Two minute guide to: Fleetwood Town
We present another of our quick guides to Port Vale’s latest League Two opponents – New Year Day visitors Fleetwood Town.
Man in charge
Graham Alexander took over when Micky Mellon departed earlier this month. Apart from a brief caretaker spell at Preston, this is the former Scottish International’s first managerial job and his record stands at one win and three draws.
Current form
Patchy. Fleetwood have won just twice in ten games and their last away victory came way back in October.
Last time we met/overall record
The first meeting of the two sides back in September ended in a resounding 5-2 win for the Valiants thanks to goals from Ashley Vincent, Louis Dodds (2, pictured right)) and Tom Pope (2).
Featured connection
Much-maligned left winger Paul “best player at the club” Edwards (below, right) also had a brief spell with the Cod Army in 2011. Edwards was one of a number of high-profile Martin Foyle signings in the summer of 2007. None of the new signings made much of an impact and Edwards was transfer-listed in January 2008.
The move prompted the memorable Sentinel interview in which Edwards claimed he was the best player at the club (he subsequently said he was misquoted). Edwards was booed by fans at Vale’s next game.
Edwards lasted another season and was offered a contract extension. But the arrival of Micky Adams saw him depart the club in the summer of 2009 and joined Blue Square side Barrow later that year.
Connections
Former Valiant Scott Brown had a brief spell at Fleetwood in 2011. Brown, who was not a success at Vale Park, made four appearances for Town. A third former Vale player Phil Charnock also had a spell with Fleetwood.
Team news
Vale are likely to be unchanged after their wins at Rotherham and Dagenham. Ashley Vincent (right) is still recovering from illness while Calvin Andrew could continue in his unfamiliar left midfield role.
Experienced Fleetwood duo Jon Parkin and Barry Ferguson are both doubtful for the game.
What they said
“We’re expecting another difficult game but if ever there was a rallying call for supporters, it’s now.”
– Micky Adams
“It’s going to be a hard game against Fleetwood, but with the two wins we’ve got at Christmas, we’ll go in against them confident.”
– Calvin Andrew
Trivia
The current Fleetwood club was founded in 1997 but a club in Fleetwood has existed since 1908 and has variously been called Fleetwood Wanderers, Fleetwood Freeport and Fleetwood FC.