Port Vale
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Port Vale
Based at Burselm in Stoke-on-Trent, Port Vale (known to fans as "the Valiants") are one of the teams to make up the current League One.
History
After a meeting in Port Vale House in a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent, Port Vale Football Club was formed in 1876, changing its name to Burselm Port Vale when it moved to a ground in the Burselm area of Staffordshire. Port Vale began playing in the Midland League but after proving themselves against the other midland teams they were allocated to the Football League Division Two on its formation in 1892.
The club struggled in Division Two and four years later they were relegated to the Midland League but the relegation didn’t last for long and in 1898, after winning the FA cup, Burselm "the Valiants" were back in Division Two.
During the early years of the 20th Century, Burselm Port Vale were faced with financial difficulties and in 1907 they were forced to resign from the Football League. After moving to a new ground the club dropped the Burselm from its name after a new ground was acquired but it wasn’t until 1919 that they earned themselves a place back in the national league.
At the end of the 1928-29 season, Port Vale were relegated after nine years in Division Two but the following year after winning the Division Three (north) Championships they were promoted again and in 1931 they finished an honourable fifth place in the league. In 1936 the club were relegated to Division Three and for the next 18 years they yo-yoed between Division Three (North) and Division Three (South) given their midlands location.
In 1950 Port Vale entered a new era of strength when they moved to their current and much larger ground at Vale Park, which, due to the size of its stadium, became known as the ‘Wembley of the North.’ Three years later the club lost only three league games in the season, earning promotion to Division Two and reaching the semi-finals of the FA cup that same season.
In 1957, following a disappointing season in the second division which saw the Valiants finish bottom of the league, the club were relegated again, but this time to the newly formed Fourth Division. After their first year in the bottom division Port Vale scored a club record of 110 goals, being crowned the Division Four Champions and moving back up to the Third Division at the end of the 1958-59 season.
After a dismal decade during the 1960s which saw the Valiants being relegated back to Division Four, new manager Gordon Lee led the club to promotion, maintaining the club’s position in Division Three until 1977.
In 1978, however, relegation was impossible to fight off and with the exception of a brief spell in the Division Three during the early eighties, the club spent the best part of a decade in the bottom division. In 1988 Port Vale finally managed to break out of their Division Three/Four fluctuation when, after winning the Division Three play-offs, they were promoted to Division Two for the first time in 32 years.
Over the next few years Port Vale went from strength to strength and in 1993-94, after finishing second in Division Two, the midlands club found themselves being promoted to top flight football.
Despite being the relegation favourites on more than one occasion, Port Vale managed to stay in Division One until the year 2000, when they were relegated and knocked out of the first round of the FA Cup the same season. Surprisingly however, the Valiants did win the LDV Vans Trophy in April 2001, when they beat Brentford 2-1, one of the biggest triumphs in the club’s history.
In 2002-03 Port Vale was hit with financial difficulties and that year the club were forced to go into administration. A year later the club gained financial backing from new manager Bill Bratt and at the end of the 2003-04 season the Valiants were near the top of Division Two, extremely admirable given the club’s problems the previous year .
Since then the club has so far failed to gain promotion but they have also stayed out of the relegation zone and with new manager Lee Sinnot taking the reins at the beginning of the season the fate of the League One team remains to be seen.
Honours
- Division Three (North) Champions: 1929-30, 1953-54
- Division Four Champions: 1958-59
- FA Cup Semi-Finalists: 1953-54
- Autoglass Trophy: 1992-93
- LDV Vans Trophy: 2000-01
- Anglo-Italian Cup: 1995-96
Tickets
Tickets for the 2007/08 season can be purchased on match days at the following prices:
Lorne Street
Adult: £19.00
Senior Citizen: £12.50
Young Adult: £12.50
Juvenile: £8.00
Bycars
Adult: £19.00
Senior Citizen: £12.50
Young Adult: £12.50
Juvenile: £8.00
Railway Stand
Adult: £19.00
Senior Citizen: £12.50
Young Adult: £12.50
Juvenile: £8.00
Family Stand
Adult: £19.00
Senior Citizen: £10.00
Young Adult: £10.00
Juvenile: £6.00
Hamil Road
Adult: £19.00
Senior Citizen: £12.50
Young Adult: £12.50
Juvenile: £8.00
Disabled Stand
Disabled Adult: £6.50
Disabled Senior Citizen: £6.50
Disabled Young Adult: £6.50
Disabled Juvenile: £6.50
(editor: should be formatted in vertical list as above)
Adult Helper: £12.50
Senior Citizen Helper: £6.00
Young Adult Helper: £6.00
Family Tickets (all areas)
2 Adults & 2 Children: £46.00
1 Adult & 2 Children: £31.00
Travel
Vale Park is easily accessed by car or public transport.
By Car (from the North)
Leave the M6 at Junction 16 and take the A500 south following signs to Stoke-on-Trent. After approximately 6 miles take the exit signposted Turnstall (A527) and at the roundabout take the second exit continuing towards the A527 and Longport Road. After half a mile turn right at the mini roundabout onto the B5051. Continue to the next roundabout and go straight over and at the cross roads continue straight, onto Moorland Road. Take the second left onto Hamil Road and Vale Park will soon become visible on the left hand side.
By Car (from the South)
Leave the M6 at Junction 15 and take the A500 north following signs to Stoke-on-Trent. Continue straight over the first two roundabouts and after the second roundabout take the fourth exit signposted Turnstall (A527) At the roundabout take the fourth exit continuing towards the A527 and Longport Road. After half a mile turn right at the mini roundabout onto the B5051. Continue to the next roundabout and go straight over and at the cross roads continue straight, onto Moorland Road. Take the second left onto Hamil Road and Vale Park will soon become visible on the left hand side.
By Rail/Bus
The nearest train station to the ground is Stoke-on-Trent, which is a short bus journey from Vale Park. Bus number 24 goes from the main bus station to Burselm town centre and stops just after the Red Lion pub just before the left turning onto Hamil Road.
Contact
For information about matches or for general enquiries contact Port Vale by:
Post: Port Vale Football Club, Vale Park, Hamil Road, Burselm, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, ST6 1AW
Tel: 01782 655 800
Tel (Ticket Office) 01782 811 707
Fax: 01782 834 981
Email: enquiries@port-vale.co.uk