Latest Posts
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2025/26 Squad Review Part One: Keepers, Defenders, Wing-backs
Here we go then. No point pretending we need to wait until the final whistle of the season because, honestly, we’ve seen more than enough by now. Everyone’s had their chance, plenty of minutes on the pitch, plenty of time… Continue reading
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Vale, Chelsea and a Passport to Pimlico
London. That beautiful bastard of a city. Still my favourite place on earth to lose myself for a weekend. It never shuts up, never sits still, never gives you a moment’s peace – and that’s exactly why I love it.… Continue reading
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Port Vale and the FA Cup: What if Chelsea Shit The Bed?
Saturday is coming. Quarter-finals of the FA Cup. Away at Chelsea. It’s just sitting there on the horizon like some great shimmering promise or threat – I can’t quite tell which, and that’s half the thrill. I’m letting go of… Continue reading
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Port Vale and the Unending Misery of League One
That little bit of hope the Bolton game gave us – do you remember that? Of course you do. It’s still clinging to the edges of the week like smoke that hasn’t quite dispersed. Only last Saturday, wasn’t it? And… Continue reading
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Port Vale and the Art of Graceful Relegation
Three league games since the FA Cup heroics against Sunderland – was that really only ten days ago? – and somehow we’ve squeezed just one point from nine. One point. Even the most devoted optimist, the last believer clinging to… Continue reading
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In The Tracks Between Us (Awaydays and the National Rail Network)
I’ve never boarded the official supporters’ coach. I just can’t do it. I cannot open that door. And to be absolutely clear, this isn’t a dig at fellow Vale fans – far from it – and it’s certainly not about… Continue reading
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There Is A Light That Never Goes Out
The board goes up – six minutes. Six. Added. Minutes. And I swear something inside me just snaps like an old elastic band that’s been left in the sun too long. I’m done. Absolutely shredded. Head gone, legs gone, soul… Continue reading
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Port Vale: Going Down Fighting and the FA Cup Fever Dream
There is definitely something happening, right? You can feel it under the skin now – a stubbornness, a resilience, a refusal to lie down that simply didn’t exist a few weeks ago. There’s fight again. There’s spirit again. There’s belief… Continue reading
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Acceptance, Inner Peace & The Joy Of A 96th Minute Equaliser
There’s nothing quite like a 96th‑minute equaliser to make the soul tremble with joy. And that noise that came from the Bycars as Martin Sherif wheeled away – that deafening silence from those travellers from Reading – music to my… Continue reading
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Port Vale And The Many Doors Out Of Here
The Escape From Reality There comes a point where reality feels like a pair of hands around the throat. Not tight enough to kill you – just firm enough to remind you who’s in charge. Bills, headlines, work, the slow… Continue reading
tales from the paddock 