After Jon Brady was appointed Port Vale’s new First-Team Manager on Tuesday, take a look through the journey that has led him to Vale Park.
Brackley Town
Brady was appointed manager of Brackley Town in March 2009 and enjoyed plenty of success at St James’ Park, steering the club to promotion to Step Two in 2012, as they won the Southern League Premier Division by eight points.
They were one game away from back-to-back promotions and elevation to the National League, with only a Play-Off Final defeat to FC Halifax Town preventing them from edging even closer to the EFL.
Another of his achievements came in the FA Cup, with Brackley reaching the Second Round stage during the 2013/14 campaign.
Brady left Brackley in September 2015, after six-and-a-half years at the helm, to join the academy set-up at Northampton Town. In total, he won seven trophies during his time at the club.
Northampton Town
After initially taking charge of the Cobblers’ under-16s in 2016, Brady moved up to oversee the under-18s a year later and led the side to the EFL Youth Alliance title in 2018.
He was announced as Northampton’s First-Team Manager in May 2021 as eventual successor to Keith Curle, after initially taking interim charge of the club.
Brady and his side were in a good position for an immediate return to League One throughout the 2021/22 season with the automatic promotion race going down to the final day. Despite beating Barrow 3-1,Northampton cruelly missed out on goals scored and suffered Play-Off Semi-Final defeat to Mansfield Town. Vale, of course, went on to win the Play-Offs that season.
He was named League Two Manager of the Month in March 2023, on the way to achieving automatic promotion at the second attempt in 2022/23, as Northampton finished in the top three.
They soon picked up where they had left off, and he signed an improved contract in January 2024, with his side ninth in League One.
In December 2024, Northampton announced that they had accepted Brady's resignation. He has since spoken openly about waiting for the right role before returning to management and feels passionately that Vale Park is the place for him as he prepares for his first game in charge this week.
You can watch his first club interview now over on PVTV!
