott, who had previously managed Farsley Celtic, where he had successfully guided the club into the Blue Square Premier League. Unfortunately the club continued to struggle and were knocked out of the FA Cup by lowly Chasetown after a replay and at the end of the season suffered relegation.
Lee Sinnott was dismissed after nine games of the following campaign with former player Dean Glover having his second spell in charge. The team struggled to adapt to life in League Two eventually finishing 18th and Dean Glover left at the end of the season. Micky Adams was then appointed the new manager and set about turning the clubs fortunes around. They defeated two championship sides in the Carling Cup, Sheffield United and Sheffield Wednesday before succumbing to Scunthorpe after extra time. On the league front a late charge almost resulted in a play off place but they were forced to settle for 10th place in the end.
Micky Adams departed for Sheffield United in December 2010 having guided the team to 4th place in the league with Jim Gannon taking charge less than a week later. Jim left the club in March 2011 with Mark Grew taking over as caretaker manager. At the end of the turbulent 2010/11 season, when the team finished 11th, Micky Adams sensationally returned to the club and signed a three year contract.
VALE PARK
Vale Park became Port Vale's sixth ground in 1950 after the club moved from the Old Recreation Ground in Hanley. It had taken six years to build and was on the site of a giant marl hole, which still contains numerous pit shafts. There is no evidence of anybody actually falling down one, though supporters will tell you of many players who have "disappeared" during games over the years.
The new ground was a lavish project for the time with a projected capacity of 70,000, leading to it being dubbed "The Wembley of the North". Unfortunately, money troubles led to the cancellation of the grandstands on the Lorne Street and Bycars. Even so it had the most expensive pitch ever laid at the time and the whole project had cost over £50,000, covering an area of some 18 and a half acres.
Improvements over the years saw the ground capacity increase to 44,000 in 1956 and a high of 50,000 by 1959. Nowadays the official capacity is given as 18,947.
The grand opening took place on 24th August 1950, a Thursday night, with a kick off of 5.20pm (no floodlights in those days!) and the name Vale Park was announced at the opening ceremony attended by numerous dignitaries from the football world. Admission cost 1/3d, the equivalent of 6p. A crowd of 30,042 saw the first game, a 1-0 victory over NewportCounty in Division Three (South) with Walter Aveyard scoring the historic goal.
Since then Vale have played over 1,400 competitive games here in all competitions. The largest crowd was 49,768 for an FA Cup Round tie against Aston Villa in 1960, although it has been declared full with over 42,000 crammed in for cup-ties v Blackpool and Liverpool in 1954 and 1964 respectively.
Everyone with an interest in football has heard of the famous Matthews final when Blackpool won the FA Cup in 1953, but not mentioned half enough is that their next defeat in the competition was here at Vale Park in 1954 when Albert Leake scored twice for the Valiants.
In January 1988 Vale beat Terry Venables' Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in the 4th Round of the FA Cup here in a game that put Vale firmly on the map.
The last big cup tie staged here was a 4th Round victory over the then FA Cup holders Everton in February 1996 when goals from Bogie and McCarthy helped us to a 2-1 victory.
Floodlights were first used at Vale Park for a friendly against West Brom in September 1958.
Hamil End
The first part of the ground you enter is the Hamil Road End, traditionally the part of the ground where visiting supporters are housed, although it was mixed until the changing society meant that visitors should have their own exclusive section from the late 1970's to the present day.
Originally built as a huge open terrace, it was at one point the highest part of the ground before the 'hilly' part was levelled off in 1978 and an electronic scoreboard was installed in 1988.
Cover was first put on the terrace in 1992 and was fully seated in 1995.
Railway Stand/Paddock
This part of the ground was originally a huge open terrace when the ground opened in 1950. A lot of present day fans will wonder why it is called the Railway Stand/Paddock, but just the other side of the Co-op car park once stood Burslem Railway Station, part of the loop line closed in the late 60s. A few years later the lines were taken up and never seen again.
A year after the ground opened in 1951, around 600 seats were installed, but it wasn't until July 1954 that a proper stand was built, at a cost of £25,000. This contained 4,500 seats at the back and had a covered terrace in front for 12,000. The basic structure of the stand hasn't changed at all, but the seats at the back were replaced in the early 90's and then seats were added at the front.
Family Stand
This area began life merely as the corner section of the Bycars End, but was then fenced off and remained unused from 1973 onwards. It was converted in to the family area and opened in February 1989 against Wolves.
Bycars End
The Bycars Road End, to give it its full name, was a large open end when the ground opened in 1950, though it did have 350 seats at the back. Terracing was laid in 1959, increasing capacity to 6,500, which in turn helped cater for around 50,000.
It became the traditional 'home' end for supporters, but following promotion in 1989 the Taylor report deemed the end unsafe and it was forced to close for a period.
It was then decided to build a complete new stand and the present structure opened in 1992.
The Disabled Stand
The original disabled stand stood at the other end of the Lorne Street next to Hamil End and was believed to be the first purpose built disabled stand in the Football League when it opened in 1989. The present structure contains all the same features with access for wheelchair users and their helpers and opened during the 1999/2000 season.
Lorne Street Stand
When the ground first opened the Lorne Street consisted of two open terrace areas either side of the players tunnel with the Directors Box perched on top. This made the ground unique because there wasn't another Football League ground where the Directors Box was built separate to the main stand.
Building work on the new Lorne Street Stand started in the late 90's, but because of financial constraints, the work had to be suspended. Work has since been resumed and the stand is now almost complete.The Lorne Street contains the dressing rooms, offices, Sponsors Suite, Executive Boxes as well as Directors Boxes and the Valiants Suite. Recent work has seen the addition of a Childen's Centre and also the Port Vale Enterprise Centre.
Company Details
Port Vale (Valiant 2001) Football Club Limited
Registered Office: Vale Park, Hamil Road, Burslem, Stoke on Trent, ST6 1AW
Tel: 01782 655800 Fax: 01782 834981
Email: enquiries@port-vale.co.uk
Company Registered in England No. 4669703
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Those persons holding 10% or more of the shares in Issue are:-
1) Grindco 438. Owned in equal 50% shares by Peter Lindsey Jackson (Vice-Chairman) and Stanley Meigh (Director).
2) Robert Williams
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