County kick-start their Papa John’s Trophy campaign tomorrow night when we travel to old rivals Port Vale of League One, looking to get off to a winning start in Group C.
The game will be a rerun of the 1993 final in this competition, which saw Port Vale edge it 2-1 at the old Wembley. It was the second consecutive season County had lost out in the final, having never won the competition.
Tomorrow’s game will be County’s first in the Trophy since a second round defeat to Tranmere in 2010, and our first ever in this format of the competition following the introduction of a group phase and the inclusion of Premier League U21 sides.
Our other opponents in the group are Shrewsbury Town and Wolves U21s, with each side playing each other once and the top two from the group progressing to the knockout phase. In the event of a draw in any group game, a penalty shootout will be contested, with the winner gaining an additional point.
Both sides were in league action at the weekend, with Antoni Sarcevic’s late goal earning County a point against Swindon, whilst Port Vale lost 1-0 to League One leaders Portsmouth at Vale Park thanks to a goal from Tottenham loanee Dane Scarlett.
Our Opponents:
Port Vale were languishing down in 18th place in League Two when one time County loanee Darrell Clarke took charge of the Club in February 2021 – the Valiants paying a compensation fee to prise him away from Walsall, who were 11th at the time.
Clarke had previously guided Bristol Rovers to consecutive promotions from the National League to League One, and quickly steered Vale to mid-table security, finishing the season in 13th. It was the third time in four seasons that the Club had finished in the bottom half of League Two since relegation in 2017.
In his first full season in charge however, the side finished the season in 5th place, securing a play-off place on the final day of the season with a 1-0 win at already promoted Exeter City. They fell just two points shy of a top three finish, but quickly put that to one side and would go on to secure promotion back to the third tier anyway through the play-offs.
After edging past Swindon Town on penalties in the semi-finals, Port Vale simply swept Mansfield at Wembley in the final, storming to a 3-0 win thanks to goals from Kian Harratt, James Wilson and Mal Benning – it was the fifth promotion of Clarke’s young managerial career, with four of them coming through the play-offs.
Back in League One after five years away, the Stoke-based side have enjoyed a slow but steady start to life back in the third tier with two wins, a draw and three defeats to their name so far. They sit 19th in the table, three points above the relegation zone, and like County they will be hoping a win on Tuesday night will provide a welcome boost to take back into their league campaign.
Match Stats:
- Paddy Madden will be available for this fixture despite his red card at the weekend, as suspensions do not carry over to this competition.
- Our last win in this competition came in September 2009, a 4-1 win away at Crewe Alexandra in the first-round, with Carl Baker scoring a hat-trick. We went on to get knocked out in the next round, away at Port Vale.
- This will be the first meeting between the two sides since 2011, where two Anthony Elding goals secured a 2-1 win for County at Vale Park. It proved to be our last win in the Football League before relegation that same year.
- After scoring four goals in his first 30 appearances for the Club, Antoni Sarcevic has now scored three in his last seven games.
- After coming off the bench on Saturday, Ryan Croasdale is now on 99 appearances for Stockport County.
Live Streaming:
This midweek game will be available for both our domestic and overseas supporters to stream live via the Stockport County Live platform, featuring commentary with Jon Keighren and Liam Richardson.
Overseas supporters who have a monthly or seasonal video subscription package do not need to purchase a pay-per-view match pass for this game, it is covered in your package.
For more information on how to use our streaming platform, please click here.
