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Port Vale F.C.

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Port Vale Football Club is an English association football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. They are the only club in the football league not to be named after a place, though they originally took the name Burslem Port Vale. They play at Vale Park. They have played in the Football League since 1919, after the Football Association forcibly disbanded Leeds City. Vale themselves were expelled from the League in 1968 (for financial irregularities) and forced to seek re-election, which they achieved.

They currently play in Football League One. Their current manager is Martin Foyle – the previous manager of the Port Vale youth team – as well as being an important player for the club in the past. Dean Glover was brought into the club as assistant manager to Martin Foyle.

Stoke is home to two league football clubs, the other being Stoke City whose ground is five miles away. Throughout much of their history they have been regarded as the second team in the city in support, wealth and achievement. However, during the 1990s Port Vale could rightly claim to have overtaken their city rivals as they spent three seasons in a higher division and the other seasons in the same division.

Their most successful period was possibly during the late 1980s and early 1990s under the management of John Rudge. He guided the team to four promotions including two into Division One, where Vale had not played for 30 years. He also took them to three Wembley finals with two of them being in the space of a week in 1993.

Among the club's fanbase is British singer, Robbie Williams, who was raised in Stoke-On-Trent. When asked on Jonathan Ross's TV chat show if he had any good memories from his days with boyband Take That, he hesitated and then jokingly replied "Yeah... I remember Port Vale beat Spurs at one point." On February 27 2006, it was announced that Williams had bought a large stake in the club. Though the amount itself was not disclosed, chairman Bill Bratt did reveal that he had bought all the remaining shares in the club, which had amounted to £260,000 at the beginning of February.

Since 1950, the club has played at Vale Park in the Burslem district of Stoke-on-Trent. It had been planned before the Second World War with a capacity of 70,000, but was considerably smaller on its completion due to a lack of funds. It now has an all-seated capacity of just under 20,000.

Contents

Achievements

Statistics

Best attendance49768: vs Aston Villa 20 February 1960 FA Cup R5
Best league win9 - 1: vs Chesterfield 24 September 1932 Division Two
Worst league loss0 - 10: vs Sheffield United 10 December 1892 Division Two
Best cup win7 - 1: vs Irthlingborough 12 January 1907 FA Cup R1
Most capped playerChris Birchall : 22, Trinidad and Tobago
Most League appearancesRoy Sproson: 761 1950-1972
Most League goalsWilf Kirkham: 154 1923-1933
Most Goals in a seasonWilf Kirkham: 38 1926/27 Division Two
Transfer fee received£2,000,000: Gareth Ainsworth to Wimbledon 29 October 1998
Transfer fee paid£500,000: Gareth Ainsworth from Lincoln City 11 September 1997

Current Port Vale squad

as of 28/06/2006.

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Notable former players

List of Managers

Famous fans

External links

 

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