Stoke-on-Trent
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The Last Cry of ‘Derek I’m Gutted!!!’?
There’s a special kind of magic going on in a fanzine, and it’s a magic stitched together with pritt-stick, scissors, tippex, photocopiers, late nights and DIY stubbornness. For 26 years, Derek I’m Gutted!!! has been that magic in print for… Continue reading
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Port Vale 1-3 Exeter City: After the Iceberg
I stayed to the bitter end. I always do. It’s the Final Act that fascinates me – the moments after the whistle, when the curtain drops on a dismal performance and everyone has to live with what’s just happened. That… Continue reading
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150 Years of Port Vale: A Tale from the Paddock
One hundred and fifty years ago Port Vale Football Club came into being. It has given us joy and beauty, pain and ugliness in equal measure – and we wouldn’t want it any other way. Life is always worth living… Continue reading
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Become the Beast: Jon Brady and the Machiavellian Playbook
Safety sits eleven points above us – and it’s a huge, jagged mountain to climb. And Jon Brady? He’s the man with his boots on, head down, ready to scale it. Ready to lead the way. Twentieth place in League… Continue reading
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Port Vale: Ball Number Four
Tonight the balls will rattle in the bowl and the ghosts of giant-killings will lean in close, because the FA Cup 4th round draw is upon us and Vale are still breathing. Skin in the game, knuckles scraped, after a… Continue reading
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Port Vale and The Return Of 4-4-2
It went massively out of style, didn’t it? One minute 4‑4‑2 was the backbone of British football, the formation you could sketch on a beer mat over a few pints on a Friday night, the next minute it was treated… Continue reading
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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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Port Vale: Fiddling While Rome Burns
The party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” – George Orwell After Saturday’s demoralising, utterly predictable defeat, we needed something from the club—a sign, a message, anything. Just… Continue reading
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Port Vale 0-0 Wycombe Wanderers: The Long Road To League 2
Our relentless march toward the Fourth Division continues, despite scraping a point from Saturday’s clash with Wycombe. The adventurous play to win, cautious play not to lose. We chose caution. Fortunately for us, so did Wycombe —a surprise, really, because… 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
tales from the paddock 