Five of the best – Port Vale players who could have been great but for injury…

Lee Matthews

At the time of Matthews’ move to Port Vale in 2004, this site had only just changed its name from “There’s only one Vale fan in Bristol?” And the word from Bristol City fans we knew from living in the city was – when fit, Lee Matthews was a great forward. It was also encouraging that he was signed by Martin Foyle – who had an eye for a good striker having been instrumental in the signing of Steve Brooker and (following Matthews) Marc Richards. However, the key words we should have paid attention to were “when fit”…

The warning signs were already there. In a four year spell with Bristol City, he’d suffered an ankle injury, a back injury and a slipped disc which ruled him out for ten months. It was to be a similar story at Vale Park as he picked up numerous knocks and totalled just 34 games in two seasons. However, when fit, he was a quality act. He scored ten goals in 31 games in his first season including four goals in six games. It’s just a pity he could never stay fit enough to repeat that purple patch.

Michael Walsh

There’s such a large number of inspired John Rudge signings that it’s easy to forget Michael Walsh, one of his last. If Walsh had stayed fit it’s perfectly conceivable for him to have become one of Vale’s all-time great defenders. A smooth and dependable presence at the back, Walsh was signed for a bargain £100,000 in 2001. To explain what good value the move was – Walsh has been set to sign for Preston for £500,000 just months earlier, only for North End’s financial problems to put an end to the move.

Walsh was clearly a great player when fit. His early form was such that he was on the fringes of the England U21 squad. But then the injuries kicked in. One particularly poor challenge by Swindon Town’s Sol Davis was particularly damaging causing cruciate ligament damage, The injuries continued – shoulder surgery, back surgery, neck surgery… but still Walsh soldiered on. He lasted nine years and just under 200 appearances for the club, a total that surely would have been much higher but for injury.

James Wilson

One of the more recent Vale players, Wilson is sadly another whose career would have been vastly different but for injury. Signed by Darrell Clarke in 2021, he had a slow start but arguably played a vital role in Vale’s subsequent promotion. It was Wilson’s return to fitness and form in the final run-in that was crucial. Not only did Wilson help Vale scrape into the play-offs with a vital winner against Exeter in the last regular game of the season but he scored in all three play-off games as the club secured promotion.

Sadly, he never recovered fitness following that purple patch. He scored just four times in the following season and four times in the next campaign as injuries initially restricted his game time and then affected his performances on the pitch. It was no great surprise when he was released in 2024. It was an inglorious exit for someone who could have been a Vale superstar.

Gareth Griffiths

The second John Rudge signing on this list, Griffiths could well have followed fellow Welsh non-league signing Andy Jones to the top-level had he just remained fit. A tall, elegant defender, Griffiths was signed for the princely sum of £1,000 from Rhyl and that fee looked laughable when he took to the second division with consummate ease.  He was linked with bigger clubs before injuries took their toll. Firstly, he was largely ruled out of the 1994 promotion season through injury. And in 1994 a succession of injuries hit – to his groin and hernia.

Griffiths did eventually move from Vale Park but not to the top-flight side some may have expected several years earlier. He moved on to spells with Wigan Athletic and Rochdale before having to retire from professional football in 2006. He’d played less than a hundred games for Vale in five seasons – a tally which would surely have been higher but for injury.

Ian Armstrong

A talented youngster who had earned England youth honours while on Liverpool’s books, Armstrong looked a real prospect for the future. He was signed by manager Brian Horton in 2001. However, right from the start his spell was rocked by injuries. At his best, Armstrong was a pacy winger or forward who troubled defenders with his speed and close control.

However, he managed just 101 appearances for Vale over four seasons, scoring seventeen times. Sadly, that also proved to be the end of his football career. He left the Valiants in 2005 and had an unsuccessful trial with Macclesfield Town, then under the management of former Vale boss Horton, before announcing his retirement from the game aged just 23.