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Port Vale home preview

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Port Vale home preview

Postby Sweden Stag » Fri Nov 16, 2018 12:21 pm

After playing in two different cup competitions within a few days at headquarters, the Stags are back in League Two action this weekend. And once again at One Call Stadium, where mid-table Port Vale are the visitors.

And last season’s corresponding fixture was the first for fifteen years and a few weeks, ending up in a frustrating 1-1 draw after a very late Port Vale equalizer, which in the end definitely secured Vale’s FL status.

In last season’s fixture at Vale Park about a year ago, the Stags routed the Valiants to a 4-0 scoreline, being the third of three consecutive League Two victories. This was also the first time in fifteen years the Stags had travelled to Vale Park for a league fixture. The previous time out, on November 30, 2002, at current League One level, and the 2-4 defeat despite taking the lead inside 30 second proved to be the end for Stuart Watkiss as Stags boss.

Due to the midway geographical position of the Stags and Port Vale, the sides played each other in both sections of the old third division up to the 1957-58 campaign. To prove the point in the stats shown below, the teams first met in the old div 3 (N) in the 1936-37 season.Two seasons later, they played each other in the southern section which they also did in the first full league season after the 2nd World War and in that season, Port Vale notched their biggest of total nine wins at Mansfield to a 3-0 scoreline on September 14, 1946. And in the 1952-53 and 1953-54 seasons respectively, the sides faced each other again, but in the northern section. More recently, the teams were promoted together from the old fourth division in 1985-86 and a Stags 2-1 home win just before Christmas was a start of a winning streak with eight wins out of nine putting the Stags firmly on the promotion trail, the Stags finishing third and Vale fourth in the last season before the introdution of the current play-off system. Both teams have also featured players who when playing in Sweden played for the same Swedish club, IFK Munkfors, but not at the same time. Martin Foyle (later Aldershot, Oxford, Port Vale and also later Port Vale manager) in 1982, Ian Juryeff (who scored four times for Stags in a 7-1-mauling of Halifax in 1984 featured in the vintage Stags section) in 1983. The first meeting between the teams produced a 7-1 win, the Stags biggest one of all time between the sides, on March 27, 1937, to avenge a 5-1 defeat at Port Vale (but not at Vale Park) on November 21, 1936.

And in the 1953-54 season, the Stags were one of only FOUR teams to score at Port Vale when they drew 1-1 on April 5, 1954. The first away win at Port Vale was recorded as a 4-1 on Easter Saturday 1977, which was the first out of eight home and away in the memorable promotion run in at the end of the 1976-77 championship season. And before last November, the Stags’ latest win at Port Vale happened on Easter Monday, 1989, at the end of that season in which the Stags beat all the teams who were promoted to the old 2nd division, the others being Wolves on April 1, 1989, to a tune of 3-1 at Field Mill, and Sheffield United 2-1 away on April 25, incidentally to the same scoreline as at Port Vale! Not only the 7-1 stuffing way back in 1937 explain the good Stags home goal difference against Vale.

Other maulings at home include the 5-0 with all goals in the first half on January 24, 1981, and the Kevin Kent show in the 4-0 win just before Christmas 1987, currently the latest Stags home victory against the 1987-88 FA Cup giant-killers. And no game between the sides at Mansfield has so far finished as a goal-less draw.

Port Vale have in the past been FA Cup giant-killers. Semi-finalists in 1953-54, beating Tottenham 2-1 at home in front of many Swedish TV viewers in the fourth round on January 30, 1988, to name just a few. But Vale themselves were also victims of one. In 2007-08, Chasetown became the lowest-ever ranked club to reach the third round, by beating Port Vale 1-0 in the final minute of normal time during a fixture in which Port Vale missed two penalties. One of the Chasetown players, Kyle Perry, was later to be one of quite a few players appearing for both sides (31 games, no goals for Port Vale and 30 games, 9 goals for the Stags). Recently, Perry played for then National League North side Worcester City, themselves FA Cup giant killers by beating Liverpool 2-1 in 1959 and more recently, Coventry away in the first round a few seasons ago. Latest known club address for Perry is Stafford Rangers.

And following the Tottenham FA Cup KO, Vale had their best FL spell in post-war history. Between 1989-90 and 1999-2000, Vale played nine seasons at current Championship level, managed for almost fifteen years by John Rudge. He oversaw the Vale promotion from Division Four together with the Stags under Ian Greaves in 1985-86 and both promotions to the current Championship as well as the 1987-88 FA Cup run. When Rudge left, Billy Dearden was Vale boss for a few days in January 1999.

Last season, Vale not for the first time endured problems following relegation from the third tier. On three previous occasions following relegation, in 1964-65, 1977-78 and 2007-08 respectively, Vale have finished well inside the bottom half, and their points tally of 48 in 2008-09 had in a few other League Two seasons, including the Stags’ FL comeback one a few years ago, been enough for dropping out of the FL altogether (Barnet on 51 in 2013 and Bristol Rovers on 50 in 2014 to name but two).

So far this season, Vale are just below midway in League Two, but haven’t lost in their last four fixtures, while the Stags are unbeaten in ten League Two fixtures and climbed into the playoff zone following the 2-1 home victory against Grimsby just before the recent cup games.

Quite a few players have appeared for both sides. One of the most recent ones is Dimitar Evtimov, who scored a Stagsnet 10 rating in a memorable game at AFC Wimbledon three years ago. He played for Vale against Swindon on an emergency loan a few weeks before the clash at Vale Park last campaign. Also the 2013 Spireite killer, Calvin Andrew, has played for Vale, who have, not for the first time, found the League Two going tough following League One relegation. The prize paid Michael Brown, axed in September 2017.

Played for both sides: Calvin Andrew, Colin Askey, Will Atkinson, Thomas Baxter, Gary Brazil, Louis Briscoe, Darrell Clarke, Lee Collins, Wayne Corden, Colin Daniel, Syd Dickinson, Dimitar Evtimov, Gary Ford, Exodus Geohaghon, Kenneth Griffiths, Ray Harford, Michael Hopkinson, Kyle Howkins, Arthur Jepson, Henry Jones, Kevin Kent, Adrian Littlejohn, Neil Mackenzie, John McCombe, Johnny Miller, Ricky Miller, Ernie Moss, Harry Oscroft, Krystian Pearce, Kyle Perry, George Pilkington, Kevin Pilkington, Nicky Platnauer, Gary Pollard, Andy Porter, George Poyser, Jazz Rattray, Gary Roberts, John Rowland, Jake Speight, Freddie Steele, Richard Sutton, Allen Tankard, Arjan van Heusden.

Managed both sides: Freddie Steele (managed the Stags when they reached the 5th round in the FA Cup 1950-51 and Port Vale when they reached the semi-finals three seasons later, then another spell at Port Vale in the early 60’s), Billy Dearden (for four days following the resignation of long-serving John Rudge in January 1999).
Billy Frith has also managed Port Vale, and did so in the 1945-46 season in which no FL games were played.

Stats file:

Home stats: P 23, W 10, D 4, L 9, GF 41, GA 27
Away stats: P 23, W 4, D 8, L 11, GF 26, GA 43

Season Home Date Away Date

1936-37 7-1 1937-03-27 1-5 1936-11-21 Div 3 (N)
1938-39 2-0 1939-01-28 0-3 1938-09-24 Div 3 (S)
1946-47 0-3 1946-09-14 1-4 1947-01-18 Div 3 (S)
1952-53 1-0 1953-03-28 1-1 1952-11-08 Div 3 (N)
1953-54 1-2 1953-08-19 1-1 1954-04-05 Div 3 (N)
1959-60 6-3 1960-04-25 1-4 1959-10-12 Div 3 (old)
1963-64 1-1 1963-09-09 0-1 1963-08-26 Div 3 (old)
1964-65 2-2 1964-09-28 2-2 1964-10-05 Div 3 (old)
1970-71 2-0 1970-09-28 0-2 1971-01-09 Div 3 (old)
1971-72 0-1 1971-11-13 0-1 1972-03-04 Div 3 (old)
1975-76 3-1 1976-01-03 2-2 1976-04-20 Div 3 (old)
1976-77 2-1 1976-12-28 4-1 1977-04-09 Div 3 (old)
1980-81 5-0 1981-01-24 0-0 1980-08-30 Div 4 (old)
1981-82 1-3 1982-02-06 0-0 1981-09-12 Div 4 (old)
1982-83 0-2 1982-09-11 1-4 1983-01-29 Div 4 (old)
1984-85 1-1 1985-03-13 1-0 1984-08-25 Div 4 (old)
1985-86 2-1 1985-12-22 0-0 1985-08-24 Div 4 (old)
1986-87 0-1 1987-01-01 2-3 1987-04-18 Div 3 (old)
1987-88 4-0 1987-12-20 1-1 1988-05-07 Div 3 (old)
1988-89 0-1 1988-12-26 2-1 1989-03-27 Div 3 (old)
1992-93 0-1 1993-04-10 0-3 1993-04-27 Div 2
2002-03 0-1 2003-04-05 2-4 2002-11-30 Div 2
2017-18 1-1 2018-04-21 4-0 2017-11-21 League Two

FA Cup:

1985-86 1-1 1985-11-16 1st round at Field Mill
1985-86 0-1 1985-11-18 1st round replay at Vale Park

EFL Trophy

2016-17 1-0 2016-10-04 Group stage at Vale Park

Come on Mansfield!
Last edited by Sweden Stag on Sat Nov 17, 2018 10:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Stockholm, July 4, 2008, 15.00 GMT. Good news came, K.H. gone. March 1, 2012. Ground purchased.
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Re: Port Vale home preview

Postby Vice President » Fri Nov 16, 2018 6:30 pm

Great review as always Sweden Stag!

Apart from Moss, Miller & Kent ..... the old alumni are not so great. Scunthorpe, Notts County & (our little non-league neighbors) Chesterfield probably make up the best team of alumni.
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Re: Port Vale home preview

Postby RickyJ » Sat Nov 17, 2018 1:27 pm

Gary Brazil??? Enlighten me or is there another one that's played for both?
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Re: Port Vale home preview

Postby Martin Shaw » Sat Nov 17, 2018 1:44 pm

RickyJ wrote:Gary Brazil??? Enlighten me or is there another one that's played for both?

https://stagsnet.net/vintage/reports/canada.htm
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