Thursday, 14 August 2014

OPPONENTS GUIDE:PORT VALE

Port Vale will be making the trip to the Keepmoat this weekend for Doncaster's first home game of the 2014/15 season.Vale challenged for the playoffs last season but came off short.

Port Vale were formed in Stoke in 1876 following a meeting at Port Vale house.The club relocated to Burslem in 1884 and renamed themselves Burslem Port Vale that year.They played at Moorland Ground until a move to the Athletic Ground in 1892,where they became founders of the Second Division.

In 1907,'Burslem' was dropped from their name and they were thrown out of the league for financial difficulties.However,they moved to Recreation Ground in 1912 and returned to the Football League in 1919.

The club spent most of the 1930s in the third tier and suffered two relegations in this time.In 1950,after the war,Vale Park was built and it remains their current home.Success followed;they won the Third Division North title in 1955.

Good cup runs followed in the 1960s and Stanley Matthews became manager in 1968,but the club were expelled again from the Football League for illegal payments to players.Vale soon returned to the Football League in 1970 and stayed in the bottom tier for twelve years until 1982.

Vale reached the Second Division in 1989.In the 1990s,they became known for FA Cup upsets and beat rivals Stoke City,Everton and Tottenham Hotspur.

In 2001,Brian Horton led them to the LDV Vans Trophy final but administration followed in 2002.Valiant 2001 eventually took control of the club.The club was declared stable in 2004 but Horton left due to cutbacks.

The club remained in League Two until promotion as runners up in 2013.They have remained a League One club since.

THE GAFFER MICKY ADAMS

Adams has been managing clubs for eighteen years,gaining experience in all leagues of the English pyramid.Before this,he was a defender.

Born in Sheffield,he came through the ranks at Gillingham and signed a professional deal in 1979.He signed for Coventry City in 1983 and made ninety appareances in sky blue.He later had a spell at Leeds United,before signing for Southampton in 1989 where he made 144 appareances.

In the later stages of his career,he played at Stoke and Fulham.

He was appointed player-manager of Fulham in 1996 but was sacked fifteen month later.He quickly moved to Swansea City,only to leave after three weeks,and then coached at Nottingham Forest.

His first major role was manager of Brighton.He guided the club to promotion in 2001 but left shortly after to join Leicester's coaching staff.He was named manager in 2002 and during his time,Leicester were permanently bottom of the Premier League.Despite relegation,the club were promoted back up in 2003.The 2003/04 season saw the Foxes finish 17th,but he left in October 2004.

Adams returned to Coventry as boss in 2005,but left in 2007 to become assistant at Colchester.He later returned to Brighton for an unsuccessful second spell in charge and then Port Vale in 2009.

He left Vale in January 2011 to manage his boyhood club Sheffield United.This didn't last long and he was sacked after relegation.He subsequently returned to Port Vale in July 2011.

HE PLAYED FOR BOTH JOHN NICHOLSON

Liverpudlian John Nicholson was a defender who was known for his stocky build.He joined Vale in 1960 and signed for Doncaster Rovers in 1965.

He only spent one season as a player and it was to be his last ever,as he died in a car crash in July 1966 aged 29.

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