The best Port Vale XI using players from the last decade ft Tom Pope | OneFootball

The last decade at Port Vale has been nothing short of extraordinary. From nearly going out of business to a wonderful Wembley play-off victory, with a fight to maintain their EFL status thrown in for good measure, Football League World looks back at some of the players who have made all the difference in the last 10 years.

There are some tough decisions to make, with some players playing vital roles in promotions, and others helping the club stay clear of relegation.

Some players just sneak in, playing their last games for the club in the 2013-14 season, but perhaps worryingly for Vale fans, there are no players from the current squad.

The best Port Vale XI since 2013/14

Here is our selected XI of the players who lit up Vale Park from the 2013-14 season to the present day.

GK: Jak Alnwick

The goalkeeping position was perhaps among the toughest to choose from but Jak Alnwick gets the nod ahead of Chris Neal and Scott Brown.

Initially signed on a short-term contract as emergency cover for Neal, the former Newcastle United keeper then kept him out of the team with a string of impressive displays in League One. He was rewarded with a two-and-a-half-year contract and was made joint-captain when Bruno Ribiero was appointed manager.

He was sold in January 2017 to Rangers, . He made 79 appearances for Port Vale, who then used seven different goalkeepers in a year as they sought a capable replacement.

RB: Adam Yates

Club stalwart Adam Yates gets the right-back slot, a reward for his level of consistency over nine seasons with Vale.

A succession of managers brought in potential replacements for Yates but he nearly always saw them off, notching up 248 appearances. He was part of the team that won promotion from League Two in 2012-13 and then had three seasons at League One, including 9th and 12th place finishes.

He suffered a horrific accident in a reserve game, leaving him with a fractured nose, cheekbones and eye sockets as well as a broken upper jaw and wrist. Manager Neil Aspin said at the time "I have never seen, on a football pitch, someone get the extent of the injuries he has got." Yates was given a contract extension despite his injuries as a reward for his commitment to Port Vale but retired shortly afterwards.

CB: Richard Duffy

Welsh international Richard Duffy gets the nod ahead of current club-captain Nathan Smith for a centre-back spot.

Another player who was part of the League Two promotion campaign in 2012-13, he brought the Championship experience he'd gained at Coventry City and Swansea City to League One, where he notched up 90 appearances over three seasons.

He left the club in the summer of 2016 after failing to agree a new deal, joining non-league Eastleigh, but left soon after to play for League Two Notts County. He continued to live in the area though, later playing for non-league Kidsgrove Athletic and is currently manager of Congleton Town.

CB: Leon Legge

Although Leon Legge spent his entire Vale career with the team in League Two, his efforts as the club fought to keep their Football League status can not be underestimated.

A commanding 6ft 4ins presence, the former Gillingham and Cambridge United man formed a good partnership with Nathan Smith as Vale battled ther way to safety.

He was perhaps unlucky that his best season in a Vale shirt, the 2019-20 campaign, ended prematurely due to COVID, with them just outside the play-off places.

Former Stoke City players don't tend to get an easy time at Vale Park, but Carl Dickinson won fans round with determined and competitive displays in his three seasons with the club.

Initially starting as a centre-back, he soon moved to the left-back role and was given the club captaincy as Vale found consistency in League One. The only games he tended to miss were when he picked up suspensions, but his fire and grit were a key factor in Vale's relative success between 2013 and 2016.

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Industrious midfielder Anthony Griffith sneaks in courtesy of his 2013-14 campaign but is fondly remembered by Vale fans for his efforts over six seasons with the Burslem club.

He amassed 237 appearances in all competitions and only tended to miss games when totting up too many yellow cards. He left to join League One Leyton Orient for the 2012-13 season but rejoined The Valiants on loan to help them with their League Two promotion, before showing the steel and tenacity to which Vale fans had become accustomed in a final year with the club, appearing 38 times in League One.

Another who stayed in the area, he has also had various coaching roles with Port Vale's youth teams.

Another who left the club in 2014, Doug Loft was a versatile midfielder who also showed in his final season that he had a keen eye for goal.

Signed by Micky Adams on a free transfer from Brighton, Loft went on to appear 196 times for Vale, scoring 19 times. He was part of the League Two promotion team of 2012-13 and scored nine times in League One the following year.

Unfortunately, that season ended on a sour note after he suffered a broken cheekbone in a training ground incident involving teammate Daniel Jones, for which Jones had his contract terminated.

AM: Louis Dodds

What fans wouldn't do for a player with the class of Louis Dodds right now. Able to pick up pockets of space and set up flying wingers or a striker, Dodds' creativity was unmatched during an initial eight-year spell with the club.

He played at least 35 times in every season he spent at Vale Park and scored seven times in the 2012-3 promotion campaign. He continued to show his skill at a higher level, playing 103 League One games across three seasons, scoring 16 times.

After spells at Shrewsbury Town and Chesterfield, he returned to Vale on loan in the 2018-19 season but couldn't find his best form as Neil Aspin's team struggled near the bottom of League Two.

Ex-Millwall man David Worrall was a fan favourite at Port Vale. Signed by Michael Brown at the start of the club’s latest stint in League Two, he went on to play 248 times for the club.

His positional flexibility and constant running, as well as the ability to cross on the run, saw him set up plenty of goals in struggling Vale sides, but he was part of the team that won promotion at Wembley in 2022.

He went on to appear 39 times in League One the following season, before opting to leave the club after only being offered a one-year deal, a decision unpopular with fans.

Another that just sneaks in thanks to playing the 2013-14 season, Jennison Myrie-Williams' electric pace and eye for goal saw him light up Vale Park.

Able to play on either flank, Myrie-Williams started at Vale on loan from Stevenage in the 2011-12 season, before joining permanently that summer. He scored 11 goals across 50 appearances in the League Two promotion campaign, and found the net consistently in League One the following year, with seven goals.

His career never really took off after he left Vale Park for Scunthorpe, slipping down the leagues, but he will always be remembered at Port Vale for his two blistering seasons.

There is only one consideration for the striker role in the team of the last 10 years, and it's no surprise to see Vale's record post-war goalscorer Tom Pope take the spot.

Pope joined the club he supported as a boy in 2010, but it was his performances in the promotion season of 2012-13, with 31 goals in 46 games, that live long in the memory. He then had two seasons in League One before joining divisional rivals Bury.

He then rejoined Vale, who were by that time back in League Two and scored 37 goals in 120 games across four seasons.

Perhaps his most famous moment in a Port Vale shirt came when he scored a memorable goal in the FA Cup at the Etihad against Manchester City. Before the game, he had criticised England international John Stones, saying he would score "40 a season" if he played him every week. After the game he revised his prediction, saying:

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