VALE PARK
Home Of: Port Vale Ground Opened: 1950
Previous Ground: The Old Recreation
Ground
Ground
Other Uses: Rock Concerts
American Football
NEAREST RAILWAY STATION
Longport Railway Station is the closest to the Vale Park ground, but is a good 30 minute walk away and is not well served by trains, unlike Stoke On Trent station which is. Therefore most fans end up at Stoke On Trent railway station, which is over four miles away from Vale Park and then take a taxi up to the ground.
Services run hourly from Crewe, Stoke & Derby to Longport. You can walk to the ground in around 25 minutes without too much trouble.
Cross over the line (if travelling from Stoke/Derby) and walk along Station Street. At the mini-roundabout follow the main road round to the left going up the hill. After a couple of minutes take the first major left onto Newcastle Street (B5051). Enter Burslem. Pass the Bull's Head pub at St. John's Square. Bear left onto Market Place. Shortly after cross main road onto Jenkins Street which becomes Hamil Road. The ground will soon be visible on the left. Turn left into Lorne Street.
VALE PARK STADIUM
The ground has a good mixture of the old and the new, it is just let down overall by the fact that the Lorne Street Stand, which was partly opened in 1999, is still yet to be fully completed. This stand which is two-tiered has a row of executive boxes situated between its large lower tier and much smaller upper tier. With a planned capacity of 5,000 it is of a good size and I’m sure it would look quite smart when finished. However, the outstanding works include almost half the lower tier towards the Hamil Road End. This area is currently empty of seating and is largely just a concrete base. On a positive note, the club have recently added some new blocks of seating into part of this area and the original clock that was seen on the old stand has been incorporated into the new construction, above the players tunnel and Directors area in the centre of the stand.
On the opposite side is the Railway Stand which was opened in 1954. It is a fair sized stand that is covered to the rear. It has a number of supporting pillars that run across the middle of the stand. Originally it had a large paddock terrace in front, but this was subsequently filled with seating in the 1990’s. At one end is the Hamil Road End, which is a good sized single tiered stand. It also has an electric scoreboard situated just below its roof. Again it has a number of supporting pillars (although fewer in number than the Railway Stand), plus it has windshields to either side. Opposite is the Bycars Road End, which although old looking was built in 1992. It also is partly covered to the rear and has some supporting pillars to either side. Situated in one corner, in-between the Bycars & Railway Stand is an odd looking two-tiered structure that looks if it has been ‘wedged’ into the stadium. In fact this area is the only portion of the old ground that still remains from when the ground was originally built in 1950. Incidentally, the steelwork and roof of this structure were brought from the club's previous stadium in Hanley, where it formed part of the "Swan Passage" stand. So the roof on that little corner of the ground is very old indeed!' Filled with seating it is currently used as a Family Stand. On one side of the Hamil Road Stand there is a Police Control Box, which keeps a watchful eye over the crowd. The pitch is also one of the widest in the League. Outside the Lorne Street Stand is a statue of former player and manager Roy Sproson.
Up to 4,500 away supporters can be accommodated in the Signal One Stand, where the view and facilities located on the concourse behind the stand are good. Even a relatively small number of away fans can really make some noise from this stand, as the acoustics are excellent. However, the slope is quite shallow, which might affect your view should a tall person be seated in front. Normally though, you could still move to another seat if necessary.
GROUND LAYOUT
A RAILWAY STAND
B LORNE STREET STAND
C BYCARS STAND
D SIGNAL ONE STAND (AWAY)
Today's Visitors NEWPORT COUNTY have been in the news lately when they were only 8 minutes away from knocking out Premier league Tottenham in the 4th round of the FA cup at Rodney Parade but Harry Kane's equaliser meant that County had a money spinning replay at Wembley and for a league two side that nearly went out of business a few years back it must have been a dream come true. As you probably know Tottenham went on to win the replay 2-0 and secure a 5th round tie at Rochdale on February 18th.
There are signs that the epic 4th round tie may have taken it's toll on County for their visit to Field Mill home of Mansfield Town on Tuesday 13th of this month saw a different spirited County side going down 5-0 to the Stags and may suggest that it might have drained a lot of energy and confidence out of the mid-table Welsh team.
The last time County visited Vale Park was 31 years ago May 4th 1987 when both sides were in the old division 3 and on that day Vale romped home 6-1 winners in front of a crowd of just over 2 and a half thousand.
In the last ten County visits to Vale park ranging from Boxing day 1961 to May 4th 1987 Vale have won 8 with 1 draw and a solitary Newport win which was on 6th April 1968 almost fifty years ago the score that day 0-1, well this year ends in a eight so can they make it 2 wins in half a century.
The Valiants are now nine league games without a win but the outcome could have been worse if it was not for a heroic double save from goalkeeper Ryan Boot in the second half.
American Football
VENUE #104
NEAREST RAILWAY STATION
Longport Railway Station is the closest to the Vale Park ground, but is a good 30 minute walk away and is not well served by trains, unlike Stoke On Trent station which is. Therefore most fans end up at Stoke On Trent railway station, which is over four miles away from Vale Park and then take a taxi up to the ground.
Services run hourly from Crewe, Stoke & Derby to Longport. You can walk to the ground in around 25 minutes without too much trouble.
Cross over the line (if travelling from Stoke/Derby) and walk along Station Street. At the mini-roundabout follow the main road round to the left going up the hill. After a couple of minutes take the first major left onto Newcastle Street (B5051). Enter Burslem. Pass the Bull's Head pub at St. John's Square. Bear left onto Market Place. Shortly after cross main road onto Jenkins Street which becomes Hamil Road. The ground will soon be visible on the left. Turn left into Lorne Street.
VALE PARK STADIUM
The ground has a good mixture of the old and the new, it is just let down overall by the fact that the Lorne Street Stand, which was partly opened in 1999, is still yet to be fully completed. This stand which is two-tiered has a row of executive boxes situated between its large lower tier and much smaller upper tier. With a planned capacity of 5,000 it is of a good size and I’m sure it would look quite smart when finished. However, the outstanding works include almost half the lower tier towards the Hamil Road End. This area is currently empty of seating and is largely just a concrete base. On a positive note, the club have recently added some new blocks of seating into part of this area and the original clock that was seen on the old stand has been incorporated into the new construction, above the players tunnel and Directors area in the centre of the stand.
On the opposite side is the Railway Stand which was opened in 1954. It is a fair sized stand that is covered to the rear. It has a number of supporting pillars that run across the middle of the stand. Originally it had a large paddock terrace in front, but this was subsequently filled with seating in the 1990’s. At one end is the Hamil Road End, which is a good sized single tiered stand. It also has an electric scoreboard situated just below its roof. Again it has a number of supporting pillars (although fewer in number than the Railway Stand), plus it has windshields to either side. Opposite is the Bycars Road End, which although old looking was built in 1992. It also is partly covered to the rear and has some supporting pillars to either side. Situated in one corner, in-between the Bycars & Railway Stand is an odd looking two-tiered structure that looks if it has been ‘wedged’ into the stadium. In fact this area is the only portion of the old ground that still remains from when the ground was originally built in 1950. Incidentally, the steelwork and roof of this structure were brought from the club's previous stadium in Hanley, where it formed part of the "Swan Passage" stand. So the roof on that little corner of the ground is very old indeed!' Filled with seating it is currently used as a Family Stand. On one side of the Hamil Road Stand there is a Police Control Box, which keeps a watchful eye over the crowd. The pitch is also one of the widest in the League. Outside the Lorne Street Stand is a statue of former player and manager Roy Sproson.
Up to 4,500 away supporters can be accommodated in the Signal One Stand, where the view and facilities located on the concourse behind the stand are good. Even a relatively small number of away fans can really make some noise from this stand, as the acoustics are excellent. However, the slope is quite shallow, which might affect your view should a tall person be seated in front. Normally though, you could still move to another seat if necessary.
GROUND LAYOUT
A RAILWAY STAND
B LORNE STREET STAND
C BYCARS STAND
D SIGNAL ONE STAND (AWAY)
Today's Visitors NEWPORT COUNTY have been in the news lately when they were only 8 minutes away from knocking out Premier league Tottenham in the 4th round of the FA cup at Rodney Parade but Harry Kane's equaliser meant that County had a money spinning replay at Wembley and for a league two side that nearly went out of business a few years back it must have been a dream come true. As you probably know Tottenham went on to win the replay 2-0 and secure a 5th round tie at Rochdale on February 18th.
There are signs that the epic 4th round tie may have taken it's toll on County for their visit to Field Mill home of Mansfield Town on Tuesday 13th of this month saw a different spirited County side going down 5-0 to the Stags and may suggest that it might have drained a lot of energy and confidence out of the mid-table Welsh team.The last time County visited Vale Park was 31 years ago May 4th 1987 when both sides were in the old division 3 and on that day Vale romped home 6-1 winners in front of a crowd of just over 2 and a half thousand.
In the last ten County visits to Vale park ranging from Boxing day 1961 to May 4th 1987 Vale have won 8 with 1 draw and a solitary Newport win which was on 6th April 1968 almost fifty years ago the score that day 0-1, well this year ends in a eight so can they make it 2 wins in half a century.
PORT VALE ... 0 NEWPORT COUNTY ... 0
Not my first visit to Vale Park I came via coach in the mid 70's to watch my then beloved Walsall play the Valiants. Can't remember the score or the date the game was played I must have been traumatised by the fact that when I returned to where the coach was parked on the car park I found it had been pushed down an embankment by Vale fans and had to wait hours for a replacement Dawsons coach, oh happy days.
I hardly recognised the place on my return today it has changed significantly but it was over 40 years ago when I first clapped eyes on the Vale home territory, I tried to work out where the embankment was and where our coach ended up but it could have been a totally different place or so it seemed.
Back to the present, Port Vale and Newport shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw at Vale Park in Sky Bet league two
The Valiants are now nine league games without a win but the outcome could have been worse if it was not for a heroic double save from goalkeeper Ryan Boot in the second half.
The first chance fell the way of the visitors after 11 minutes when Ben Tozer's long throw caused havoc in the Vale defence and Mark O'Brien failed to test Boot.
A minute later Vale's top scorer Tom Pope collected the ball and squared it to Michael Tonge whose shot from just outside the area hit a post.
Tozer's long throw was proving a useful outlet for the Exiles and in the 56th minute the ball eventually fell to Frank Nouble who brought a superb save at close range from Boot.
The rebound fell to O'Brien whose shot through a crowd of players was also saved by the inspired Boot, before the danger was cleared.
MATCH DETAILS
