Football Season Guide

The Valiants are the club that wrote the League Two fairytale of the 2012/13 season, as they started the season in administration and after losing several key players, but manager Micky Adams managed to steady the ship, bring in a few quality signings, and guide the club to promotion. Despite the third place finish, Adams opted to reshape the squad a bit and made some surprising decisions, as experienced League One players such as Clayton McDonald, Darren Purse and Ashley Vincent were allowed to leave the club. Anthony Griffith, who played a major role for the club while on loan from Leyton Orient last season, joins again from the O's, while the likes of Chris Lines, Gavin Tomlin and Chris Robertson all represent decent players who are proven at League One level. In a recent interview, Adams has admitted that his reshaping of the squad is not over yet, and that he feels that his side are still a few players away from being able to really compete in League One. This means that he can expect the Valiants to remain very active in the transfer market in the upcoming few weeks. Port Vale achieved promotion while playing some attacking football, and Adams is likely to stick to his approach in the third tier. A lot will depend on the scoring form of striker Tom Pope, who was their top scorer last season, but is unproven in League One.