Image source, Getty Images. ByNeil Johnston in Burslem. BBC Sport journalist. 3 April 2026. 176 Comments. It’s the start of FA Cup quarter-final week at Port Vale and manager Jon Brady is spelling out some home truths to his players after another demoralising defeat.. “It’s just not good enough,” says the Australian. “When you have players who play really well one week and the following two weeks don’t, it’s hard to fathom.”. Since landing a money-spinning away tie against Chelsea after the headline-grabbing win over Sunderland on 8 March, Vale have lost four out of six in League One, the latest a 4-0 hammering at Wycombe Wanderers last Saturday.. Bottom of the table, 14 points from safety with just eight games left, Vale are hurtling towards relegation in their 150th anniversary year.. “I don’t care about the Chelsea game, the season cannot end soon enough,” messaged one angry fan to BBC Radio Stoke’s post-match football phone-in show Praise and Grumble after the Wycombe game.. There are, however, many who do care about Vale’s first meeting with Chelsea since 1929.. Despite the closure of Euston train station over Easter, 6,000 are travelling to Stamford Bridge for Saturday’s last-eight tie (live on BBC One and the BBC iPlayer, 17:15 BST kick-off) in the hope of seeing their side pull off the unthinkable.. “Who knows, the players might actually turn up for this one,” Jonny Hancock from Ale and the Vale, external podcast says.. Bottom of the league, magic in the cup – Port Vale’s ‘incredible’ run. 8 March. ‘I’m a Chelsea fan but my grandad was a Vale hero’. 12 March. ‘Burslem needs some love’. Port Vale are the last club standing in the FA Cup from outside the Premier League and Championship. Despite a season to forget in the league, there is genuine excitement about their best run in the competition for 72 years.. More than a dozen coaches will head to Chelsea from the Ye Olde Crown, a few minutes walk from the ground in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.. When Vale clinched automatic promotion from League Two last season, supporters packed the pub to celebrate and sing ‘The Wonder of You’, the Elvis Presley hit played before home games.. “I couldn’t fit anyone else in that night,” landlady Charlotte Ratcliffe recalls.. “The Vale players came in and it was so busy that they went behind the bar and started serving customers.”. Charlotte’s dad, Shane, a Port Vale season ticket holder, ran the pub up until he passed away in 2022.. “All I’ve heard from customers since Vale were drawn with Chelsea is: ‘I hope I can get a ticket’,” adds Charlotte. “It’s big for the town.”. Port Vale is not named after a specific town or borough like most clubs, with Burslem one of six towns that form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire.. In 1876 a meeting took place in Port Vale House with the idea of forming a football team. Whether the club was named after the house is unclear, external but fans are proud of their club’s identity.. A banner displayed at matche
