Port Vale sign Rob Lainton
Port Vale sign Rob Lainton: Port Vale have announced the signing of former Bury and Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Rob Lainton.
Ex-Bolton Wanderers and Burton Albion keeper Lainton, 27, who ended last season on loan at Cheltenham, has moved to Vale Park following his end-of-season release by League One club Bury.
Lainton has made 50 first-team appearances and will now be expected to be the club’s first-choice goalkeeper with homegrown youngsters Ryan Boot and Joe Slinn in reserve.
The Valiants will be hoping that this spells the end of a chaotic goalkeeping spell for the Valiants. When Port Vale regular Jak Alnwick was sold to Glasgow Rangers in the January transfer window, the club ended up using four players – Ryan Boot, Miguel Santos, Leo Fasan and Deniz Mehmet – during the second half of the disastrous 2016-17 season.
Lainton joins his former Bury teammate Tom Pope in agreeing to move to Port Vale during this summer. The keeper also won promotion to League One with Bury in 2014-15 making 22 appearances during that season. He began his career at Bolton Wanderers where he spent three years without making a senior appearance.
The goalkeeper played fourteen times for Burton Albion during a loan spell in 2014 and he also made a solitary appearance when on loan at Cheltenham Town in 2016. He was released by Bury at the end of the 2016-17 season after not featuring under new manager Lee Clarke.
Rob Lainton Factfile
Born: Ashton-under-Lyme
Clubs: Bolton Wanderers, Bury
Loan moves: Burton Albion, Cheltenham Town
Appearances: 50
Port Vale sign Rob Lainton – have your say
What do you think about the signing of Rob goalkeeper Lainton? Will he be a success or failure? Are you relieved to see the end to last season’s rotating goalkeeping door. Share your thoughts by posting a comment below.