2021–22 Port Vale F.C. season

Manager Darrell Clarke had to completely rebuild the playing squad after he released all 15 out of contract players following the club's mid-table finish at the end of the 2020–21 season: Shaun Brisley, Scott Brown, Ryan Campbell-Gordon, Adam Crookes, Mark Cullen, David Fitzpatrick, Kurtis Guthrie, Luke Joyce, Harry McKirdy, Zak Mills, Cristian Montaño, Tom Pope, Tom Scott, Daniel Trickett-Smith and Dino Visser.[1] He also transfer-listed Theo Robinson, Danny Whitehead and Scott Burgess.[2] Clarke's first signing as manager was Brad Walker, a defensive ball playing central midfielder who had been released from League One club Shrewsbury Town.[3] He then paid Blackpool an undisclosed fee for central midfielder Ben Garrity, who he described as "young, hungry and ambitious".[4] Biddulph-born James Wilson was then signed upon his release from Salford City, a 25-year old striker who had come through Manchester United as a highly rated teenager.[5] The club also confirmed that Andy Crosby would be staying on at the club as assistant manager, which director of football David Flitcroft said was "a really important signing" due to his "outstanding coaching, organisational skills, knowledge, work ethic and enthusiasm".[6] Aaron Martin, a 31-year old centre-back who had previously worked with Crosby at Southampton, then joined on a two-year deal.[7] Another former Salford City player, left-back Dan Jones, then joined on a two-year deal.[8] Taking Brown's place in goal was 30-year old Brazilian Lucas Covolan, who had been on the losing side of the National League play-off final despite scoring a stoppage-time equaliser for Torquay United.[9] Aidan Stone, a 21-year old goalkeeper released from Mansfield Town, also joined the club.[10] Defender Ryan Johnson was added after he rejected a contract from newly promoted Hartlepool United.[11] Two more players were announced on 28 June: long-time Stevenage central midfielder Tom Pett and six-year Mansfield Town veteran full-back Mal Benning.[12][13] The next arrival was 29-year old former Rotherham United striker Jamie Proctor, who signed a one-year deal.[14] Lewis Cass, a 21-year old defender from Newcastle United then joined on a season-long loan.[15]

Port Vale lost 1–0 in their opening day fixture away at Northampton Town and had Covolan sent off on his competitive debut.[16] The first point was picked up seven days later in an entertaining goalless draw with Tranmere Rovers at Vale Park.[17] Clarke then added Romanian wide midfielder Dennis Politic to the squad, who arrived on loan from Bolton Wanderers.[18] Carlisle United visited Vale Park on 17 August and left with a point after another 0–0 draw.[19] A third consecutive draw followed with a 1–1 stalemate at Stevenage, causing Clarke to condemn his side's "atrocious" first half performance.[20] Vale achieved their first victory of the season with a 2–0 win a league leaders Forest Green Rovers, Proctor scoring both goals within the opening nine minutes.[21] As the transfer window drew to a close, Clarke brought in striker George Lloyd on a season-long loan from Cheltenham Town.[22] Meanwhile Theo Robinson left the club to join divisional rivals Bradford City.[23]

With Leon Legge out injured, Clarke signed free agent defender Danny Amos on a short-term deal to provide defensive cover.[24][25] Proctor scored another brace at home to Rochdale, though defensive errors cost Vale a 3–2 defeat; captain Tom Conlon, returning from injury, said that "we started really well and then they have equalised and it has knocked the stuffing out of us".[26] They picked up their second away win of the season at Swindon Town, with Garrity scoring both the side's goals in a 2–1 victory; after the game Clarke thanked the away support but urged critics to "not make scapegoats of any of our players".[27] The first home win of the season came against Harrogate Town on 18 September, with David Worrall and James Wilson providing the goals that moved the Vale into the play-offs.[28] A third straight win followed at struggling Scunthorpe United, where Garrity would score the game's only goal.[29] Clarke was nominated for Manager of the Month and Garrity was nominated for Player of the Month; Clarke won the award, the second of his career.[30][31]

Hosting second-placed Leyton Orient on 2 October, Port Vale took an early lead but went 2–1 behind on 86 minutes when Tom James – on the pitch despite having been reported as suspended for having received five yellow cards this season – scored a late goal; however substitute Politic scored an equalising stoppage-time goal on his long awaited debut and Proctor then scored a winner two minutes later.[32] The victory was marred however by racist abuse that had been sent over Instagram to opposition goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux by Port Vale supporters.[33] The situation was reversed away at Sutton United as the Vale lost 4–3 despite leading 3–2 with four minutes of regular time remaining; Clarke was philosophical after the match, saying "you have to take your medicine. Last week we were joyous because we got injury-time goals, this week we are on the floor. But we will respond."[34] They went one goal down at home to Barrow, but then responded with three second half goals to move back into third place.[35] Vale took the lead against struggling Mansfield Town with a Conlon strike, but ended up drawing the game 1–1.[36] On 23 October, the Vale eased to a 3–0 home win over Colchester United, with James Gibbons, James Wilson and substitute Aaron Martin sharing the goals.[37] They found themselves a goal down at half-time at Crawley Town, but came back to win 4–1, with the home side reduced to ten men.[38] Clarke won a second successive Manager of the Month award, becoming the first Port Vale boss to win the award two months running.[39][40]

On 13 November, Vale played out a 1–1 draw with Bradford City in front of the SKY TV cameras at Vale Park as the Premier League and Championship were on an international break.[41] However with Proctor and now Wilson out with injuries, Vale's form stuttered with a 3–2 defeat at relegation threatened Oldham Athletic.[42] Clarke's former club Walsall then eased to a 1–0 win at Vale Park, much to his chagrin as he stated that he was "embarrassed... [and] I won't accept that sort of performance – ever".[43] Despite mounting injuries – including long-term absences for joint top-scorers Proctor and Wilson – they returned to winning ways with a 2–0 home victory over a poor Hartlepool United side.[44]

Vale returned to the automatic promotion places with a 2–1 win at Clarke's former club Bristol Rovers on 7 December, with the undisciplined hosts going down to nine men after having two players sent off; the negative for Vale though was that Rodney hurt his ankle to leave all five of the club's forwards out injured.[45] Without a recognised striker, Vale went to Newport County and actually took the lead through make-shift striker Garrity, only to lose the game 2–1 with ten men after Jones was shown a late red card.[46]

Port Vale were drawn at home to Accrington Stanley (League One) in the first round of the FA Cup.[47] They belied their league status to cruise to a 5–1 victory after the away side were reduced to ten men on the 70-minute mark, with Wilson scoring a hat-trick and Cass and Lloyd scoring their first goals for the club.[48] They were drawn away to League One side Burton Albion in the second round and seemed to have been beaten 1–0 when Politic scored an equalizing goal on 79 minutes and a winner just three minutes later.[49] Their reward was a home tie with Premier League side Brentford in the third round.[50]

Vale were beaten 2–1 by Sunderland (League One) in the first round of the EFL Cup, though Clarke berated the referee for disallowing a Vale goal for a foul on the goalkeeper and stated that the decision to award Sunderland a penalty for a foul by Stone was also incorrect.[51]

Vale were drawn into Northern Group D of the EFL Trophy alongside Bolton Wanderers (League One), Rochdale (League Two) and Liverpool U21.[52] Seven changes were made way at Bolton Wanderers, and Vale came from a goal down to lead 2–1, only to lose the game 3–2.[53] They went on to beat Rochdale 1–0 at home thanks to a stoppage-time winner, in a game which saw 17-year old Ellis Jones make his debut as a half-time substitute.[54] Despite resting most of the first-team, Clarke's side cruised to a 5–0 victory over the Liverpool youth-team.[55] They were drawn away to League One leaders Rotherham United in the second round, and held the "Millers" to a creditable 1–1 draw before they lost the penalty shoot-out 5–3.[56]

Vale's fixtures were announced on 24 June 2021.[58]

  Win   Draw   Loss

Northampton Town v Port Vale

7 August 2021 1	Northampton Town	1–0	Port Vale	Northampton
15:00 BST	Ashley-Seal  23'	Report		Stadium: Sixfields Stadium Attendance: 5,804 Referee: Simon Mather

Stevenage v Port Vale

21 August 2021 4	Stevenage	1–1	Port Vale	Stevenage
15:00 BST	Norris  33'	Report	Rodney  20'	Stadium: Broadhall Way Attendance: 2,727 Referee: Sam Purkiss

Forest Green Rovers v Port Vale

28 August 2021 5	Forest Green Rovers	0–2	Port Vale	Nailsworth
15:00 BST		Report	Proctor  6', 9'	Stadium: The New Lawn Attendance: 2,402 Referee: Charles Breakspear

Port Vale v Rochdale

4 September 2021 6	Port Vale	2–3	Rochdale	Burslem
15:00 BST	Proctor  8', 59'	Report	Beesley  24', 53' O'Keeffe  78'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 6,113 Referee: Marc Edwards

Swindon Town v Port Vale

11 September 2021 7	Swindon Town	1–2	Port Vale	Swindon
15:00 BST	Simpson  49'	Report	Garrity  22', 81'	Stadium: County Ground Attendance: 8,734 Referee: Neil Hair

Port Vale v Harrogate Town

18 September 2021 8	Port Vale	2–0	Harrogate Town	Burslem
15:00 BST	Worrall  27' Wilson  47'	Report		Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 5,435 Referee: Andrew Kitchen

Scunthorpe United v Port Vale

25 September 2021 9	Scunthorpe United	0–1	Port Vale	Scunthorpe
15:00 BST		Report	Garrity  44'	Stadium: Glanford Park Attendance: 2,513 Referee: Robert Lewis

Port Vale v Leyton Orient

2 October 2021 10	Port Vale	3–2	Leyton Orient	Burslem
15:00 BST	Wilson  6' Politic  90+1' Proctor  90+3'	Report	Jones  60' (o.g.) James  86'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 5,667 Referee: Chris Sarginson

Sutton United v Port Vale

9 October 2021 11	Sutton United	4–3	Port Vale	Sutton, London
15:00 BST	Milsom  36' Garrity  69' (o.g.) Randall  87' Rowe  90+1'	Report	Smith  21' Proctor  28' Conlon  78'	Stadium: Gander Green Lane Attendance: 3,905 Referee: Declan Bourne

Port Vale v Barrow

16 October 2021 12	Port Vale	3–1	Barrow	Burslem
15:00 BST	Politic  51' Jones  56' (og.) Benning  85'	Report	Banks  33'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 5,951 Referee: Andy Woolmer

Mansfield Town v Port Vale

19 October 2021 13	Mansfield Town	1–1	Port Vale	Mansfield
19:45 BST	Lapslie  64'	Report	Conlon  33'	Stadium: Field Mill Attendance: 4,202 Referee: Will Finnie

Port Vale v Colchester United

23 October 2021 14	Port Vale	3–0	Colchester United	Burslem
15:00 BST	Gibbons  6' Wilson  16' Martin  61'	Report		Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 5,423 Referee: Seb Stockbridge

Crawley Town v Port Vale

30 October 2021 15	Crawley Town	1–4	Port Vale	Crawley
15:00 BST	Appiah  44'	Report	Pett  76' Conlon  49' Francomb  80' (o.g.) Amoo  90+4'	Stadium: The People's Pension Stadium Attendance: 2,234 Referee: Trevor Kettle

Port Vale v Bradford City

13 November 2021 16	Port Vale	1–1	Bradford City	Burslem
12:00 GMT	Wilson  56'	Report	Angol  74'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 7,010 Referee: Lee Swabey

Oldham Athletic v Port Vale

20 November 2021 17	Oldham Athletic	3–2	Port Vale	Oldham
15:00 GMT	Keillor-Dunn  31' Hart  81' Martin  90+3' (.og)	Report	Worrall  20' Gibbons  52'	Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 6,080 Referee: Carl Brook

Port Vale v Walsall

23 November 2021 18	Port Vale	0–1	Walsall	Burslem
19:45 GMT		Report	Kiernan  29'	Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 6,248 Referee: Simon Mather

Port Vale v Hartlepool United

27 November 2021 19	Port Vale	2–0	Hartlepool United	Burslem
15:00 GMT	Garrity  31' Pett  90'	Report		Stadium: Vale Park Attendance: 4,839 Referee: Tom Reeves

Bristol Rovers v Port Vale

7 December 2021 20	Bristol Rovers	1–2	Port Vale	Bristol
19:45 GMT	Collins  56'	Report	Garrity  31', 33'	Stadium: Memorial Stadium Attendance: 6,071 Referee: Craig Hicks

Newport County v Port Vale

11 December 2021 21	Newport County	1–2	Port Vale	Newport, Wales
15:00 GMT	Telford  69' Azaz  75'	Report	Garrity  25'	Stadium: Rodney Parade Attendance: 4,074 Referee: Paul Howard