Port Vale’s Steve Speed to step down from role at the club after 43 years in the job
Steve Speed may not be a Port Vale staff member that many opposition fans are very familiar with. However, many Port Vale supporters will have seen Speed on the pitch at Vale Park over the years. Speed has been at Port Vale since 1979 after signing on as a 17-year-old. However, Speed isn’t a player or a coach, rather he is the club’s head groundsman.
Speed has spent over four decades at the club keeping the pitch at Vale Park in playing order. He took over the heads groundsman role in 1991 after initially joining the ground staff as part of the city council’s parks department.
Port Vale are fighting to move up the League One table. The season has been challenging for the newly-promoted side, but some big games are on the fixture list. Port Vale have a massive home fixture with Charlton Athletic coming up, and fans are debating whether the Vale can get a win. Fans can use the Betfair free bet code to bet on the match and predict the winner.
The head groundsman will retire from the job and bring his 43-year relationship with Port Vale to a close. Although Speed has no intention to retire fully, he plans to pursue new interests.
Port Vale’s Vale Park was opened in 1950. The pitch was first laid just before its opening, which led to a few disadvantages for Speed and his crew. The Vale Park pitch hasn’t had the same benefits as new pitches and stadiums. However, Speed took pride in the Vale Park pitch and it was always prepared to look its best on matchday.
Speed has worked under sixteen managers at Vale Park. The groundsman saw a little bit of everything at Vale Park over the years. He was a part of the staff in the 1980s when the Vale had to apply for re-election to the Fourth Division. Speed was also at the club when they reached the Championship. The only thing Speed didn’t see at Vale Park was the Premier League. He also saw the lows of Port Vale entering administration on two different occasions.
One of Speed’s most famous moments while working with Port Vale include some sheep. A steep bank is located behind the Railway Stand. According to an interview given by Speed, the bank was difficult to keep mowed short during the summer.
Speed jokingly told then-chairman Bill Bell that he wished they could get a couple of sheep to eat down the grass in summer. McPherson found the sheep to eat down the grass on the bank behind the Railway Stand. Word of the sheep got out to Sky Sports, who thought the sheep were used to “mow” the pitch during summer.
Sky Sports sent television cameras out to Vale Park to get pictures of the sheep in action after Speed and company rounded them up for a photo opportunity on the pitch. In later years, Speed appealed to sheep owners to again live behind the Railway Stand for the summer, but no farmers came forward to loan the club a flock.