Our first home game of the 2026/27 campaign is on the horizon, with Tranmere Rovers the visitors to Vale Park on Saturday afternoon for a 3pm kick-off.
A 2-0 defeat at Oldham Athletic on the opening day means the Valiants will be looking to respond on home soil, while Tranmere will be in confident mood following a win by the same scoreline at home to Shrewsbury Town last weekend.
The game is also the first at Vale Park since the installation of the new playing surface - further detail on those works can be found over on the homepage now.
We'll have team news and pre-match thoughts from manager Jon Brady later this afternoon, with captain Ben Garrity also facing the media in our weekly press conference.
Our opponents
We have faced Tranmere on exactly 100 previous occasions, winning 31 and drawing 27 of those matches. In fact, each of our last four meetings have ended in a draw, including the most recent game between the sides at Prenton Park in March 2025, during our promotion-winning campaign. That one ended 1-1, with Ronan Curtis cancelling out Kristian Dennis' opener.
It's been a busy summer for the Wirral outfit, with experienced midfield duo Will Vaulks and Tom Ince the most notable new additions to their squad. Two other important signings in the middle of the park include former Valiant Tom Conlon and ex-Wrexham midfielder Jordan Davies, with the latter scoring his first league goal for the club in that opening-day win over Shrewsbury.
This weekend's visitors are expected to bring an away following of close to 1,500, who will be housed in the Bycars Stand.
The opposition dugout
There will be a familiar face in the opposition technical area on Saturday, with Darrell Clarke having taken over at Tranmere back in May. He had a seven-month spell in charge of fellow League Two side Bristol Rovers last season, and has also managed Cheltenham Town and Barnsley since leaving Vale Park in 2023.
Clarke guided Vale to promotion via the League Two Play-Offs in 2022, with a 3-0 victory over Mansfield Town in the Final at Wembley one of the fondest memories in the club's recent history.
Player to watch
A player for Vale fans to be aware of on Saturday is Jordan Davies. Signed on a one-year deal last month after training with the club during pre-season, the midfielder previously had a successful five-year spell at Wrexham AFC, having also previously represented Brighton & Hove Albion, Grimsby Town and Fleetwood Town.
While the experience of Vaulks and Ince needs no introduction, Davies' has previously proven himself to be highly effective from set pieces and will be full of confidence following a positive start to life at Tranmere.
Fixture throwback
Port Vale 3-2 Tranmere | 22nd March 2014
An entertaining league meeting in 2014 saw Vale survive a second-half scare to beat relegation-threatened Tranmere at Vale Park.
Tom Pope put Vale in front, turning in Adam Yates's cross from close range, before on-loan Billy Knott doubled the lead with a left-footed shot from 25 yards. Pope set up Ben Williamson for a third before Tranmere threatened an unlikely comeback with two goals in a minute.
Ash Taylor nodded in a corner and Jason Koumas scored from a free-kick but Vale held on to claim all three points.
However, the Valiants needed goalkeeper Chris Neal - later stretchered off the field following a collision with Rovers substitute Ian Goodison - to make smart saves from Ryan Lowe and Jake Kirby. Doug Loft also hit the bar for the Vale.
Vale would go on to finish 9th in League One that season, with top scorer Pope also named our Player of the Season.
