Stephen King

Attacking Midfielder (R) - Port Vale U18
12 Feb 2027
Friday
Process

Marked for Stephen King

2 Edition

The Port Vale Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Transfer targets

The paperwork begins on Ayden Heaven

A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. Port Vale have done the hard part with Manchester United, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.

Transfer targets

Jayden Danns turns down Port Vale

The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: Liverpool keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.

Squad

George Hall signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” George Hall commits to Port Vale for another 4 years.

Transfer targets

Port Vale rebuffed over Lukáš Horníček

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Newcastle United have kept their man, and Port Vale go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Market

Port Vale promote Paul Barnes from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Paul Barnes has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

One of our own: David Johnson joins the Port Vale first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. David Johnson is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Port Vale promote Stephen King from within

The academy exists for exactly this morning. Stephen King has come through every age group the club runs and has now been handed a senior number, and the people who coached him at twelve will be the proudest in the building.

Market

Steven Mitchell steps up from the Port Vale academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Steven Mitchell has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

Squad

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.

In brief