Port Vale FC season preview
Port Vale FC season preview: a look ahead to the 2020-21 season and Port Vale’s prospects.
Overview
Port Vale FC are a football club that were formed in 1876 in Staffordshire and are one of the only clubs never to have played in the top-flight of English football since being formed as a club. They also hold the records for the most seasons in the English Football League (109) and in the second tier (41) without reaching the first tier.
The club, who are nicknamed The Valiants, play their home matches at the Vale Park Stadium, which has the ability to host 19,052 spectators. However, fixtures rarely have been able to attract crowds near that capacity in recent years.
The club are an attractive proposition for punters to place bets on as some of the best betting sites in the UK offer some very good odds for their fixtures as well, with their form last season perhaps a big reason as to why.
Port Vale FC season preview 2019/20
Port Vale were competing in the League Two division for the third consecutive season and it was their first full campaign under manager John Askey. The manager has connections with the club as well as his father, Colin, who was a former player of the club.
He reshaped the club in the summer prior to the 2019/20 campaign, having released 14 players that were deemed surplus to requirements and brought in another 14 to replace them and further strengthen the squad.
Indeed, that appeared to work for The Valiants over the course of the season prior to the Coronavirus pandemic, as the club would be within touching distance of a play-off spot. The Vale Park outfit sat just one point behind Northampton Town at the conclusion of the League campaign and had to sit and watch the Cobblers go up to League One next season with the knowledge knowing that it could have been them.
Vale Park was a fortress for the club during the season when in League competition, as they lost just one of the 18 matches played at home; having won nine and drawing eight. Port Vale also only conceded 15 goals at home, although their away record made for poor reading.
Askey’s side found it difficult on their travels, having lost seven of the 19 games played, picking up just five wins.
Tom Pope led the charts in regards to goals scored for The Valiants, having netted ten across the campaign including one in an FA Cup third round tie against Manchester City in January 2020.
2020/21 preview
So, what are Port Vale’s chances heading into the 2020/21 League Two campaign? Well, it appears Askey has already made movements in trying to strengthen the squad even further.
The manager has brought in the likes of Devante Rodney from Salford City to bolster their attacking options, whilst versatile right-back Zak Mills, who had been released by Oldham Athletic has also been signed to provide some much-needed competition for places.
The acquisition of Rodney certainly appears to look like a good business move for Port Vale as he has proven he can be rather effective at the National League level in regards to goal returns, although whether he can replicate that form in the next tier of the English football pyramid remains to be seen.
If The Valiants can replicate their home form of the 2019/20 campaign prior to COVID-19 and sort out the mess that was witnessed whilst away from the Vale Park Stadium, then there is every chance the club can go one better than their eighth-place finish and compete in the play-offs by the end of the season.