Marked for Jack Shorrock
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match16 Oct 2027
No end in sight to Port Vale's wait for a win
4 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Port Vale has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words exchanged at Port Vale
Erik Sviatchenko and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad18 Oct 2027
George Hall falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad18 Oct 2027
100 games in these colours. Service of that kind gets rarer every season, and the crowd knows it.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Port Vale told Carlos Mendes Gomes something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Michael Moore after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Rui Costa does not fit this one
Ninety specific minutes wanted a different sort of player, and the manager picked one. He is not out of form and he is not in the side, and both are true.
Match16 Oct 2027
Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Barnsley will be the happier side with the point.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
Jack Shorrock has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Port Vale will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market11 Oct 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nicholas Williams will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Port Vale the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad11 Oct 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jack Shorrock and Port Vale agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
Sam Parker has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Port Vale will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
Market11 Oct 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rui Costa’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Liam Gordon has seen what the next man earns
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at Port Vale that is a harder question to answer.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Cyrus Christie has written the date down.
Market11 Oct 2027
Port Vale have let the market know Jackson Izquierdo can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout11 Oct 2027
David Cabrera knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Port Vale, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market9 Aug 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Accrington Stanley waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Port Vale is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
Port Vale asked and Sunderland said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Words exchanged at Port Vale
George Byers and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad9 Aug 2027
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Cyrus Christie commits to Port Vale for another 1 years.
Transfer targets9 Aug 2027
A loan move for Charlie Setford is in the works
Port Vale have made the call to Ajax. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
The dugout9 Aug 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jack Shorrock, and the manager let it.
Market9 Aug 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Market9 Aug 2027
At 34, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Looking ahead9 Aug 2027
Luton Town next, and one man in the Port Vale dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad26 Jul 2027
Jayden Stockley damages knee ligaments — 100 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 100 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
Market26 Jul 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Barnsley waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Port Vale is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Market26 Jul 2027
Rico Richards hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Port Vale can pretend not to have heard.
Transfer targets26 Jul 2027
Port Vale asked and Hull City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad26 Jul 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Port Vale this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Port Vale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Emre Tezgel is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad26 Jul 2027
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Edward Lake and Port Vale agree another 3 years.
The dugout26 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Roan Veenbrink
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad14 Jun 2027
146 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Port Vale lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Market14 Jun 2027
Sam Hart puts it in writing
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Port Vale, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets14 Jun 2027
Port Vale asked and Birmingham said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad14 Jun 2027
The step up is real for Tom Scragg
At 22 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Port Vale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kyle John is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Liam Gordon gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words exchanged at Port Vale
Nicholas Williams and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Market14 Jun 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with George Hall’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout14 Jun 2027
Rico Richards has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Port Vale will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market31 May 2027
Jordan Shipley has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Port Vale they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Boardroom31 May 2027
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Jordan Shipley has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad31 May 2027
Sagesse Yalala is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad31 May 2027
Jordan Gabriel falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad31 May 2027
Ruari Paton was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
The dugout31 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to John Mengi, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match3 May 2027
The season ends: position 17 for Port Vale
The last league game has been played and the table has stopped moving: 49 points. The summer begins on Monday, and so does the argument about what it all meant.
Squad3 May 2027
“The easiest signature of my career.” Jack Shorrock and Port Vale agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market3 May 2027
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
Squad3 May 2027
George Byers falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The dugout3 May 2027
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
Squad3 May 2027
Mason Terry was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match1 May 2027
It needed Dajaune Brown to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Luton Town, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Match27 Apr 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings3 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad30 Nov 2026
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Match28 Nov 2026
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Port Vale did not have in the autumn.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Port Vale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Moreira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Nicholas Williams was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match28 Nov 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Michael Moore after the 1‑1 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Port Vale told Jack Shorrock something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
Ben Heneghan gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings30 Nov 2026
Grant Ward beats them one at a time
Successful dribbles: 12. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match22 Sep 2026
Chastening afternoon for Port Vale
A 0‑3 beating by Stockport County was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Match26 Sep 2026
5 matches without a win for Port Vale
The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Port Vale are no longer polite ones.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Dajaune Brown is a better footballer than he was
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Words at Port Vale training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Bruno Moreira is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Boardroom28 Sep 2026
The manager kept them in and said what needed saying. A response is expected on Saturday, and if it does not come the questions move upstairs.
Squad28 Sep 2026
George Byers in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Port Vale this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Sep 2026
8 new faces, and Port Vale are still learning each other
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
Match26 Sep 2026
It needed Rui Costa to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Rotherham United, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Port Vale, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Rui Costa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match22 Aug 2026
0‑2 to Cardiff City, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Match18 Aug 2026
Late, late show earns Port Vale a point
Minute 85, against Exeter City, and a goal that felt like a win to everybody who had stayed. It was a draw. Nobody leaving the ground will describe it as one.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Onel Hernández, and the manager let it.
Squad24 Aug 2026
George Byers and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Nicholas Williams and Port Vale agree another 3 years.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Porto is saying, and nobody at Port Vale is enjoying the guessing.
Market17 Aug 2026
The bid was some way short and Port Vale did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market17 Aug 2026
The name of Jack Shorrock has come up in conversations Port Vale were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Ipswich Town have kept their man, and Port Vale go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Squad17 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Port Vale this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match15 Aug 2026
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
The dugout17 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 1‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to PSV: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan move for Wassim Bouziane is in the works
Port Vale have made the call to AZ. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.