Reserve and Youth Teams
The club has run a reserve team for most of its history, they originally joined the Cheshire County League in 1923 with their most successful period coming in the late 1920s early 1930s when they won the league five times (four times consecutively) and also did the league and cup double in 1931. Despite one season in the Birmingham League in 1933–34, the reserves remained in the Cheshire division for nearly 50 years, eventually leaving the league for good in 1971 to join The Central League. Recent success includes an appearance in the Staffordshire Senior Cup final in 2010.
Vale did have a period without a reserve outfit after the club came out of administration in 2003 due to cost cutting. However it was started up again in time for the 2006–07 season. Vale's reserves currently compete in The Central League Division One Central. The team is usually made up of a combination of fringe players and youth players in the last year or two of their scholarships. Centre-back Gareth Owen was appointed reserve team manager at the start of the 2011–12 season.
The most senior of the club's youth teams play their matches in the Football League Youth Alliance North West Conference. The club's best performance in the FA Youth Cup is a quarter-final finish, which was achieved last in 2007–08, under the stewardship of Andy Porter; that season also saw the under-18s win the Foyle Cup and Midland Floodlit Youth Cup. The club's Centre of Excellence was established in 1987, and has since produced more than fifty players who have forged careers as professional footballers, recent examples include: Joe Anyon, Chris Birchall, Anthony Gardner, Chris Martin, James Lawrie, Danny Glover, Sam Morsy, and Billy Paynter. The club holds the Football League's Category Three Academy status.
Read more about this topic: Port Vale F.C.
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