Five of the best: follically challenged Port Vale players

Simon Mills

Our cover image star, Simon Mills is surely a shoe-in for this list. Not only did Mills’ song reference his barnet (“Simon Mills, he’s got no hair, we don’t care…”) but he was voted the club’s best-ever right-back in the OVF Best Ever XI vote – so his contributions on the pitch were clearly immense.

The story of Simon Mills at Vale Park is (of course) down to the genius of John Rudge. Mills, then a cultured midfielder, was brought to the Vale for a bargain £35,000 fee in 1988. However, he couldn’t get into the engineroom thanks to the form of another Vale legend – Ray Walker.

Rudge’s solution was to switch Mills to right-back where his delivery created numerous goals. It was Mills’ delivery which created the famous “MBE” corner routine (Mills > Beckford > Earle) with Robbie Earle netting many of his ninety goals from it. Mills would total 2018 games for the Vale over a six year spell during which he also won promotion in 1989. Here’s that MBE routine from our YouTube channel…

Neil Aspin

With his bald pate, Neil Aspin always looked older than his years so it’s sometimes easy to forget that he was just 24 years of age when he joined the club for what turned out to be a bargain £150,000 fee from Leeds United. Like Mills, he’s also a selection in our all-time Vale XI.

A colossus at either right-back or centre-back, Aspin would go on to be an ever-present when fit and made 410 appearances over the next ten years. During that time he was named player of the year on two occasions as well as helping the club to promotion and the Autoglass Trophy.

Aspin would also return to the club for 13 month spell as the Port Vale manager. But it’s on the pitch that his contribution is most fondly remembered.

During those 410 games, he netted just three times for the Valiants but the strike against Grimsby Town, where Aspin just went on and on and on, is one of the most fondly remembered of all-time. For that reason, we feel duty bound to reproduce the clip from our YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Martin Foyle

Considering he stands in third place in the club’s all-time scoring charts and (like Mills and Aspin) was also named as a member of our all-time Port Vale XI, striker Martin Foyle is also a shoe-in for this list.

The third John Rudge signing on this list, Foyle was snapped up from Oxford United for a then club record £375,000 but it proved to be money well spent. The striker would net 108 goals from 353 games, picking up the player of the year award twice and also helping the club to the Autoglass Trophy win at Wembley stadium. However, goals only tells part of the Foyle story, a clever forward his unselfish link-up play helped set up many goals for his fellow players while his commitment saw him still playing for the Valiants while into his mid-30s. Foyle also had a spell as Vale manager from 2004 to 2007 with his signings including striker Steve Brooker.

Here’s another clip from our YouTube channel as Foyle gets on the end of a cross after some breathtaking play from Steve Guppy:

Ron Futcher

If it’s characters you require then look no further than veteran Ron Futcher, complete with his receding hairline and mullet haircut.

Futcher actually wasn’t Rudge’s first choice to partner Darren Beckford but nevertheless, it turned out to be a stroke of genius. Not without controversy, Futcher opted to not turn up to a signing event at Mansfield and instead opted for Vale Park. Fans will be grateful he did as he netted 19 times and brought Beckford’s game on in their first season together. It culminated in promotion to the second tier.

Futcher was used more sparingly in his second season and was sold to Burnley. Typically of Rudge, even though the striker was then 33 years of age, the Vale boss made a profit on the deal, selling Futcher for £25,000 more than he cost.

Here’s Futcher showing his controversial side, from our YouTube channel:

Ron Wilson

Here’s one for the older Vale fans as we finish the list with a reliable player from the 1960 and 70s. Born in Edinburgh, Wilson was signed from the Scottish Leagues by Stoke City before making the switch across the Potteries to Port Vale in 1963.

During a seven year stay with the Valiants he proved to be a solid left-back making just under 300 appearances and being voted the club’s player of the year in 1969. A year later, he celebrated promotion as a member of Gordon Lee’s Fourth Division side.

Features on the 1970 promotion side:

• Photo Essay: Port Vale players celebrate promotion in 1970
• Photo Essay: The 1970 Port Vale promotion winning team in colour
• 1969/1970 Promotion Booklet (Part 1)
• 1969/1970 Promotion Booklet (Part 2)