….and we all now look forward to the New Year’s Fixtures. Hope everyone had a good one! It seems there was a lot of hot air spoken about Boxing Day or not-Boxing Day fixtures. Some are forgetting that there has long been changes over the Christmas period and others still remember the days of matches on Christmas Day! Seems a long time ago BUT on the human timeline only very recent (1965 in England and 1976 in Scotland) I note that the people who normally scream about the lack of Saturday fixtures are the same ones screaming about the abundance of Premier League fixtures on the 27th! Nine tenths of me say they haven’t been to a game in real life since the Seventies anyway! For those genuinely missing a PL game on Boxing Day, there were a lot of games in the lower divisions without the same number of prime donne! MANY seem to hark back until 1963 …which was two months before my first ever Gillingham game!

Anyway, one thing I did remember to add was the launch of a retro shout by Copa for Port Vale.
The Stoke-based club returned to the second tier in 1989 after 33 years, beginning a proud new chapter in the club’s history. The early 1990s brought fresh faces and memorable occasions that supporters still cherish.
 
The 1991 – 92 season saw the arrival of record signing Martin Foyle, who wasted no time in making his mark, netting 16 goals in his debut campaign and laying the foundations for a career that would cement his status as a Port Vale legend. Alongside him came Dutch midfielder Robin van der Laan, whose energy, determination and eye for goal made him a popular figure with the Vale faithful and a key part of John Rudge’s side.

A standout moment arrived in the League Cup, when the Valiants produced an excellent 2–2 draw at Anfield against Liverpool. That performance captured the spirit of the team and gave supporters a night to remember on one of football’s biggest stages.


The iconic shirts are available here
 

Happy New Year

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