george-byers
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FA Cup 2nd Round: A Flicker of Light in the Gloom?
It’s FA Cup 2nd round weekend, a brief detour from the hideousness of our league situation, a chance to breathe, to galvanise, to overcome, to find some answers in this absolute shitshow of a season. We host Bristol Rovers – … Continue reading
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Bolton 4-0 Port Vale: Less Is Moore
Another day, another wreck on the highway. Wheels spinning, smoke curling, the whole thing sliding off the hard shoulder into the ditch. Total wipe-out. A horror show in Technicolor. Players who quit before the half-time whistle, players who lost the… Continue reading
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Port Vale 5-1 Maldon & Tiptree: Without Mercy. Without Remorse.
It was all over in twenty-four minutes of glorious chaos, four goals in a nine minute spell from Vale enough to deprive the nation of a Sunday afternoon giant-killing. It began with a dream and a stumble. Five minutes in… Continue reading
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Port Vale 0-3 Stockport County: No Shelter from the Storm
I thought the cold light of day might wash it clean, give me perspective, a little clarity. It didn’t. It’s still there, raw and ugly. That performance was a surrender, a folding of cardboard in the rain, limp and shapeless.… Continue reading
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AFC Wimbledon 1-1 Port Vale: Our Achilles Heel
Where we end up this season, it’s all down to the back line — the last stand, the trench, the place where dreams get mugged in the alleyways. Defending. It’s not been great, has it? Not great at all. Ok,… Continue reading
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Port Vale 0-2 Arsenal: A Tale Of Salt And Steel
Vale Park, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent. 3rd Round, Carabao Cup. Wednesday 24 September, 2025. 8PM kick-off. We were beaten, yes — 2-0 by a far superior Arsenal side. It was like steering a battered trawler into the path of a gleaming frigate… Continue reading
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Port Vale vs Arsenal: Breakfast And A Morning Stroll
Wednesday 24 September 2025, 08:30. The morning began, as mornings ought, with a ceremony of nourishment both modest and magnificent. An omelette, golden and obedient, enfolded within its curving embrace a portion of smoked haddock – firm, fragrant ,and faintly… Continue reading
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Port Vale 1-2 Stevenage FC: The Truth Is Here
Tuesday 19 August 2025 Vale Park, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent We were better. For long stretches, undeniably better. But football, like life, is not a meritocracy. Two goals in three minutes – one born of defensive negligence, the other a product of… Continue reading
tales from the paddock 