Port Vale Football Club

Founded in 1876 as Burslem Port Vale, the club is one of the oldest in English football. The early decades saw Port Vale move between several grounds in the Potteries before eventually settling at the Old Recreation Ground in Hanley. The club joined the Football League in 1892 but were expelled in 1907 due to financial irregularities, returning in 1919.

The interwar period saw the club rebranded simply as Port Vale and establish itself as a fixture of lower-division football. The decision to build a grand new stadium — Vale Park — was made in the late 1940s, with the ground opening in 1950. Originally designed to hold 70,000 spectators, the ambitious plans were never fully realised, but Vale Park remains one of the more characterful grounds in the lower leagues.

The move to Vale Park in 1950 coincided with a decent spell for the club, including promotion to the old Second Division in the 1950s. Sir Stanley Matthews, who had grown up in Hanley and starred for Stoke City and Blackpool, returned to the Potteries to end his career at Port Vale in 1965, providing the club with an indelible link to one of football's greatest ever players.

The 1990s brought a period of relative success under John Rudge, who managed the club for 16 years. Port Vale reached the Second Division play-off semi-finals in 1993 and won the old Third Division title in 1994. However, the club struggled to sustain this progress and spent the latter part of the decade bouncing between divisions.