One year on – Port Vale defeat Swindon Town in a dramatic play-off penalty shootout

On the 19th May 2022, Port Vale fans enjoyed one of the team’s more memorable games of recent years.

Trailing 1-0 from the first-leg of their play-off semi-final against Swindon Town, the Valiants levelled in the second-leg through James Wilson and then went on to win a topsy turvy penalty shootout.

What made it even more special for Vale fans was that the Valiants recovered from missing two early spot-kicks, pantomime villain Harry McKirdy skied his penalty kick, Swindon boss and serial moaner Ben Garner whined that home side Vale hadn’t watered the pitch enough and Swindon captain Dion Conroy had arrogantly proclaimed before the match that “We play better football than them, we’re better footballers.”

The Valiants went on to face Mansfield Town at Wembley and their victory there saw the side promoted to League One.

It made for a memorable couple of hours for Vale fans and you can take a look back at the game through the video clip at the start of the article.