Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale F.C.

Port Vale Football Club is an English football club that plays in Football League Two. They are based in Burslem, Staffordshire, one of six towns that make up the city of Stoke-on-Trent. The club's traditional rivals in the city are Stoke City, and games between the two clubs are known as the "Potteries derby". However, the last derby match took place on 10 February 2002 and with Stoke City in the Premier League, rivalry has increased between Port Vale and other local clubs, namely Burton Albion, Macclesfield Town, Shrewsbury Town, Walsall, Wrexham, and Crewe Alexandra.

Port Vale is one of the few English league clubs not to be named after a city or town. The name Port Vale exists on maps pre–dating the formation of the club, which probably occurred in 1879, and is a reference to a valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal, associated with the city's pottery industry. They have played more seasons in the second tier of English football (41) than any other club who have never reached the top tier. They were founder members of the original Second Division in 1892, and founder members of the Fourth Division in 1958. After playing at the Athletic Ground in Cobridge and The Old Recreation Ground in Hanley, the club returned to Burslem when Vale Park was opened in 1950. Outside the ground there is a statue to Roy Sproson, a man who played 842 competitive games for the club.

The club greatest success was in the 1950s, where they were FA Cup semi–finalists in 1954 and won two divisional titles with Freddie Steele's "Iron Curtain" defence and then Norman Low's more attacking style. Since then, John Rudge was manager from 1983 to 1999 and steered the club through more than a decade of success; under his leadership the club reached eighth in the second tier in the 1996–97 season and enjoyed cup glory and numerous promotion campaigns. Since his reign the club have declined, slipping into the fourth tier whilst entering administration in 2003 and 2012.