Welcome to the latest installment of the Gloucester Groundhopper blog.
For this installment, we headed to Burslem for some Sky Bet League One action as Port Vale took on newly promoted Carlisle United at Vale Park.
It's All In The Name
The 'Valiants' is Port Vale's nickname, derived from the word "Vale" in the club's name. In 1917, "The Wanderer," the Sentinel's sports correspondent, launched a campaign to rename the club "The Colliers." Club nicknames had taken off during World War One, and were generally associated with the occupations of the club's players. Because many of Vale's players worked at Shelton Colliery, the Wanderer sought in vain to get the club to adopt that moniker. For example, The Wanderer wrote in the Sentinel prior of the 1918/1919 season, "The Colliers are a much better team than last season..."
This use of the term "Colliers" lasted until 1919, when Port Vale president William Huntbach decided to initiate his own moniker campaign, which was significantly more successful. Vale had taken over the fixtures of Leeds City in the Football League at this point. Vale did well to hold their own and achieve their first League win in November against a backdrop of club money being used to find critical stadium renovations, important players leaving, and the unexpected jump from non-league to league opponents.
Days after the triumph, club president Huntbach addressed a supporters' meeting that the team should have a nickname and that it should be "Valiants" since "the club has already lived up to the name"...
Days after the triumph, Huntbach informed a supporters' meeting that the club should have a nickname, and that it should be "Valiants" since "the club has already lived up to the name."
The nickname stayed this time, and the "Valiants" nickname has remained with Port Vale FC since 1919...
Some Notable Former Players
Marcus Bent
Chris Eagles
David Healy
Geoff Horsefield
David McGoldrick
Kelle Roos
Neville Southall
Some Notable People From Burslem:
Ian Kilmister (Lemmy)- Lead Singer Of Motorhead
Phil 'The Power' Taylor- Darts Player
Robbie Williams- Singer
Josiah Wedgewood- Potter
James Astbury-Hammersley- Painter
A History Lesson From The Gloucester Groundhopper
Port Vale Football Club was founded in 1876 and got its name from the original meeting at 'Port Vale House' in a Stoke-on-Trent neighbourhood. When the club relocated to Burslem in 1884, it changed its name to 'Burslem Port Vale' and, after many seasons in the Midland League, became founding members of the Football League Division Two in 1892.
However, the first few years were difficult, and in 1896 the Club was unable to re-elect and was relegated to the Midland League. Following an F.A Cup victory over Sheffield United of Division One in 1898, the Club was relegated to Division Two. It was nevertheless a difficult battle, and the Club was compelled to resign in 1907 owing to financial troubles, and it nearly went out of business. As a new ground many miles distant was secured, the prefix 'Burslem' was omitted from the name. After eight seasons in the Central League, the Club returned to the Football League under dramatic circumstances in October 1919. Following Leeds City's expulsion for making illicit payments, the Club was elected to take over their remaining fixtures and finished in a creditable 13th place.
The Club relocated to its current location at ValePark in 1950, which became renowned as 'The Wembley of the North' because to its size and planned developments. In 1953-54, the Club won the Third Division (North) Championship, losing only three games and surrendering only twenty-one goals, while also reaching the F.A Cup semi-finals and losing controversially to West Bromwich Albion. The stint in Division Two lasted only three years, until 1957, when they were relegated to the newly constituted Fourth Division. However, it was a fruitful season as a Club record 110 goals helped the team win the title.
A pivotal moment in the Club's history occurred in January 1988, when a late winner in the F.A Cup against non-league Macclesfield Town secured a home 4th Round encounter against Tottenham Hotspur. The Club's fortunes appeared to take off as Port Vale won 2-1 to achieve national attention. In 1988-89, the Club returned to Division Two for the first time in 32 years after finishing third and gaining promotion through the play-offs. This restarted the long-awaited local derbies with Stoke City, and all went swimmingly until midway through the 1991-92 season, when an eighteen-game winless streak concluded in relegation.
Fortunately, the Board of Directors supported John Rudge, and the club finished third in the 1992-93 season with 89 points, a record total for a team that did not advance. This meant a return to the play-offs, but they were defeated at Wembley by West Bromwich Albion. The previous weekend, however, produced a never-to-be-forgotten day, as the Club's first-ever Wembley visit ended in victory in the Autoglass Trophy Final, backed by nearly 25,000 fans, to cap off a run that featured a 1-0 win at holders, Stoke City. Paul Kerr and Bernie Slaven scored in the final to secure a 2-1 victory over Stockport County.
In 1993-94, the Club finished second in Division Two to secure immediate promotion, and in 1995-96, they played a record sixty-two games, reaching the Anglo-Italian Cup Final at Wembley and the F.A Cup 5th Round. In the latter, Everton's triumph over the reigning Cup holders was celebrated by sponsor Littlewoods, who presented the Club with a special 'Giantkillers' award.
Port Vale saw years of mixed success. The team entered the 2012-2013 season still under administration, but it got off to a great start, with goals coming thick and fast and points piling up well. Surprisingly, when the club emerged from administration in November, they were already among the promotion favourites. This continued until the end of the season, when they finished third, behind Gillingham and Rotherham United.
In the following decade, there were more relegations and promotions. The main highlight was an FA Cup journey to the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester City, and the 8,000 Vale fans in the 53,000-strong crowd will never forget the moment Tom Pope equalised before being thrashed 4-1. The club was promoted to League One in 2022, and they intend to consolidate in this league before kicking on.
Honours
🏆 League One (Champions: 1929–30, 1953–54) (2nd place promotion: 1993–94) (Play-off winners: 1988–89)
🏆 League Two (Champions: 1958–59) (3rd place promotion: 1982–83, 2012–13) (4th place promotion: 1969–70, 1985–86) (Play-off winners: 2021–22)
🏆 Football League Trophy (Winners: 1993, 2001)
Matchday: Port Vale 1-0 Carlisle United
We travelled to Port Vale Football Club on a wet, August afternoon as we were in search of yet another goal laden football match. The journey was a bit of a nightmare as there was a substantial accident on the M6, so it added an extra hour to our journey. We made a pit stop at Staffordshire Services, one of the more mediocre services we have visited on the way too.
Arriving in Burslem, we had already prebooked parking at the nearby Leisure Centre for a small fee. We told the guy on the entrance that we had pre booked, however he informed us he couldn't find the booking, which was concerning. However, after showing him the email he let us in.
It is a short walk, up a hill, to the ground from this car park. We immediately went to the nearby fan zone situated on the far side of the ground. I find these fanzones interesting, because some clubs do them well, some of them just whack a gazebo up and claim it's a fanzone. This was the former. There was music playing, a good atmosphere, and people were friendly and chatty. What I particularly enjoyed was the fact that the club had got a bunch of local businesses to set up stalls to sell their produce before the game. We found a cake stand which did an offer of 4 cakes for a tenner (split between three of us before people think I ate four cakes to myself). I went for the kinder bueno cookie and my word, it was the nicest cookies I've ever had in my life.
After this we headed into the stadium. We were situated in the Railway stand which was near to the fanzone. The ticketing was easy, as it was just a case of booking the tickets and having them emailed to you. Having to cut them out was a bit of a nuisance, but ho hum.
It was upon entering the ground where we encountered our first slight issue. When you are going to a new ground, I think you are entitled to be able to take photographs of the experience. So when we got told to put our cameras away by a power hungry steward, it came as a shock to us all. We have never been to an EFL game before and been told to put our cameras away. If we were filming the game, I'd understand, but this was an hour before kickoff.
The atmosphere was reasonable. Before and after the game, the club play The Wonder Of You by Elvis which was a sight to behold and this really got the crowd going. However during the game, there was barely any atmosphere from either side (in fairness I don't think the incompetence of the referee helped matters).
The stadium itself is reasonable for League One. There are a couple of areas that need fixing up (such as a corner of the stadium which has what appears to be the old terracing in it). The view from our seat was pretty good, there just wasn't much room between the seats which is a common theme of EFL stadiums. I quite liked the segment on the scoreboard before the game which showed highlights of the game that last happened at the stadium. It probably only works when you've won the last game, but I thought it was a good way to recap the events that have already happened.
Teamsheet
Port Vale
Manager: Andy Crosby
Connor Ripley
Lewis Cass
Nathan Smith (c)
Mitch Clark
Ethan Chislett
Funso Ojo
Alex Iacovitti
Ollie Arblaster
Gavin Massey
James Plant
James Wilson ⚽️
Substitutes
Jayson Leitwiler
Tom Sang
Ben Garrity
Alfie Devine
Jason Lowe
Jack Shorrock
Josh Thomas
Carlisle United
Manager: Paul Simpson
Jokull Andresson
Fin Back
Jack Armer
Owen Moxon
Sam Lavelle
Paul Huntington (c)
Callum Guy
Alfie McCalmont
Jon Mellish
Sean Maguire
Luke Plange
Substitutes
Tomas Holy
Jordan Gibson
Ryan Edmonson
Dan Butterworth
Terry Ablade
Taylor Charters
Ben Barclay
The hosts dominated the early minutes, with Nathan Smith firing a close-range shot over and James Wilson hitting the side netting. Carlisle eventually responded, with Owen Moxon firing just over the top after Callum Guy's clever pass. Callum Guy himself came near soon after, with his fantastic long-range drive excellently saved by Vale keeper Connor Ripley. Port Vale thought they had scored just before halftime when a Carlisle custodian parried a shot that landed at the feet of Ethan Chislett, who finished well, but he was denied by an assistant referee's flag.
Soon after the restart, the hosts scored from the penalty spot. Carlisle custodian Jokull Andresson dragged back Chislett in the box, and the referee made a series of questionable rulings. This allowed James Wilson to slot home from the spot with ease. Soon after, Alex Iacovitti nearly increased the lead with a shot that went just wide. Josh Thomas then burst through but was only able to strike straight at the keeper. Carlisle almost equalised when Sean Maguire headed Jack Armer's cross inches wide, but Port Vale got the points.
Scores On The Doors
Atmosphere: 6.5/10
Food and Drink: 7.5/10
Stadium: 7/10
Welcome: 7.5/10
Overall Experience: 7/10
GG
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