Latest Posts
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Durkheim, Collective Effervescence, Emotional Contagion and Port Vale FC
Durkheim’s concept of collective effervescence highlights the powerful connection between emotional contagion and football. We have all witnessed it, we have all been part of it, whether we realise it or not. The shared joy, despair, anticipation and belief that… Continue reading
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Port Vale: The Problems We Already Knew About
Here’s the moment. The moment that tells you everything. Hernandez twists away from his full-back, reaches the byline and hangs an inch-perfect cross into the box. Mo Faal is there, utterly unmarked, seven yards from goal with only the (make-believe)… Continue reading
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Port Vale: Nothing Is Won Or Lost Today
Saturday 15 August 2026, 9:15am. Oldham away. First league game of the 2026/27 season. I’m always hit by a huge wave of nostalgia when I come out of Piccadilly Station. There’s something about stepping back into the city where I… Continue reading
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Port Vale, Wolves and The Distance Between Us
The Carabao Cup dream is finally over. Wolverhampton Wanderers snatched it from our hands on Friday night, and if we’re being brutally honest, they were entitled to. Obviously that’s not the story of the night, but let’s start there. Let’s… Continue reading
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Port Vale 2026/27: We Walk This Road Together
Thank fuck that’s over with. May, June, July. Three months of exhausting nothingness. Weeks and days without rhyme or reason, finally, mercifully, behind us. Ok, there was the World Cup, and it did have its moments, just not from us.… Continue reading
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Port Vale: Who’s In, Who’s Out? The Story So Far…
The Vale squad for the 2026/27 season is taking shape, and with football being football there will, of course, be some late twists and turns before the transfer window finally slams shut. An absolute banging new arrival could emerge from… Continue reading
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Port Vale and The Art of Loving a Player You’ve Only Googled Once
The new season looms, and, as ever, I have nothing but unquestioning faith in the squad we’re assembling at Vale. And within that, there’s always a new signing I convince myself will be the story. That player who turns draws… Continue reading
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Port Vale: Albert Camus, Relegation and the Inescapability of Hope
And there it is. Relegation, finally confirmed. The thing most of us had accepted by Christmas – the quiet, sinking realisation that there was no way out of this mess – finally happened last night at Cardiff. With a whimper… Continue reading
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2025/26 Squad Review Part Two: Midfielders, Attackers, January Recruits
And here it is then, part two, the 2025/26 squad review rolling forward. Midfielders first, then attackers, then the January window – where the bargain bin gets tipped upside down and you convince yourself there’s treasure in there somewhere. This… Continue reading
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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
tales from the paddock 