10th January 2024

Former midfielder Tom Pett has been reflecting on his time in Burslem with the Gloucestershire Live website and he says that the emotional promotion season during his spell will be “something I’ll remember for a long time.”

Pett joined the Valiants in the summer of 2021 and during his two year spell with the club, he made 83 appearances, scoring three times as well as captaining the side during their Wembley play-off final win over Mansfield Town. He was released in the summer of 2023.

He told Gloucestershire Live how he came to move to the Valiants from Stevenage. The midfielder explained that a transfer for his fiancé Hannah Blundell, an England International defender who plays for Manchester United played a key role.

To get promoted in the way we did, for the gaffer, and with him being there to take us up was brilliant…

Pett explained: “I really enjoyed that year (at Stevenage) and if it wasn’t for Hannah I’d have stayed there longer, but she was due to sign for Man United (from Chelsea) so I was eyeing a move north.”

It was former Stevenage midfielder Tom Conlon, the then Vale captain, who persuaded Pett to sign. He commented: “He asked me what I was up to and that same afternoon I had the gaffer (Darrell Clarke) on the phone saying ‘let’s get it done’ and joking that Conlon would get the agent fee. I actually ended up signing for Vale before Hannah’s move to United had officially gone through so I remember saying to her ‘you’d better sign for them now!'”

An injury to Conlon led to an unexpected role for Pett as he explains: “It was great to play with Tom again, but he picked up an injury and I remember thinking the lads were having me on when I saw the (captain’s) armband on my peg. But the gaffer said I was the ideal good cop to Conlon’s bad cop so I had the captaincy for most of the season because he needed an Achilles op.

“That season was certainly not plain sailing with what happened with the gaffer, which was really tough (Clarke sadly lost his daughter that year and took compassionate leave for a spell). To get promoted in the way we did, for the gaffer, and with him being there to take us up was brilliant. I am best mates with Conlon and I said to him before the game that he’d be lifting the Play-Off trophy as I wouldn’t have been at the club if it wasn’t for him. We lifted it together, which was a special moment.”

However, a back problem which had affected Pett for years severely affected his preparations for Vale’s return to League One. He explained: “I was having to take Diclofenac nearly daily and I’d had four years of medication and injections. We tried everything, but it was affecting my home life, my sleep and everything else.

“I had the op that summer and missed the start of the season, so again after promotion to League One I couldn’t go on to do what I wanted to do. The gaffer was great, telling me to get it sorted and, touch wood, it’s been fine ever since. There were a lot of risks with the operation, which involved shaving away some of the disc, but I promised the gaffer I’d come back a better player and he was fine with that.”

The midfielder amits that return to League One was a struggle for the club which ultimately resulted in Clarke leaving. He added: “It was a tough year and we struggled in patches. I think the gaffer will agree, looking back, it was probably the right decision to step away because he’s back to his old self now. It was a hugely tough time for him and you could feel it. He’s usually so chirpy, but you’d walk past him in the corridor and not know if you could crack a joke. He’d say he was the same, but sometimes you were treading on eggshells around him and it was really tough seeing him leave.”

Pett followed Clarke out of the exit door at the end of the season as he recalls: “They wanted to go a bit younger and I know the fans weren’t happy with how it ended because I came second in the fans’ player of the year vote so I walked away with my head held high. I have nothing but good things to say about Vale and I still get on well with Cros and Flickers. Dunny (David Dunn, first team coach) was one of the first to message me when I got the deal at Cheltenham. Getting promoted with them is something I’ll remember for a long time.”

Pett has now reunited with Darrell Clarke at Cheltenham and he explained that the manager was a key factor in his decision saying: “I was offered a hell of a lot more money than here, but the manager has to tick a box, along with the squad and the style of play. A younger me probably would have gone for the money, but I am already glad I made this decision. ”

The full interview with Tom Pett can be read on the Gloucestershire Live website here