Ultimate Port Vale XI: the strikers
Ultimate Port Vale strikers: finally, after a longer than expected delay, we’re asking you to select two upfront for our ultimate eleven.
Note from Rob: this vote originally started in the off season and was expected to end before season kicked off but with off-field news and multiple transfers in and out of the club this final vote was delayed. Still, better late than never…
Note: this Ultimate XI vote will be a little different than previous polls as with two positions on offer, you can place more than one vote in the forum poll
Ultimate Port Vale strikers
1. Rules and notes
- There will be a dedicated forum discussion thread for each position (a link is below).
- The forum discussion thread will have a poll attached containing the list of our shortlisted players. This makes it fair (one user one vote) and stops any outside influences (Stoke fans, we’re looking at you!) from trying to influence the poll as only registered forum users can vote
- OVF will provide a shortlist of players that we think are suitable candidates. However, if we have missed a candidate out and you make a compelling case for their inclusion we will add them to the poll.
- A player will appear in their most common position (e.g. Neil Aspin played right-back but is more familiar as a centre-half; Robbie Earle played as a striker but is best-known as a midfielder)
- The formation for the best-ever XI is a classic 4-4-2 formation
- A player must have played 50 first-team games for the Valiants to qualify
2. The OVF Shortlist
Wilf Kirkham: although no current Vale fans will have seen him (for those who want a glimpse OVF has this YouTube clip), how could we leave out the club’s all-time record scorer. Thirteen competitive hat-tricks is a potent symbol of his quality.
Martin Foyle: and moving on to the club’s second highest scorer… Foyle was more than a mere goal machine though – his build-up play also marked him out as Vale Park legend… memorable goals against Stoke don’t harm his cause either!
Tony Naylor: another striker with the ability to change a game, Naylor scored 89 goals for the club with many of them regarded as some of the finest goals fans have seen. The one against Sunderland is possibly the best goal seen at Vale Park.
Andy Jones: the OVF editor’s favourite player was a barn-storming centre-forward who was a goal machine. Nine goals in two successive home games tells its own story…
Darren Beckford: the striker took his time to find his scoring boots but when he did he guaranteed goals and he was top-scorer for four consecutive seasons.
Tom Nolan: noted for his “cannonball” shots, Nolan netted 94 goals for the club before WW2 brought a premature end to his football career.
Tom Pope: we can’t forget him. A Vale fan who fired the club to promotion in 2013, Pope is creeping up the club’s all-time scoring lists and we feel he is deserved contender.
Bobby Blood: with a record of 47 goals in just 66 games we can’t leave this guy out. Injured in the war, Bob was told he’d never play the game and defied the critics. He also once hit a penalty so hard that the goalkeeper broke his wrist trying to save it. Wow!
Ronnie Allen: a homegrown striker who was so good he would later play for England, Allen was sold to West Brom for a club record fee and would break Vale hearts with the winner in the FA Cup semi-final defeat.
3. Time to place your vote
To place your vote you need to be a registered user of our forum and go to this forum thread
Voting closes in a month’s time.