Vale Park: Port Vale 2-4 Exeter City

Port Vale 2-4 Exeter City

An opportunity arose for me (Adrian) to take in a neutral game. I contemplated various venues before settling for a trip to what was christened the Wembley of the North, Vale Park in Burslem. It’s a ground I first went to in 1982/83 and last visited in 2009/10. Strange really because I used to visit the area regularly up to 3 years ago for work. This was my fifth visit but I will never be an honorary Valiant or given the freedom of the Mother Town as I’ve yet to see the Vale win at home! I must say, I thought this record would end today. In the overcast gloom of the Potteries, they went in at half time 2-0 up. A right foot first time shot by Ethan Chislett following a half cleared corner and an individual effort from 17 year old Baylee Dipepa. The keeper was clearly at fault but if you don’t shoot you don’t score. Dipepa has something about him, I will be interested in his progress, could he make it at a higher level? Talk about a game of two halves, the second half was greeted by a double Exeter City substitution and sunshine, certainly more Devon than Potteries. Vale impressive in the first half were exactly the opposite in the second, astonishing transformation. They couldn’t get hold of the ball and if they did they couldn’t keep it. City grew in confidence, prompted in midfield by Hull City loanee, Ryan Woods, ironically Staffordshire born. He was Man of the Match and his extra class showed why he had been plying his trade at a higher level. This included an unsuccessful spell down the road at Stoke City, not lost on the cynical in the Railway Paddock. Following several corners and half chances, Exeter did pull a goal back prior to the hour. A striker signed from non-league in January, Millenic Alli was given too much space on the left hand side of the penalty area and assisted by a deflection curled the ball into the far corner to make it 2-1. The locals started to sit uncomfortably, Vale are fighting for their lives in the League One relegation zone, a home win was vital. The visitors were now asking all the questions. A Woods corner flicked on was volleyed home with the left foot of Zak Jules, it was now 2-2. Confidence drained from Vale and the inevitable happened with 11 minutes to go. Young Luke Harris on loan from Premier League Fulham volleyed a third Grecians goal after a delightful flick on, que the rumblings of discontent and the early departures from the Vale fans. Unfortunately the home side failed to pose any real problems in the second half. As for Exeter City, they helped themselves to a fourth, Alli scoring from close range following good work on the left by Iskanen, a Finland international, that looked far better on the left than on the right where he started the game. We then saw over 7 minutes of stoppage time added which saw a mass exodus of disgruntled Vale fans resigned to relegation. When the final whistle blew, it’s fair to say the bulk of the 6,686 crowd were now back in their cars and queues already formed on Hamil Road and the adjacent Moorland Road for those familiar with this part of North Staffordshire. Port Vale’s prospects on that erratic 90 minutes don’t appear good but they still do have a chance of avoiding relegation. Fair play to Exeter City, they are safe in midtable but certainly performed impressively especially in the second half and deserved their 4-2 away win. As a neutral, a good afternoon out and an unexpected turn of events which makes the game exciting and enjoyable. Vale Park has been completely revamped over the years, the Lorne Street stand has now been completed. The home fans are now in the Hamil Road stand which means the club can create a party type atmosphere in the immediate land between the stand and the road. Away fans now are housed in the opposite stand behind the goal. The Railway Paddock is a fair size stand running the length of the pitch which is now all seated. Vale Park though is not big on toilet facilities though, Port-a-loos between the paddock and the away end are the only ones on offer with other toilets high up in the stands no longer used. The dream of making Vale Park “the Wembley of the North” never really got off the ground but its current configuration is quite acceptable for the support they have.

Port Vale 0-0 Macclesfield Town

Vale Park is home of Port Vale. We arrived in Stoke on Trent at 11:45 where we went to Morrison’s Cafe on Festival Park to have our pre-match meal followed by our arrival at Vale Park. We parked the car on Hamil Road, only a few minutes away from the ground and walked around the ground taking pictures of the exterior. After that, we bought our match tickets and walked into the ‘abandoned’ town of Burslem, briefly!

Port Vale formerly played at the Old Recreational ground in Hanley before the construction of Vale Park ‘Wembley of the North’ in 1946 on a previous clay pit and moved to their new home in 1950. It was nicknamed ‘Wembley of the North’ due to the high capacity of 70,000. A railway station was also considered to be built behind the current Bycars Stand but due to the lack of funds both the stadium and railway were never completed. Since then, the ground has been redeveloped including seating in the lower tier of the Railway Paddock, seating in the Bycars Stand, the Lorne Street stand (yet to be fully completed due to funds) and seating in the Hamil Road stand including a new roof formally used by Chester City at the old Sealand Road ground. Vale Park is the 3rd highest football ground in the country at 520 feet above sea level.

The game saw a well defended Macclesfield Town team with constant Vale pressure but the unfortunate outcome was a 0-0 draw.

Overall, our second trip to the Potteries in a month was a trip that I (Ross) have been meaning to do for a while as its one of the last Football League grounds in the Midlands that needed completing and for Adrian, his 4^th visit to Vale Park, and is yet to see a win there to date!

Vale Park

Wednesday, 1 May 2024

Port Vale 2-4 Exeter City

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