Photo Essay: a host of new Port Vale signings at Kidsgrove in 2016

Background

At time of publishing, Port Vale are set to play Kidsgrove Athletic in their first friendly game of the season. Pictured is the Port Vale 2016-17 squad warming up ahead of their game. This was surely one of the more unusual Vale line-ups to visit Kidsgrove in many years. Bruno Ribeiro’s revolving door policy had seen a host of continental players come into the squad. Pictured in this image are (from left) Kjell Knops, Rigino Cicilia, Calvin MacIntosch, JJ Hooper, Kiko (partially hidden) and Jerome Thomas. Thomas’ transfer to the club had just been confirmed ahead of the game. The game ended in a narrow 2-1 win for the Vale. Veteran Michael Brown scored a double in the last 15 minutes as Vale came back from conceding a 17th minute Kidsgrove opener.