Two minute guide to: Newcastle Town v Port Vale
It’s Port Vale’s second pre-season friendly of the summer on Tuesday evening and here’s our brief guide to the action…
Match details?
The Lyme Valley Stadium, Buckmaster Avenue, Clayton Newcastle-under-Lyme, 7:30pm on Tuesday July 11th.
What’s the ground like?
The Lyme Valley Stadium has a capacity of 4,000 with 300 seats. It is noticeable for the raised track around the pitch which is used as a velodrome.
Last time we met?
It finished 4-0 to the Valiants in Bruno Ribeiro’s first game in charge. Trialist Anton Forrester scored twice with the other goals coming from JJ Hooper and Ryan Lloyd. Read our match report here
What’s the Vale team news?
It will be interesting to see which trialists Vale maintain from the opening game against Kidsgrove. Michael Tonge, Gaving Gunning and Billy Whitehouse are probably in pole position while the likes of Billy Reeves and Dan Turner could also come into the match squad.
What about the opposition?
Manager Bob Askey has seen a number of departures over the summer. A number of players have moved to Kidsgrove Athletic (ironically Vale’s first friendly opponents) however Askey remains upbeat telling the Sentinel that “although we have lost six players from last season’s first-team squad, we are all confident with the lads who have stayed and with new recruits we can be competitive.”
Any Vale connections?
Vale legend Robin van der Laan is director of football at Newcastle Town. You can read our interview with can der Laan through this link
Potted history
The side were formed as a Sunday League club in 1964. However, the club as it is now emerged in 1986 following the merger of Parkway Clayton and Newcastle Town, after the original Newcastle Town ran into financial difficulties.
The club’s largest league attendance was 1,833 for the visit of FC United of Manchester.
Scrapbook
An image from last season’s fixture…