Nearly Men 35: Niall Quinn, waiting at a platform for a Port Vale loan move that never happened…
The future Arsenal, Manchester City and Sunderland star came achingly close to a move to Vale Park in the early stages of his career…
Nearly Men
The ones that got away – players that so nearly signed for the Valiants.
Nearly Men 35: Derek Swan, a rare Rudge punt that didn’t pay off…
Our latest “nearly man” feature covers a reasonably rare event – a John Rudge ‘chancer’ signing that didn’t pay dividends.
Nearly Men 34: Ray Kennedy, the superstar that Sir Stan didn’t rate…
Our latest “nearly man” feature is a fairly well known tale for most Port Vale fans and one of the biggest missed opportunities in the club’s history.
Nearly Men 33: Mick Channon, the eighties marquee signing that never was
Our latest “nearly man” feature is the story of how former England striker Mick Channon could have joined Port Vale in 1982.
Nearly Men 32: Finn Ashworth, the “near forgotten” loanee
Finn Ashworth joined the Valiants on loan from Wolves in February 2025 but left without ever appearing in a Port Vale match day squad.
Nearly Men 31: Deklan Wynne, the International left-back who never played competitively for Vale
Deklan Wynne joined the Valiants in April 2024 but despite two spells lasting till July of that year, he never managed to make a competitive appearance for the club.
Nearly men 30: cosmopolitan manager Constantine who turned down Port Vale in 2016
A book by well-travelled manager Stephen Constantine reveals he turned down the Port Vale manager’s job back in 2016.
Nearly men 29: Chris Burns, the swap deal which never happened
Port Vale came close to adding midfielder Chris Burns to their squad in a swap deal which is mired in confusion…
Nearly men 28: Chris Price, the full-back who turned down John Rudge
In our series of players who could have featured for the club, we look at Port Vale’s failed pursuit of Chris Price in the mid 1980s.
Nearly men 27: Scotland’s hundred goal “finest centre-forward” and a Port Vale tragedy
In our series of players who could have featured for the club, we look at tragic story of Frank McGinnes, a Scottish starlet who was set to light up Port Vale’s entry to the Football League…
Nearly men 26: when Port Vale turned down Jaap Stam
In our series of missed Port Vale transfer targets, we look at the time when the Valiants remarkably passed up on a chance of signing Dutch defender Jaap Staam…
Nearly men 25: Tony Kelly, not John Rudge’s next playmaker…
Yes, midfield journeyman Tony Kelly did have a brief spell with Port Vale FC, so he’s not technically a “nearlyman” but arguably it could have lasted much longer and influential…
Nearly men 17 to 24: the fate of seven recent Port Vale trialists
In recent years, Vale have tried out numerous trialists – here is a selection who were not taken on by the club…
Nearly men 15-16: the two signings Port Vale missed before netting Darren Beckford
One is a very well-known name to Vale fans and the other is somewhat surprising – we reveal more two Port Vale transfer near-misses.
Nearly man 14: Dan Westwood
Released from the Port Vale youth set-up the striker has proven to be prolific in non-league and is now being scouted by Premier League sides…
Nearly Men number thirteen: Lee Trundle
Lee Trundle’s Port Vale move – how the Valiants nearly got their man. The Welsh striker was Port Vale’s top transfer target in 2003 only for the club to be thwarted by a transfer embargo…
Nearly men 7-12: the rocky transfer route to Ron Futcher…
Port Vale tried five other strikers before opting to sign Ron Futcher. This is the story of those failed transfer deals…
Nearly Men numbers five and six: Gillespie and Davies
In the latest “nearly men” episode, we examine how Port Vale almost signed two Manchester United players.
Nearly Men number four: Lee Hughes
Port Vale tried to sign Lee Hughes twice but this “nearly man” feature has a happy ending as Hughes finally joined Vale at the third time of asking.
Nearly men number three: Steve Staunton
Rob Fielding recalls the time that John Rudge attempted to sign the then unknown Liverpool teenager Steve Staunton.
Nearly men number two: Tom Finney
In this second episode, we reveal how Vale came close to completing what could have been one of the club’s highest-profile signings of all-time.
Nearly men number one: Steve Bull
In this article we explain how John Rudge nearly pulled off a stunning coup for the Valiants… signing striker Steve Bull!