3rd May 2023

Five of the best: Port Vale signings from Crewe Alex

Five of the best Tags: Anthony Grant, Geoff Hunter, James Peake, Luke Rodgers, Tony Naylor Click icons to: Comment: 1 - Like:

Port Vale signings from Crewe Alex: it’s a controversial move at the best of times, but here are five transfers from our near neighbours which have most benefitted the Valiants.

Have we missed any? Let us know your thoughts and post a comment…

Just to clarify: we’re only talking about players who made a direct transfer. So, for instance, Tom Pope played for Crewe but joined Port Vale from another club so he wouldn’t count…

Port Vale signings from Crewe Alex – five of the best

There have been a reasonable number of signings from our Cheshire rivals but it’s fair to say quite a few did not work out as planned. The first three players on this list should make sense but after that, it’s relatively slim pickings…

Tony Naylor

An absolute shoe-in for this list. The diminutive striker is regarded as one of the club’s best-ever strikers and scored some of the most spectacular goals ever seen at Vale Park. He was a bargain £150,000 signing from Crewe Alex in 1994. Naylor went on to play 295 games and score 89 goals. He also inspired the Valiants to their second domestic cup – the LDV Vans Trophy final in 2001.

Anthony Grant

The second near certainty on our list, Anthony Grant was a great signing from then Port Vale manager Rob Page. The Londoner bossed the Vale midfield for two years, earning a player of the year award. His decision to leave in the 2017 January transfer window arguably was the final nail in the club’s dwindling hopes of avoiding relegation.

Geoff Hunter

One for the older Port Vale fans perhaps but energetic midfielder Geoff Hunter was a tremendous addition to the Port Vale ranks in 1981. A first-team regular for five seasons he made over 250 appearances and won promotion twice with the Valiants. Geoff sadly passed away in 2022.

Luke Rodgers

This fourth choice was a tricky one and we suspect not everyone will agree with our selection of Luke Rodgers. The diminutive striker wasn’t an unqualified success at Vale Park but his stint was successful than most Vale signings from the Alex. The club’s top-scorer for the 2007-8, Rodgers netted twenty times in 66 games for the Valiants. His stay came to a controversial end when he was released following an argument with then manager Dean Glover.

James Peake

The last name on our list is not one we expect you to be overly familiar with. James Peake was one of Port Vale’s early League stars. He played for the club during two spells from 1897 and 1901 and scored 26 goals from 87 appearances. He was signed from Crewe Alex where had had made 84 appearances. The left-half was top-scorer in the 1898-99 season with eleven goals.