Port Vale: Big names back Vale's 'bargain' season ticket
VALE'S VIP supporters and a former fans' favourite have thrown their weight behind Vale's cut-price season tickets campaign.
On Thursday, The Sentinel unveiled the pricing structure for 09/10, which featured big incentives for fans to renew or buy season tickets.
The club claims the headline figure of £229 for an adult season ticket represents one of the best bargains in the football league – equating to less than £10 per home game.
If fans support the initiative in similar numbers to last year and 5,000 adults stump up the cash before July, then the club has pledged to drop the price to the bargain £183 it charged in 2008.
One of the club's most fervent supporters in recent years has been Stoke North MP Joan Walley.
She said: "Ever since Alan Sugar used his casting vote to help create the Premier League, football in this country has been disconnecting itself from its grass roots.
"However, football in the Potteries has always been fortunate in boasting a commitment to communities across the city.
"By following in the footsteps of Bradford with the cut-price season tickets offer, the Vale is giving fans real value for money at a time of unprecedented financial difficulties."
Mrs Walley added: "In spite of the disappointments on the pitch in recent years, I fully support the club's season tickets campaign and hope the fans will get behind it in large numbers once again."
Potteries-born stage star and Vale fan Jonathan Wilkes, currently starring in Queen tribute musical We Will Rock You in Manchester, said: "The Vale holds so many great memories for me and it is unthinkable that we let it decline when so much good work has been done in recent years.
"It is vital that both clubs in the city prosper. Half my mates back home are Stoke fans and I'm sure even the most ardent of them would want the Vale to flourish alongside their own club.
"I really hope the fans come out in force again to support the club and keep it on the road to recovery."
Former Vale star Gareth Griffiths, who played 90 games for the club under John Rudge between 1995 and 1998, is now on the management committee of the Professional Footballers' Association.
He said: "I have very fond memories of my time at Vale. It was where my career really started."
"Lots of clubs are struggling at present but at the bigger clubs, the fans' financial support is perhaps less of an issue as they get a greater share from the likes of TV money.
"At Vale, however, the supporters are crucial if the club is to turn things around. They have to get behind this season ticket offer again and I really hope they do."
An error in the 2009/10 Vale season ticket chart published in Thursday's edition of The Sentinel meant the July prices for under-14s and under-18s were wrongly reported.
The correct prices are £78 for nine to 13-year-olds, not £45, and £135 for 14 to 18-year-olds, not £89.
Matchday tickets for senior citizens will cost £12.50 next season, not £12 as previously reported.
