2017/18 Prediction League; Game 10 v Port Vale FC (away)
Port Vale FC
V
Accrington Stanley
2017/18 Prediction League; Game 10 v Port Vale (away)
One win (1-0 at Walsall in their penultimate game of last season), one draw (0-0 at Fleetwood in their final game) and five defeats in their last seven games overall (all five without scoring a single goal) cost 21st-place Port Vale their League One status at the death by one point and some goals to Gillingham, and ended their four year tenure; Manager Bruno Ribeiro’s tenure had ended on Boxing Day (not the traditional Christmas Box, I’d have to say) when he resigned after a 1-0 home defeat (by Walsall, ironically), having had just one win in the previous eight ............. Michael Brown replaced him, but couldn’t save the Valiants from the Slide Down the Greasy Pole of Oblivion, winning just five times in 23 in the League ............
...................Their name is one of the few in the League not to come from a geographical location (town etc); Port Vale is apparently a reference to the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey canal; they were founded in 1876, and were founder members of the old Second Division in 1829, and of the Fourth Division in 1958 ......... they’ve never reached the top flight (their nearest was finishing 5th in the Second Division), and hold the record for the club with the most seasons in the Football League without reaching the top tier (105!) .......... probably their best known player was Roy Sproson, who played 842 games; their most expensive signing was Gareth Ainsworth, who they bought from Lincoln for £500,000 in 1997, selling him for £2,000,000 just over a year later to Wimbledon; their record League win was 9-1 against Chesterfield in 1932; famous managers include a Pratt (David), a Moody – sorry, Mudie (Jackie) - and one Stanley Matthews – the only footballer my wife has ever heard of ..........which is a hell of a claim to fame!
Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which is 7.45pm on Tuesday 26th September ...............dropping a point on Saturday only lost us one place in the table, which was fortunate ......... we aren’t scoring as freely over the last couple of games, so we hope that Kayden’s injury on Saturday wasn’t too bad .......when was the last time we had a striker with 6 in the first 9 games of the season?
Good luck to everyone! .............Keep the Faith! ............And thanks for playing!
************************************************** *************
Also - I am informed reliably - The Vale are the only team who have played against every team in the Football League.... 
