Learning lessons on and off the pitch
An in-depth look at Port Vale in our special free edition
Hello and welcome to a special Bank Holiday edition of The Valiant for Monday August 26.
Not special because it’s a Bank Holiday – we usually publish on a Monday – but special because tonight’s newsletter is a free edition.
Why are we doing that? Well, our £15 offer for new subscribers ends on Friday evening so we want to show what we are all about.
The full price for The Valiant is £40. What do you get for your money? You get a minimum of 150 editions over the year, each full of news, analysis, opinion and nostalgia. We usually publish on Monday and Thursday evenings, Sunday mornings and also a Wednesday morning when there has been a Tuesday night game.
I say a minimum of 150 editions. We have already gone well past that figure since we launched 11 months ago.
In that time we have been shortlisted for a national award for best sports newsletter but, more importantly, we have been delighted with the response from subscribers both in numbers and their feedback.
You, our subscribers, are crucial to the newsletter. Your backing has been brilliant, and, as our first anniversary approaches, I’ll be asking you what you’d like to see more or less of and where we can improve.
Anyway, enough rambling from me. Tonight’s edition features analysis by Phil Sproson, issues off the pitch as the club addresses problems from the opening home game, the impacts of the Sky deal ahead of Saturday’s 12.30pm kick off, your views, a significant win on this day from the archives….and loads more.
Phil Sproson and lessons to learn from Barrow
Phil Sproson has been there and done it over 500 games and three promotions with the Vale.
So, I was pleased to catch up with him this morning having shared the press box with him at Barrow when he was summarising for BBC Radio Stoke with Phil Bowers.
He was also at last week’s goalless draw at home to Tranmere and says he didn’t see the 4-0 thumping at Barrow coming even when Vale went 1-0 down nine minutes into the second half.
He said: “Going into half time I thought we were in control of the game. The three at the back looked comfortable, the keeper was commanding. I didn’t see any iceberg in the water.
“But a goal only takes half a mistake and you have to give Ged Garner credit for capitalising for their first goal.
“I still thought we would come back but my only concern was we didn’t have enough bodies up front. I thought Ruari Paton was isolated far too much.
“He is busy and he worked hard but, because of the delivery to him, he wasn’t causing any damage. That was possibly because Ben Garrity was sitting deeper than we’d want him to.
“The manager was right to take Paton off. He had to change it and you hoped Jayden Stockley would have occupied their centre backs and take them back five metres, allowing us to get up the pitch and start to press them.
“Garrity was pushed further forward and we got our reward because he got behind the defence and will know he should have scored. I think that was the turning point of the game. Had that gone in then I think 1-1 would have been the right result. There was nothing between the teams until then.
“But then the manager made the decision that we had to get back in the game so he gambled and threw on more attacking options with Baylee Dipepa and Benicio.
“Benicio looked sharp but was almost sitting on Tom Sang’s feet. If I was Tom, I’d have been telling him to get further up, it was pointless him coming on if he was going to play five metres from him. He had to be up on the wing, virtually level with Stockley.
“After that it was a catalogue of defensive errors that weren’t there before. It didn’t help with Sam Hart having to go off, I thought he had done fine again. That unbalanced us badly down the left.
“They overloaded us down that side but we also switched off in midfield and didn’t track runners. It was 4-0 before you could blink an eye.”
So, not a case of Vale drawing a line under this game and moving on. More a case of them learning a hard lesson.
Phil added: “Now it is a reset. I would definitely say to the squad when they go out in future games, ‘remember Barrow,’
“You think you are in control of the game and comfortable but you’re not if you switch off and become sloppy, which we did.
“We were sloppy all over the pitch. Barrow didn’t really change anything, they just worked incredibly hard, got behind the ball out of possession and then flooded forward in possession.
“But we had coped with that comfortably. The danger to ourselves in that game was us because we allowed ourselves to be sloppy in most areas of the pitch.”
It seems odd to talk about positives after a 4-0 walloping but It’s worth saying that Phil has been impressed by new centre half Ben Heneghan.
He said: “I don’t think he put a foot wrong. I think he and Connor Ripley could walk off and wonder how we have lost that 4-0. It wasn’t a game in which we had been run ragged. It was just we were exposed when certain individuals switched off or didn’t do their job.
“If you have aspirations about going up you have to get rid of those habits.
“I am sure Darren will remind them of what happened at Barrow in the last 20 minutes.
“But Heneghan and Connor Ripley did look like two leaders in the pack. That’s Heneghan especially, I liked what I saw from him because he was organising. He rules the roost in the middle of the defence and that is what you want.”
And finally, apart from eradicating those individual and defensive errors at Barrow, how can Vale improve?
Phil adds: “My only concern, and it’s not a criticism…….Paton is neat and tidy and at last we have someone who resembles being a front man again. He is willing to work and he links up beautifully with his midfielders. But he needs help.
“If you are not playing two up front then you need Ben Garrity almost right behind him and running past him. That’s because we don’t look as though we are enough of a threat up front at the moment.”
Matt Hancock and tackling issues off the pitch
Chief executive Matt Hancock says the club is working hard to fix the problems suffered off the pitch in the opening home game as they prepare to welcome fans back to Vale Park against Doncaster on Saturday.
Speaking at the latest Supporters’ Club meeting, the chief executive gave an in-depth appraisal of the situation and explained how the club have acted.
Issues getting into the ground
The chief executive said 824 people had an issue getting into the ground for the Tranmere game.
Some of that was with season cards on their phones but the club has been working on that problem and has also written to season ticket holders.
He said: “That has been sorted. We are comfortable and much more happy with where we are at. It wasn’t the only issue so you will get a clarification email as season ticket holders, which should make things a lot smoother this coming Saturday.”
The club store
He said the club will continue to open a separate ticket office section on matchdays.
He explained: “The club store will stay as it is on matchdays. We are having the matchday ticket office and then there will be the store which is retail. So going back to having, on a matchday, a ticket only area. That is one you have all asked for. We have also seen that is going to work.
“We are looking at what that means for Monday to Friday but absolutely on a matchday at the moment that is going to happen.”
Turnstiles
Some fans on the Railway side of the ground had problems trying to get access through the turnstiles at the Tranmere game.
The chief executive added: “Most of the turnstile issues on the Railway were around an override and some training for staff.
“The time delay on a couple of the turnstiles was an issue with the scanner which has been rectified now so we shouldn’t have that issue. But we are overstaffing it on Saturday to make sure you have enough people in and around to try to support people through.
“Also, anyone with disabilities or anyone who has any sort of access issue, please do let us know. There were a couple of instances, which we sorted immediately, where people struggled to get through the turnstile. There are options we can put in place quickly. Let us know and the team will sort that.”
The car park
Fans who had booked tickets had problems getting on to the official car park.
The chief executive said that was an issue with the car park provider working off the wrong information so more spaces were sold than were available.
He said: “That has been sorted. Please, if you have a season pass, you will be absolutely fine. You have got your space, it is all done and sorted. The error is corrected and hopefully that one is a much easier one to solve because having half the cars on the car park solves the car parking issue.”
The chief executive also addressed queues in general.
He said the club are looking at ways of improving this such as by making fans aware of different options.
One example is the click and collect service for refreshments.
He said: “I think people do expect a queue when you have a few thousand people somewhere. What we have definitely got to make sure is that we advertise and it works better…..the Railway is where we have the biggest queues for half-time food and drink.
“Around the ground only five per cent of people are using the click and collect. That is the most effective way of getting your drinks. I am seeing some nods which means that people who use it are doing all right.
“Only six supporters on Saturday in the Railway used the click and collect. So, if we can try to encourage people to use that option more it would help and should take some pressure off. I am not saying it will solve it but if we can look at helping and supporting with some of that it would be much appreciated.”
The Supporter Advisory Board
Vale are close to launching their Supporter Advisory Board after work behind the scenes with different fan groups.
The board will be made up of supporter representatives, in many cases elected, who will advise the football club particularly on issues of the matchday experience or the club’s heritage.
Speaking at the Supporters’ Club, Matt Hancock said the idea was to draw on the experiences and expertise of a wide range of supporters, representing all sections of the fan base.
Look out for more details from the club about the advisory board.
TV deal and kick off times
Vale will be starting unusually early on Saturday as their home game with Doncaster kicks off at 12.30pm.
The game is the first of Vale’s to be moved for Sky TV since the EFL deal with the broadcaster began this season.
But the ‘unusual’ kick off time won’t be quite so unusual in the next couple of months because Vale’s game at Accrington on Saturday September 21 also kicks off at 12.30pm, as does the home game with Walsall on Saturday December 7. Meanwhile, the home game with Crewe has also been selected by Sky and moved from the Saturday to Monday November 25 (8pm).
“Traditionally football is 3pm on a Saturday afternoon,” says Mark Porter, chairman of the Vale Supporters Club.
“Football has been taken over by TV but we’d obviously like more money to come down to the lower leagues and I think this is probably the first step.
“But do I want 12.30pm kick offs? Not really. And how much money will Vale lose by having to move the Crewe game to a Monday night?
“It’s tough because what if we play Exeter and that’s moved to 12.30pm? What time are you having to leave? We don’t want to put fans off going just so the game can be on the telly. Personally I’d sooner watch games in person than on the TV. It’s not the same.
“So, whilst I want more money to come down from Sky to the lower leagues, I’m not really happy we are in this situation.”
It’s hard to argue with that. Avoiding kick off changes has been one advantage of following a club outside the Premier League. Not so much now.
And the objection to moving games isn’t just a Luddite, jumpers-for-goalposts, everything-was-better-in-the-old-days point of view.
The idea is you buy a season ticket and know roughly when the games you have paid for are going to take place – bar the usual weather postponements, FA Cup runs and, more recently, international breaks.
But all this ignores the money Sky are putting into the game with their new deal, worth around £300,000 a season to League Two clubs.
We all want our clubs to spend money on new players and facilities so maybe we can’t complain too much when they actually take the chance to get some money in.
In Vale’s case, if the owners have been supporting the club to the tune of around £3m a year then who can blame them for seeing the merits of a TV deal which is 50% up on the value of the last rights agreement.
Talking at the recent fans forum, Vale owner Carol Shanahan and chief executive Matt Hancock said the new Sky deal was not only worth more than the previous deal, it all also guarantees each club more revenue rather than being reliant on being chosen for live games.
And that is taking into account the fact they will lose money on the gates when they are chosen for live coverage. In that respect Vale have been a little unlucky that three of their four selected Saturday games are home matches.
But they certainly weren’t dismissing the concerns of supporters who don’t want their 3pm Saturday games moved to 12.30pm, 5.30pm or a Monday or Thursday night.
Sky at least have given clubs plenty of notice about games chosen for live coverage. All their selections for the first half of the season were made before the opening day.
Vale and all League Two clubs will be shown live a minimum of 20 times over the season although that includes all midweek league games, all Carabao Cup – one in Vale’s case – and all Trophy matches, as well as opening day, final day and Saturday matches during the international breaks when the ban on showing Saturday games at 3pm in the UK does not apply.
Football business writer Dave Powell says in a piece here that in reality the game was taken away from supporters at the top level some years ago as moving kick off times are the norm.
He also says: “For EFL clubs, the majority of fans are active match goers, a figure that rises the further you head down the pyramid. The ability for them to watch their team live instead of going to the game is likely not as appealing as you might think.
“This is about filling the vacuum. Live content is king, live content drives subscriptions, and live sport drives those subscriptions at a higher rate than anything else.
“The more live football you can put on the better, particularly if you are able to broadcast hundreds of EFL games per season at a fraction of the cost of the Premier League, and at a time when the EFL has relevance in the eyes of a wider global audience due to the ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ impact of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s ownership of the Welsh League One side.”
Are changing kick off times a price worth paying for the Sky deal? I’d love to hear your views.
Former Valiants
Vale Park academy graduate Tommy McDermott was on the bench for Burnley in their Championship game at Sunderland at the weekend. The midfielder, now 19, made his Vale first-team debut at the start of the 2022/23 season and would play seven games before joining the Clarets for an undisclosed fee last January. Last month Tommy signed a new deal which runs until next summer – and the Clarets have the option to extend it by a further year.
Oli Arblaster scored Sheffield United’s equaliser in their 1-1 draw at Norwich at the weekend. That was the second goal in three league games for the 20-year old midfielder who became a huge favourite with Vale supporters during his loan spell in the first half of last season. He’s a die-hard Blades fan but clearly also has affection for the Vale because he was in the away end for the opening game of the season at Salford.
Liam McCarron scored for Northampton on Saturday to help them come from 2-0 down to force a 2-2 draw at Darrell Clarke’s Barnsley. The 23-year-old left-sided defender was on loan at Vale from Stoke for the first half of the 2022/23 campaign.
Last word on Barrow…nearly
Ace historian and statistician Phil Sherwin has been in touch with a rather gloomy stat….albeit not as bad as it first appears.
Phil says: “Not only was Saturday our biggest defeat against Barrow, it was our first league defeat away to them since 1938. Fair enough, we’ve only played eight league games there in that time.”
In the away end
Eagle-eyed Phil Sherwin reports that Premier League official Simon Bennett was in the away end at Barrow on Saturday. Vale fan Simon is a regular running the line at Premier League games and was also selected to officiate at the last World Cup. Simon was at the match with his dad Peter, a long serving supporter who has brought his lad up in the ways of the Vale.
Connor Hall
The defender and his young family are relocating to the area after his move back to the Vale.
The 31 year old used to commute from Cambridgeshire during his first spell at Vale before his move to Colchester to be a bit closer to home.
He was guest of the Supporters’ Club when he was asked about his plans. He said: “I would stay up here on a Friday night but that was it. Other than that I would (travel) two-and-a-half hours in a morning and again in the afternoon. Then get back to kids running around the house and finally go to bed again!
“I travelled in every day, it was tough and that was the major reason why I moved closer to home. I knew this time that if I was ever going to come back I would have to move. That is exactly what I am doing.”
Man of the match
I know it won’t be much consolation after the 4-0 defeat but congratulations anyway to Kyle John who was your man-of-the match at Barrow.
That makes it back-to-back awards for the 23–year-old new signing from Everton who also topped your poll for last Tuesday’s win at Salford. Hopefully the fact he had an ice pack on the back of his leg after the Barrow game isn’t a sign of something serious and he is back for Doncaster on Saturday.
Thanks to everyone who voted in our Sunday poll. Left-wing back Kyle got 39% of your votes, putting him just ahead of Ben Heneghan who was second on 33%. Ethan Chislett came third with 19%.
Choosing a man-of-the-match isn’t easy after a 4-0 defeat. Reader David Picken made that point, saying: “No Man of the Match vote from me Mike - I abstain! The word I used in a message to friends was ‘capitulated’ and I was relieved to see that Darren Moore used the same word rather than something less. The team review meeting will be ‘entertaining’ - I’d love to be a ‘fly on the wall.”
‘Lack of creativity’ - Your views
How do the Vale create more without inviting the sort of collapse we saw in the closing stages at Barrow?
That will be top of the agenda for Darren Moore and his coaches this week – and thanks to everyone who had their say on the defeat in our Sunday comments section.
As usual this is just a flavour of your views which are available in full with Sunday’s edition.
First out of a bulging postbag is Rob C who says: “Mentality lacking yesterday. Once we went behind there were no more leaders than we had last season. Heads went down and nobody wanted the ball.
“Garrity would usually score there and it would have been different. Still early days but after three league games we've scored two goals, both from corners. Two chances today, a corner and a big punt forward.”
Kevin Reynolds adds: “Once again a lack of quality and creativity in the last third of the pitch which has been the same in the last three league games. You cannot expect strikers to score if not given the ammunition. The balls needs to be provided in the box and at present they are sadly lacking.”
Chris Hopkin asks: “Why did Paton and Stockley not start together in the starting line up? Most Vale fans think that this could form a good striking partnership yet both players are played as a lone striker.”
Emile Kulis adds: “I do think our formation is wrong. We need an extra man in the midfield and one less at the back. It keeps us tight but then we go a goal down and have to throw everything up in the air and go for broke.”
Eddie J says Vale got worse after their substitutions and says Tranmere also finished the game stronger in last week’s league game at Vale Park: “It hurts that Vale have spent a lot putting together a squad which must be the envy of many other clubs and even I was hopeful of an automatic spot and I remain so. Barrow made much better use of their limited resources yesterday than we did.”
Final word to Mark Walton who observes, I think wearily: “We should have just played Salford.”
Setting the record straight
Vale were setting the record straight and counting their blessings for their loyal supporters on this day in 1985.
So, please accompany me on a trip to an August Bank Holiday of the 1985/86 season to watch the Vale at Burnley in what is now League Two
Vale had been walloped 7-0 on their previous trip to Turf Moor, a painful experience in their 1983/84 relegation season from League One as they trailed 6-0 at the break before at least managing some damage limitation in the second half.
But that game was perhaps most remarkable for the standing ovation that manager John McGrath received from a section of the travelling fans at full time.
Now Vale were back in Lancashire and under the management of John Rudge who was rebuilding the club having been McGrath’s assistant for three years.
His side had lost their two opening games of the 1985/86 season, then drawn at home 0-0 to Mansfield in an unspectacular start to the campaign.
Their chances of changing that at Burnley were not improved when former West Ham striker Alan Taylor fired the Clarets into the lead after 22 minutes.
But Vale were level before the break, scoring their first league goal of the season as Russell Bromage’s free kick was superbly headed home by Phil Sproson. And they found a winner four minutes into the second half when Robbie Earle’s run down the right was followed by a cross which was swept home by substitute Peter Griffiths.
The Sentinel’s Chris Harper was impressed. He reported….
Vale collected their first away win for 10 months at the expense of Martin Buchan’s Burnley and thoroughly deserved the three points.
They achieved the victory without the services of injured Ally Brown and had a further blow when Paul Maguire could take no part in the second half because of injury.
It was a splendid performance by John Rudge’s team and the two goals they scored were both outstanding efforts. Perhaps, though, the key to success was the steadiness of a defence expertly marshalled by Phil Sproson and John Williams.
Also in The Sentinel that week was praise from Rudge for the club’s supporters after a large following had cheered on the team at Burnley.
Football attendances were at a low in the mid-eighties, not least because of poor facilities and hooliganism.
So, Rudge was grateful for the regular crowds of 3,500 – 4,000 at Vale Park. That was enough to keep the club going because they also had income from their thriving lottery as well as their highly successful and regular market.
Rudge’s prediction in that 1985 August week was that Vale had the potential for regular gates of 6,000 to 7,000. He was proved correct because they would go on to achieve that and more under his reign as he took the club up the divisions.
That climb up the football pyramid would begin in 1985/86 when this win at Burnley was the first of a Vale promotion season.
Vale (v Burnley): Arnold, Webb, Bromage, Hunter, Sproson, J Williams, O Williams, Earle, Jones, Johnson, Maguire (Griffiths, 45).
Attendance: 3,940
And finally..
Thanks to Phil Sproson for his time this morning analysing Saturday’s game. I can assure you it’s complete coincidence that today’s nostalgia slot features a goal by Phil but I was pleased to remind him of it.
Many thanks to photographer Tom Green who not only provided the quality pictures from the Barrow game, he was also in touch with news of ex Vale players for today’s Former Valiants section.
Thanks also to Phil Sherwin for his help, advice and titbits from the terraces. Also, a word for Matt Hancock who rarely misses a Supporters’ Club meeting and was very open at the last one, whether in addressing the meeting or staying behind to answer fans’ questions.
The Vale had issues at that first home game with queues, turnstiles and car parking but Matt fronted things up at the meeting, explained the problems and how the club were fixing them.
He’s always been keen to engage with fans and the new Supporter Advisory Board sounds like another step in that direction.
Last but certainly not least, a big thank you to everyone for reading and subscribing. Your views are always much appreciated and I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of the issues covered, whether that’s tactics, turnstiles or the new TV deal.
If you are reading tonight’s edition for free then I hope you like it. If it’s not for you then no hard feelings but if you do subscribe then welcome aboard!
Our next edition is on Thursday evening so see you then.
Up the Vale!
Mike
I really don't see how any club is benefitting from getting more money from Sky. If each team in League 2 gets an extra £300,000 in revenue, all that happens is it pushes player wages up by the same amount across the league. This only benefits the players, at the expense of fans.
Perhaps if clubs had used the extra money to reduce match day tickets or provide free away travel I would feel different, but it feels like the Football League is selling its soul just like the Premier League.
How can anyone on the 02 network order on click and collect when no signal in the ground ,not sure about other networks