Grimsby v Port Vale Preview

The Opposition

Port Vale, one of the few English clubs not to be named after a geographical location were founded in 1876 in Burslem, Staffordshire. A period of financial woe and debts of around £1.5 million just after the turn of the millennium led to the club being taken over by a consortium representing the fans, known was Valiant 2001. This settled matters for a small period of time until they went back into administration in 2003 and narrowly avoided relegation having incurred the wrath of the football league and a 10 point penalty. The 2003-5 season saw Vale miss out on the League One play-offs on goal difference after Swindon and Hartlepool played out a final day draw which saw them both finish safely in 5th and 6th. The 2004-5 season saw the team struggle to put the play-off heartbreak behind them and they finished 17th in the table, only 5 points above the drop zone. 2005-6 saw Port Vale bring back the giant killing of old to the long-suffering home fans where they made it to the 4th round of the FA Cup before falling to Aston Villa, a team they held at Villa Park for nearly an hour of the game. The following season was the tale of 2 strikers, as Akpo Sodje and Leon Constantine scored an incredible 42 goals between them in the league, but Vale faded away from the top 6 and eventually languished in 12th. This cost manager Martin Foyle his job and he was replaced by non-league supremo Lee Sinnott who had led Farsley Celtic to three promotions in four seasons and on the brink of the football league. He was unable to lift a depleted squad and Vale finished in 23rd position in League One meaning relegation to English football’s basement division. Vale sold 6400 season tickets for this season in League Two in anticipation of a promotion push back to League One. It hasn't materialised and Sinnott was replaced by Lee Glover in October, fans have voiced their concerns at the way the club is being run and at the time of writing vale are 8 points clear of safety with 3 games remaining, one would suspect that they will be safe however.

Port Vale’s squad does not look like one that should be fighting for its football league lives at the bottom of the table, with a set of strikers that would be pushing for starts at most clubs in the division. Striker and captain Marc Richards was signed from Barnsley in 2007 and has 11 goals in the league this season. His partner, Louis Dodds is also a feared forward at this level. Youngsters Jamie Lawrie and Kyle Perry are also pushing for starts. Goalkeeper Joe Anyon came through Vale’s youth system and has made over 100 appearances between the sticks for the Valiants but is out for the rest of the season through injury, young keeper Chris Martin will deputise. Defender Sam Stockley is one of few with plenty of experience in a young team, the right-back signed from Wycombe ion the summer of 2008. Midfielder Paul Edwards was signed from Oldham Athletic in 2007 and has become a mainstay in Vale’s midfield along with young David Howland. Another product of the club’s successful youth system is winger Simon Richman who was contributed 5 goals so far this season.

Striker/Winger Louis Dodds sent the whole of last season on loan at Lincoln City from Leicester where he learnt his trade at this level. He scored 9 goals last season but was released at the end of the season where Vale snapped him up on a two-year contract. His partnership with Marc Richards has produced 20 goals so far this season, which may prove decisive come the end of the season. Dodds scored over 60 goals in 3 seasons for Leicester reserves and was described by the management as the ‘most natural finisher at the club’ ahead of the likes of Matty Fryatt, Steve Howard and Paul DIckov. Dodds’ pace and finishing ability has brought him goals wherever he has played and he will be the main threat to Town’s defence on Saturday.

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