Port Vale v Fleetwood Town preview – much changed stadium and revamped squad prepare for action
Port Vale v Fleetwood Town preview: have Port Vale strengthened enough ahead of their League One opener? We’ll find out on Saturday afternoon…
Match Info
Venue: Vale Park stadium | Date: 30th July 2022, 3pm | Competition: League One
Predict the score
Team news
Team newsAfter his appearance at Thursday’s fan forum. it now looks likely that last season’s top-scorer James Wilson will miss the opening weeks of the season.
If Wilson doesn’t make it, Vale still look a little short of options upfront and could start with either summer signing Gavin Massey or Ben Garrity partnering (or perhaps just behind) Jamie Proctor.
Elsewhere, Vale look to have some strength in depth after their late flurry of signings. Lewis Cass and Will Forrester will be pushing for places in the defence while Funso Ojo look likely to start. Thierry Small, Derek Agyakwa and Tommy McDermott are more likely to make the bench alongside captain Tom Conlon, who is returning from injury.
As for the opponents… Irish striker Promise Omochere became the club’s seventh striker when he joined this week. Omochere’s new teammates include other summer additions Jordan Rossiter, Brendon Wiredu, Josh Vela, Shaun Rooney and Jay Lynch.
Other Vale matters
It’s not just the squad which has been revamped for League One. The Vale Park stadium has undergone £1.2m in upgrades (see our photos below) including new turnstiles, a new PA system, improvements to the toilets and the addition of a £500,000 hospitality area to the Lorne St stand.
Man in charge
Fleetwood Head Coach Scott Brown will be in charge of his first game since joining in the summer. The 37 year-old is best known for a lengthy spell with Celtic and for winning 55 Scotland caps.
Pre-match quotes
I get it can be a frustrating period for the supporters. Everyone wants to see new signings but there is a process we go through to try to make sure the right signings come in at the right time. It is the first time where you go to the end of one season at the end of May and are kicking off again on July 30. It has been different for match minutes. But the lads played an 11-month season. I looked at our friendly against Dundee United and we looked fit and sharp…
Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke
League One is a fantastic League. I can’t wait for the competitive stuff to start…
Fleetwood manager Scott Brown
I love my job and we want to keep building a football club. We are absolutely delighted to be in League One next year and we are going to enjoy all the difficult challenges ahead…
Port Vale manager Darrell Clarke
We are going to take it one game at a time this season and Port Vale is a huge game for us. They’re going to play 3-5-2 and are a direct and good team who have just come up from League Two. We’ve watched quite a lot of their games recently and have noticed that they are full of energy and like to put a lot of balls in the box, and are fully capable of scoring some great goals as well. For us, it’s about how we can stop that and control the game…
Fleetwood manager Scott Brown
Milestones?
Milestones?There could be quite a few for this Valiants side with a host of players potentially making their debut. The list includes:
The match could also see a “second” Vale debut for the returning Lewis Cass.
If Mal Benning features on the left flank, it will mark the 350th career appearance for the popular wingback.
Familiar faces
Familiar facesPort Vale striker Jamie Proctor spent two years with Fleetwood between 2014 and 2016. The forward made 72 appearances, scoring twelve times. He bettered that in his first season for the Valiants, scoring thirteen times in 34 appearances.
The Valiants had another former Fleetwood face in their squad last season. Striker Ryan Edmondson signed on loan after an earlier spell with Fleetwood. The forward has now signed for League Two side Carlisle United.
Face from the past
Charlie Rattray was known as “Jazz” not due to any freestyle trumpet playing but rather due to his ability to “jazz around defenders.” He played 22 times for the Valiants in the 1927-28 season before moving on to Accrington and finally his hometown club Fleetwood where he finished his playing career.
Through the years…
Through the years…The two sides first met in a competitive fixture in September 2012 when the Valiants recorded a spectacular 5-2 away victory. The last competitive fixture was in 2020 in the League Cup in a game Vale lost 2-1 with the much-maligned Danny Whitehead being the last player to score against Town. The Valiants are unbeaten in their last two home games against Fleetwood.
Last time at Vale Park…
Port Vale triumphed 2-1 in November 2016 thanks to two late goals from Alex Jones and Rigino Cicilia. Both sides finished with ten men with Anthony Grant seeing red for the Valiants and Chris Long being dismissed for the visitors.
Overall record
3 Port Vale wins | 2 draws | 4 Port Vale losses
From the archives
Some photos from a friendly game played in 2019.
A brief history of…
Fleetwood Town was established in 1997 and is the fourth incarnation of the club which was originally formed in 1908. The current incarnation of the club came into existence as Fleetwood Wanderers in 1997 and changed their name to Fleetwood Town in 2002, Under the ownership of Andrew Pilley they won promotion to the Football League in 2012.
Were you paying attention?
Were you paying attention?Our traditional quiz on our Port Vale v Fleetwood Town preview:
- Who is the current Fleetwood Town manager?
- What was the score the last time the two teams met?
- Which current Port Vale striker played for Fleetwood?
- In what year did Fleetwood join the Football League?
Answers below (no cheating)…
- Scott Brown
- Fleetwood Town 2-1 Port Vale, EFL Cup
- Jamie Proctor
- 2012
Rev Peter
30th July 2022 @ 12:57 pm
Brilliant rundown. Really helpful after all the changes. I’ll be looking here prematch every week now. Thank you.