The Vale Park stadium opening day, August 1950

How the day unfolded

Taking place on the 24th August 1950, the opening of the new Vale Park stadium took place before the Valiants hosted Newport County in a League game.

According to the Sentinel newspaper the schedule for the day was:

• Prior to 4pm: three hundred guests will be given a tour of the ground
• 4pm: official opening ceremony performed by Alderman Holdcroft (the club chairman)
• 4.15pm: a concert by Foden’s Band
• 5.15pm: community singing (with the songsheet below)
• 6pm: kick-off for the game against Newport County

The Songsheet

The songs to be sung were Land of Hope and Glory, John Peel, Abide with Me, Land of my Fathers, My Bonnie, Down in the Glen, She’ll be coming round the mountain, She’s a lassie from Lancashire and John Brown’s body.

The Match

A crowd of 30,042 were present for Vale Park’s first game. The Sentinel reported that Vale “responded fittingly to the occasion” It reported that the first-half was an “evenly-matched affair but after the interval the Vale attack moved with more rhythm. The outcome was a goal scored by Aveyard from an opportunity supplied by Polk.” The newspaper continued that it was a “splendid goal and the reward for a great deal of relentless if not polished endeavor.”

More features on the Vale Park stadium…

Here are a selection of our features about Port Vale FC’s current stadium – Vale Park:

The Story of Vale Park. A booklet which was produced describing how the ground was built. Read more

First floodlit game. A match report from the first use of floodlights at the ground. Read more

Get even more features on the Vale Park stadium in our dedicated Vintage Vale Park section