Port Vale extremly crap foot ball club

Port Vale F.C. logo
Full name	Port Vale Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Valiants, The toilet lickers
Founded	1876
Ground	Vale Park Burslem Stoke-on-Trent
Capacity	28
Owner	sthephen herankilisom
Chairman	Bill Bratt
Manager	Dean Glover
League	League Two
2007-08	League One, 23rd ( relegated)
Home colours Away colours

Port Vale Football Club are 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 rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as the " Potteries derby"; however, games against Crewe Alexandra are also classed as a derby, although Alex are situated in south Cheshire.

Port Vale are one of the few English league clubs not to be named after a geographical location. The name Port Vale exists on maps pre-dating the 1876 formation of the club, and is a reference to a valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal, associated with the city's pottery industry. The two symbols on the clubs badge are a bottle kiln and the Stafford knot. The club's mascot is Boomer the Dog, the Baha Men hit ' Who Let the Dogs Out?' is played as Boomer takes to the field before kick-off at home games, his squad number is ' K9'. The current shirt sponsorship comes from Harlequin Property.

For a statistical breakdown by season, see Port Vale F.C. Seasons

The kit used in Vale's first League season (1892) ^[1]

Port Vale were formed in 1876, following a meeting at the Port Vale House, from where the club took its name. ^[2] They played their football at Limekiln Lane, Longport and from 1880 at Westport. The club moved to Burslem in 1884, changing its name to Burslem Port Vale in the process, they played at Moorland Road before moving into the Athletic Ground in 1885. In 1892 the club were founder members of the Football League Second Division.

The club dropped 'Burslem' from their name in 1907- a dark time of financial difficulties where the club were forced to resign from the league. However the clubs fortunes soon improved, they moved into their new home of The Old Recreation Ground in 1912 and returned to the Football League in October 1919, taking over the fixture list of Leeds City in the second division, who were disbanded because of financial irregularities.

In 1921 the club adopted their familiar white and black strip after having experimented with numerous colours, including; plain red, gold and black stripes, claret and blue and even during 1898-1902 playing in the red and white stripes now used by rivals Stoke City for the past 100 years. However, the kit soon changed to plain red shirts with white shorts in 1923, a look which lasted until 1934, where the white shirt, black shorts and socks kit once again was adopted.

The club saw their first relegation during the 1928-29 season, going from the Second Division to the Third Division North. They came up the following season as champions, the 1930-31 season saw a 5th place finish in the second tier of English football, their greatest league finish ever.

After this peak the club were once again relegated in the 1935-36 season and remained in the third tier until the war.

With the outbreak of war in Europe and Vale sitting bottom of the Third Division South after 2 games, the 1939-40 season was cancelled as Britain and the allies fought a brutal war against Nazi-Germany and the axis. With Germany and Japan's defeat peace was restored and the 1946-47 season began.

In 1950, Vale Park was completed, the clubs second ground, a year later Freddie Steele became manager. Steele quickly established himself at the club, masterminding the celebrated ' Iron Curtain' defence. The 1953-54 saw Vale storming to the Division Three North title as well as reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing out to eventual winners West Brom in very controversial fashion, seeing an Albert Leake goal disallowed for offside. ^[3] Three years later the club were once again relegated and and once again became founder members of a league- this time the Football League Fourth Division. Their first season in this new division was extremely successful as the club took the title with a club record 110 goals.

During the 60's the Vale fans witnessed numerous good cup runs, though never reaching close to their 1954 semi-final appearance. In 1967 Stanley Matthews took over (from Jackie Mudie who spent 2 years as Manager), his reign ended in tears in 1968 as Vale were expelled from the Third Division over seemingly illegal payments made to players. ^[4]

Gordon Lee took the helm after Vales expulsion, soon after the club were back in the 3rd division, however once more relegation followed. Lee left in 1974 and 6 managers followed him out the door over a 9 year period having proving unable (or unwilling in regards to those who left to coach higher placed teams) to steady the club.

The season ending 1980 saw Port Vale finish 20th in the Fourth Division (88th overall), the clubs worst ever finish. However local rivals Crewe Alex were three places below them, giving the supporters some small comfort.

John Rudge took over the management reins at Vale Park in December 1983, after the sacking of John McGrath following the club's form upon Vale's promotion to Division Three. Despite being unable to halt Vale's immediate return to the bottom tier of the Football League, Division Four, finishing 23rd, Rudge made his first profit in the 1984 close season, when he sold Mark Bright to Leicester City for £33,000. Bright had originally been a signing from local non-leaguers Leek Town. Rudge steadied the ship, and had Vale promoted back to the third tier in 1985-86, losing just once at Vale Park, and, helped by the goals of prolific Welshman Andy Jones, finished in fourth place. Jones continued to prove another inspired Rudge signing a level higher, netting a club-record thirty-seven goals in the 1986-87 season, belittling his £3,000 price tag from Rhyl. Jones was then sold for a then-club-record fee of £375,000 to Charlton.

The Valiants' rise didn't stop there. After three seasons in Division Three, another promotion, to Division Two, followed in 1988-89. Robbie Earle scored the winning goal at Vale Park to complete a 2-1 aggregate play-off final victory over Bristol Rovers.

Also in 1988, Rudge also oversaw the first of three Cup giant-killing acts over the next few seasons when a Vale side, mid-way in Division Three, defeated Tottenham (of Division One) 2-1. Ray Walker and Phil Sproson were on target for Vale against Terry Venables' side, which included Chris Waddle and Clive Allen but omitted Ossie Ardiles, apparently due to the heavy state of the pitch, which turned out to be costly for the London outfit.

Following promotion in 1989, Vale had two seasons in the Second Division, and were on course for a third when placed half way up the table at the end of November 1991. They then went into a slump which led to their relegation on the final day of the 1991-92 league campaign.

In 1992-93, Vale narrowly missed out on promotion as runners-up to Reading when Bolton Wanderers pipped them on the final day. Vale then lost in the play-off final to West Bromwich Albion.

Vale were able to bounce back with Rudge's next two bargain buys becoming important players. Ian Taylor, whom Vale had signed for £15,000 from non-League Moor Green, and Dutch import Robin van der Laan (signed for £80,000) came to the fore. With Martin Foyle back fit and experienced Bernie Slaven up front, Vale surged to second place, confirming promotion on the final day with a 3-1 win at Brighton & Hove Albion's Goldstone Ground in front of 6,000 travelling fans. Vale also notched another FA Cup scalp beating then- Premiership side Southampton 1-0 at Vale Park in an third-round replay.

Taylor became Rudge's first £1,000,000 sale, when Sheffield Wednesday invested in the midfielder. The money was spent on bringing Steve Guppy and Gareth Griffiths to the club during the 1994-95 campaign.

Vale finished seventeenth in 1994-95, avoiding relegation by ten points, and again in spite of the pre-season sale of van der Laan, who Derby bought for £475,000. Jon McCarthy and Lee Mills also joined before the 1995-96 season began.

During the 1995-96 season, Vale struggled to find their form. Ten games into the league season, they had recorded only one win (in the local derby against Stoke) and were struggling near the bottom of the table. Early home form was also the worst for years, and it took the Valiants until 2 December to finally notch a win at Vale Park, when Martin Foyle scored to beat Huddersfield Town 1-0. A 5-1 defeat at Ipswich on New Years Day, saw Vale slip to second from bottom, with just five wins all season, but the FA Cup was again to prove the tonic.

The draw had done Vale no favours, with a trip to promotion-chasing Crystal Palace, but a goalless draw brought the tie back to Vale Park. Vale eventually won the tie, on a freezing January night, with Ray Walker scoring the winner in extra time to seal a 4-3 win, and set up a trip to cup-holders Everton in the fourth round.

In the tie with Everton, Vale twice came from behind at Goodison Park to draw 2-2, with Ian Bogie scoring from virtually the last kick of the match. The replay saw Vale Park full to capacity to witness Vale win 2-1 with Jon McCarthy netting the winner.

The victory saw Vale go into the fifth round, in which they would play Leeds United away. Leeds were then a top-ten Premiership side. The match at Elland Road took place on a Tuesday, thanks to various cancellations due to inclement weather. The game finished goalless, and the tie went to a replay in Burslem. The Valiants' cup exploits were to come to an end as Leeds won the replay 2-1 with Gary McAllister scoring twice in the closing stages despite Vale leading 1-0 at half time through Tony Naylor. However Vale's cup exploits were to earn them the FA's Giantkillers award for the 1995-96 season.

The cup run seemed to inspire Vale onto better things in the league, with a run of five wins in a row pushing them up to twelfth as the season drew to a close. Vale also had some success in the Anglo-Italian Cup, as they qualified for the final at Wembley, in the competition's final season. Vale secured a 5-3 win at Italian side Perugia in which Lee Mills netted a hat-trick. The English semi-final draw pitted Vale away to Ipswich Town, who they had already lost to 5-1. Tony Naylor scored a hat-trick as Vale recorded a 4-2 win at Portman Road, the first victory in their history at the ground.

A 3-1 victory in the second leg of the English final at Vale Park, against West Brom, confirmed a 4-2 aggregate success, and a game against Italian winners Genoa in the final. The Italians ran out 5-2 winners, with Martin Foyle netting both Vale goals.

Again, Vale made a slow start to the 1996-97 campaign, with only two wins from their opening ten league games. They enjoyed some success in the League Cup, however, beating local rivals Crewe Alexandra 5-1 at their Gresty Road home. A protest against chairman Bill Bell after a poor home defeat to Crystal Palace seemed to see an upturn in the Valiants' performances. A second win at Wolves' Molineux ground (1-0), in two seasons, was followed by a mixed period. In December they achieved three wins on the bounce, against ex-Premiership sides Charlton 3-1 at The Valley, 6-1 at home to Norwich City and concluding in a single-goal Boxing Day success at Manchester City in front of more than 30,000. Despite the sale of Steve Guppy to Leicester City for £800,000, Vale's form remained steady from then on, until five wins from six, from mid-March to mid-April, put them in with a chance of making the play-offs and, ultimately, a place in the Premiership. However, with three games remaining, Vale were to lose to Stoke City, before Wolves came away from Vale Park with a 2-1 victory to end their hopes. Vale's final finishing position of eighth was their highest in the pyramid since 1931, when they had finished fifth in the old Division Two.

The eighth-placed finish was to be the height of Vale's powers under John Rudge, and the following season, 1997-98, saw a more familiar mid-table and, eventually, relegation battle. Another FA Cup tie was Vale hold eventual winners Arsenal to a goalless draw at Highbury and 1-1 at Vale Park ( Wayne Corden equalising a Dennis Bergkamp goal) before the Gunners eventually prevailed 4-3 on penalties, despite Lee Dixon missing their opening kick. Vale found themselves in deep relegation trouble going into the final match at Huddersfield after three straight defeats. Goals from Martin Foyle, Jan Jansson (two) and Lee Mills saw Vale claim a 4-0 win and an escape at the expense of Manchester City and Stoke City.

1998-99 saw Port Vale fare little better, with an early League Cup defeat to Chester City setting the tone. After sixteen years as Port Vale manager, John Rudge was sacked in January 1999 after one of Vale's most successful eras. He was replaced by former player Brian Horton, who had been working at Brighton & Hove Albion. Dwindling fortunes, both on the pitch and financially, put relegation on the cards. Horton made five transfer-deadline day signings costing £1,000,000, and Vale managed a second-consecutive final-day escape after losing just two of their remaining eight games. Although Vale lost by a single goal at Bury, the Valiants stayed up (at Bury's expense) by virtue of having scored more goals (this was the last season before goal difference replaced goals scored as the Football League's separator for teams on equal points).

There was no escape in 1999-2000, however. It was Huddersfield who eventually sealed Vale's fate with a 2-1 win at Vale Park, with Vale ultimately going down thirteen points adrift.

A worsening financial crisis put the club's future in jeopardy by the end of 2000. Vale were in the relegation zone of Division Two, and after a FA Cup first-round defeat to Ryman Leaguers Canvey Island, the team seemed to be heading towards another relegation, with fans once again protesting against chairman Bill Bell. However, there was change in fortunes after the turn of the year, as Brian Horton's team transformed their league form to pull up to a top-half finish while also gaining silverware by beating Brentford in the final of the LDV Vans Trophy. This included a post- war record of sixteen matches unbeaten in all competitions, with Vale eventually finishing eleventh.

After the League Trophy-winning season, the Valiants lost the services of veterans Tony Naylor and Allen Tankard, but young prospects Steve Brooker, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and new signings Stephen McPhee and Ian Armstrong were waiting in the wings. However, Vale suffered from inconsistency, and finished the 2001-02 campaign in fourteenth place.

With further discontentment at the running of the club, a supporters' trust under the banner "Valiant 2001" started moves towards attaining ownership of the club, including several offers that were rejected by chairman Bell.

The next season, 2002-03, was to see Vale's financial problems come to a head. With first-round exits in both cup competitions and another mediocre season in the league on the cards, Bill Bell eventually called in the administrators with the club around £1.5 million in debt.

Valiant 2001 eventually secured control of the club after a long and drawn-out process as the season neared its close. Bill Bratt became the new chairman, and even though the finances were still slim for quite a while, Vale were relatively buoyant. On the pitch, a brief cameo from veteran striker Brett Angell had kept the club above the relegation zone before Christmas with seven goals in fifteen games, and prodigy Billy Paynter helping out with five goals in a young-and-old partnership. However, with the financial problems, the funds were not found to keep Angell beyond November, and after a run of poor form Vale slipped into the bottom four in March.

With the concern of immediate extinction over, and Horton's resourceful signing of experienced Adrian Littlejohn (who scored three goals) the final ten games saw an upturn in form and Vale eventually finish in seventeenth place.

2003-04 was a new era for the club off the pitch, with the club coming out of administration under a new board of fan-ownership. A reduction in match- and season-ticket prices saw around 3,000 season tickets sold. On the pitch, the club had ridden out administration by avoiding relegation (the ten-point penalty did not apply in 2003) with Brian Horton building a young, pacey side.

The club made their best start to a season for many a year and found themselves top of the table at the end of September. Vale remained on course to at least be challenging for the play-offs come May. Their position in the table was based largely on the goals of an attacking front four: Billy Paynter and Adrian Littlejohn played on the right and left, while Steve Brooker and Stephen McPhee formed a partnership up front.

However, Horton left in March 2004 after the board revealed he would not be given a new contract on the same terms and his budget would be slashed due to cost-cutting after administration. He was to be replaced by former player Martin Foyle, who had been a success as the club's youth-team manager. Horton left the team in seventh place, just outside the play-offs, and this was ultimately where the club would finish after a final day at Rushden & Diamonds' Nene Park. Going into the game, Vale needed a win to overtake either Swindon or Hartlepool in the play-off places and hope one or the other lost. However, the twist was that both these teams were playing each other and needed just a point to deny Vale a play-off place — unless, that is, Vale won by seven clear goals. Vale dispatched Rushden with a 2-0 win (Steve McPhee scoring both and taking his tally to 27 for the season) but Swindon and Hartlepool played out a 1-1 draw at the County Ground, thus meaning Vale missed out on goal-difference.

Foyle spent almost four years as manager after this, but the style of football the team were playing did him few favours as Vale finished 17th and 13th in his first 2 full campaigns in charge despite promising starts. Arguably the clubs best recent achievements came in the 2 major cup competitions in the calender year of 2006. Vale made it to the 4th round of the FA Cup in 2005-06 which was the clubs first appearance at that stage since the clubs giantkilling exploits a decade earlier. Vale were drawn away to Premier League Aston Villa but were defeated 3-1, holding the Birmingham side well into the 2nd period before succumbing to 2 Milan Baros strikes and although Nathan Lowndes pulled on back, Steven Davis scored Villa's 3rd.

The following season the club set a record for progression in the Carling Cup beating three Championship sides at home to set up a tie at Spurs (the first time the sides had met since Vale's infamous win 19 years beforehand). Vale again gave Spurs more than a run for their money taking the lead through Leon Constantine, and were 11 minutes from a major upset before Spurs equalised to force extra time and eventually prevailed 3-1. The signing of Constantine was to prove a big success as he set a post war record by scoring 19 goals before Christmas 2006. Coupled with exciting strike partner Akpo Sodje Vale were up with the early pace setter for League One in 2006-07, however several runs of poor form saw the side fade away to finish 12th despite a striking partnership which contributed 42 goals (Constantine 26, Sodje 16). This added to a shocking 4-0 F.A. Cup defeat to then League Two Hereford United saw fans start to lose patience with Foyle although he remained in charge before the 2007-08. A poor start to the 2007-08 season in which several of Foyle's major signings didn't live up to expectation resulting in his dismissal on 4 November, 2007, with Vale in deep relegation trouble. He was succeeded by Lee Sinnott, but Sinnott was unable to prevent the club from sliding into League Two after a 23rd-place finish, as well as crashing out to Chasetown (an 8th tiered club) in the FA Cup Second Round.

2008-09 is Vale's first season in the bottom tier of the Football League since 1985-86. Despite relegation positive pre-season once again followed in which a cut price season ticket initiative took place in an attempt to boost attendances and bring cheaper football to the masses. This saw Vale fans snap up 6400 season tickets in readiness for what the club hoped would be a more successful season. However it did not materialise and Sinnott was sacked on 22 September, 2008, after an unsuccessful start to their League Two campaign with the Valiants in 16th place, Dean Glover taking over as caretaker-manager for the second time in twelve months. ^[5] He was appointed as Manager on a permanent basis on 6 October. ^[6] Glover did initially oversee a slight upturn in form as Vale won at previously unbeaten (at home) Shrewsbury which instigated a run of 4 away wins out of 5 including a superb comeback at Huddersfield in the FA Cup. Vale were 3-1 down with 12 minutes remaining before scoring 3 goals to turn the game on it's head and win 4-3!

After these highs however the poor form returned with the club losing in the FA Cup 2nd round to Macclesfield and ultimately losing out on a home tie with Premiership Everton. This coupled with the club sliding back into lower mid-table and a similar position to when Sinnott was sacked meant unrest was growing. 2009 began with fans starting to seriously question the boards motives and the direction the club was going in, especially when it was revealed former manager Lee Sinnott was taking court action against the club for a breach of contract after his dismissal. ^[7]

The Rec was Vale's home from 1913 to 1950, before which they had flitted between several homes in their early years of existence. One of these was the Cobridge Athletic Ground, which was also a dog track for greyhound racing in Cobridge, an area between Burslem and Hanley. The Old Recreation Ground was located in Hanley and stood on what is now the multi-storey car park for the Potteries Shopping Centre.

Vale Park has been Port Vale's home ground since 1950. Vale Park has a notional capacity of around 22,000; however with all the developments and a switch to an all-seater stadium in recent years, it is more likely around 18 or 19,000 once Lorne Street is completed.

Despite not being the oldest ground in the world, it has had several upgrades in its history. The original ground consisted of just two stands (The Railway side and the Lorne Street main stand) with banks of terracing at the Bycars and Hamil ends of the ground. Stands were eventually added behind each set of goals during the 1980s and 1990s as the ground began to be modernised. The paddock at the front of the Railway Stand was also made into an all-seated area, with just the Lorne Street side now being left as a standing area. Vale fans stood for the last time on Lorne Street at the end of the 1997-98 season, with the stand being demolished before work began on a new £3,000,000 structure. Work has yet to been finished on this, due to lack of finances and a change in ownership of the club. However, once new owners V2001 had taken care of the financing, work was finally begun on finishing the second half of the stand. It is due to be completed sometime in 2008.

Among the club's famous fan base is singer Robbie Williams, who was raised in Stoke-on-Trent. He is now a major shareholder, having, in February 2006, bought £240,000 worth of the £250,000 worth of available shares in the club. Castle Comfort Stairlifts, the club's sponsors, at the same time bought the remainder for £10,000. ^[8] For this investment, a restaurant at Vale Park is named after him. ^[9]

"Although I can't be at the Vale often, my investment is just to say that my heart is still there and I'm a huge supporter. I'm really excited about what we may be able to do with the club in the future." Robbie Williams speaking in 2006.

For the computer game FIFA 2000, he provided an original theme song with It's Only Us, on the condition that Port Vale were included in the game, which they were, and are located in the Rest of World section. This song was also featured on the only FIFA Soundtrack CD release by EMI. ^[10]

In 2005 Williams founded Los Angeles Vale F.C., a Super Metro League team in the United States, named for Port Vale and based at his L.A. home.

Football League Third Division (3rd tier)

• Runners-up: 1993-94
• Play-off winners: 1988-89 ( 3rd place)
• 3rd place: 1962–63, ^[11] 1992–93 ^[11]

Football League Division Three North: 2 (3rd tier)

• Champions: 1929-1930, 1953-54
• Runners-up: 1952–53 ^[11]

Football League Division Four: 1 (4th tier)

• Champions: 1958-1959
• 3rd place: 1982-83
• 4th place: 1969-70, 1985-86

Staffordshire Senior Cup: 2

• Winners: 1920, 2001
• Runners-up: 1900

Birmingham Senior Cup: 1

• Winners: 1913
• Runners-up: 1899, 1900, 1914

Anglo-Italian Cup

• Runners-up: 1996

Debenhams Cup

• Runners-up: 1977

Football League Trophy: 2

• Winners 1993, 2001

Pre War:

• 1930-31: Football League Division Two 5th

Post War:

• 1996-97: Football League Division One 8th

FA Cup

• Semi Finalists: 1954

League Cup

• Round 4: 2007

As of 19 January 2009. ^[13]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK   ENG Joe Anyon 2 DF   ENG Sam Stockley 3 MF   ENG Rob Taylor 4 MF   ENG Anthony Griffith 5 DF   ENG John McCombe 6 DF   ENG Luke Prosser 8 MF   NIR David Howland 9 FW   ENG Marc Richards ( captain) 11 MF   ENG Paul Edwards 12 GK   ENG Chris Martin 14 FW   ENG Louis Dodds 15 MF   ENG Scott Brown 16 FW   ENG Kyle Perry

No. Pos. Nation Player 17 FW   ENG Steve Thompson 18 FW   ENG Danny Glover 19 MF   ENG Simon Richman 20 MF   ENG Ross Davidson 21 FW   NIR Jamie Lawrie 22 FW   ENG Danny Edwards 23 MF   ENG Luke Chapman 24 DF   ENG Lee Collins 25 MF   PAK Adnan Ahmed (on loan from Tranmere Rovers) 26 MF   ENG Dave Brammer 27 DF   ENG Gareth Owen 29 MF   ENG Paul Dixon -- FW   WAL Kevin Gall (on loan from Carlisle United)

As of 06 October 2008 ^[14]

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager:	Dean Glover	English
Assistant Manager:	Ian Brightwell	English
Reserve Team Manager:	Vacant
Youth Team Manager:	Mark Grew	English
Youth Development Officer:	Bill Chetwyn	British
Head Physiotherapist:	John Bower	British
Youth Physiotherapist:	Nick Oakley	British
Club Doctor:	David Phillips	British
Chief Scout:	Ray Williams	British
Head Groundsman:	Steve Speed	British
Sports Scientist:	Dave Barron	British
Staff Senior Administrator:	Estelle Baggley	British
Club Accountant:	Tracey Carter	British
Ticket Office Manager:	Ted Wilcox	British
Lottery Manager:	Brian Lewis	British
Merchandise Manager:	Andrew Burgess	British
Community Manager:	Jim Cooper	British
Safety Officer:	Bill Stevenson	British
Senior Safety Advisor:	Phil Mayer	British
Club Chaplain:	John M. Hibberts ( M.A.)	British
Website & Programme Editor:	Dave Johnson	British

As of 06 October 2008 ^[15]

Name	Nationality	Role
Bill Bratt	English	Chairman
Dave Smith	British	Vice Chairman ( joint)
Peter Jackson	British	Vice Chairman ( joint)
Stan Meigh	British	Director
Glenn Oliver	British	Director
Paul Humphreys	British	Director
Mike Thompstone	British	Director
Graham Mudie	British	Director
Mike Lloyd	British	Director
Bill Lodey	British	Club Secretary
Vacant	British	Commercial Manager
Lisa Carter	British	Marketing Assistant
Matt Williams	British	Sponsorship & Advertising Manager

Name	Nationality	Role
William (Bill) Bell	English	Chairman
Alan M. Jones	British	Director
Charles Machin	British	Director

Those listed with a British nationality are assumed to be British, however exact nationality is not known for certain.

The club has run a reserve team for most of its history, they did have a period without a reserve outfit after administration in 2003. However it was started up again in time for the 2006-07 season. Vale's reserves currently compete in The Central League Division One Central. The team is usually made up of a combination of fringe players and youth players in the last year or two of their scholarships. Former Vale player Andy Porter, who was also manager of the youth team, took charge of the reserves until he left the club at the end of 2008, leading them to second place in the 2007-08 league, although it was not enough to qualify for the end-of-season play-offs as a best runner-up. Mark Grew has currently taken the reigns as well as being involved with the youth team.

The most senior of the club's youth teams play their matches in the Puma Youth Alliance North West Conference, with ex-Valiant Mark Grew coaching them. In recent years, the under-18s have gone from strength to strength, winning a number of youth tournaments with more players going onto to earn professional contracts in the first team.

2007-08 was particularly notable, as the under-18s won the Foyle Cup in pre-season, beating Bournemouth 1-0 in the final, before equalling the club record of reaching the quarter-final in the FA Youth Cup, including the giantkillings of Bolton and Tottenham. The youth team finished the season by winning the Midland Floodlit Youth Cup, beating Lincoln City 6-5 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Sincil Bank. ^[16]

2008-09 began with the under-18s adding the Shrewsbury International Soccer Tournament to the trophy cabinet, beating Sutton Coldfield 3-0 in the final. ^[17]

Shrewsbury International Soccer Tournament: under-18s

• Winners: 2008

Midland Floodlit Youth Cup:

• Winners: 2008

Foyle Cup: under-18s

• Winners: 2007

Those with a British flag icon are assumed to be British, however exact nationality is not known for certain.

• Official site
• News Coverage at BBC Sport
• News Coverage at The Sentinel

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