Here’s hoping for a brighter 2012 for Vale
In his latest column, OVF founder Rob Fielding says the last twelve months have included some of the club’s darkest moments and have truly been an annus horriblis.
But Fielding hopes that with a united fanbase and a renewed determination to remove the board, 2012 will finally herald a brighter era for the club.
Honestly, where do you begin with 2011? Let’s see…
•The Bill Bratt regime’s inglorious end?
•The Rob Lee share shenanigans
•The disastrous reign of Jim Gannon?
•Busgate?
•The sad decline and fall of Gary Roberts?
•The farce of the Ameriturf/Blue Sky non-investment
•Or what about the Miller/Deakin era and nil-paid shares?
•Or the way Mike Lloyd and Glenn Oliver still somehow manage to remain in the Vale Park boardroom?
Yes, there’s no doubt about it, 2011 has been our own annus horriblis.
But it did have its bright spots:
•The return of Micky Adams
•The ousting of several unpopular directors
•The rise of proactive supporter organisations such as Black and Gold and SEO
•The realisation that shareholders and fans can hold the board to account (and much praise to NLV for forcing an EGM and allowing shareholders to do so)
•The uniting of fan power behind the Supporters Club
•The Sentinel’s recent switch to proper, investigative journalism via the superb efforts of Martin Tideswell
And the good news is – much of that good work has happened in recent weeks. So, let’s make 2012 a year to remember and set a few OVF resolutions:
•The fans need to keep united and continue to use the Supporters Club as the group we rally around.
•Let’s not focus on who can take over when this sorry mess is over. It’s not time to focus on Mo or whoever, the first job is to rid the club of the disease that is in danger of destroying Port Vale
•And with that in mind – let’s aim for a complete clear out by whatever legal means necessary – whether an EGM, AGM, the Football League, the police or whatever else, the club needs a complete overhaul and a completely new team in charge
Happy New Year!
About the author: Rob Fielding has been a Port Vale fan for thirty years. He founded the award-winning onevalefan.co.uk website in 1996. These are his personal views and he welcomes your comments on them.