2020–21 Port Vale F.C. season
Port Vale 2020–21 football season / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about 2020–21 Port Vale F.C. season?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The 2020–21 season was Port Vale's 109th season in the English Football League, and fourth consecutive season in EFL League Two. The season covers the period from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021. Though no honours were won on the pitch, Port Vale was named as Community Club of the Year at the 2021 EFL Awards for their work helping the local area during the COVID-19 pandemic.
2020–21 season | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Owner | Synsol Holdings Limited | |||
Chairperson | Carol Shanahan | |||
Manager | John Askey (until 4 January)[1] Danny Pugh (caretaker 4 January – 15 February)[1] Darrell Clarke (from 15 February)[2] | |||
Stadium | Vale Park | |||
League Two | 13th (60 points) | |||
FA Cup | First round (knocked out by King's Lynn Town) | |||
EFL Cup | Second round (knocked out by Fleetwood Town) | |||
EFL Trophy | Third round (knocked out by Sunderland) | |||
Player of the Year | Tom Conlon | |||
Top goalscorer | League: Devante Rodney (11) All: Devante Rodney (12) | |||
Average home league attendance | 0 (behind closed doors) | |||
Biggest win | 5–1 vs. Southend United, 30 January 2021 | |||
Biggest defeat | 0–4 vs. Mansfield Town, 2 January 2021 | |||
| ||||
Going into his second full season as the club's manager, John Askey kept largely the same squad that finished just outside the play-offs in 2019–20, signing just seven players before the season kicked off in September. No fans were allowed to attend matches due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom. Vale exited the EFL Cup in the second round but were second in the league by the end of September. In October, four wins and three defeats in seven games saw them maintain a play-off place. However, they lost six matches in November, causing them to exit the FA Cup in the first round to non-League King's Lynn Town and drop firmly into mid-table in the league. Pressure built over the Christmas period as Vale ended the year 16th in the table and Askey left the club on 4 January, two days after a 4–0 defeat to Mansfield Town. Danny Pugh spent the rest of the month as caretaker manager, overseeing comprehensive victories over Grimsby Town and Southend United as well as an exit from the EFL Trophy and two defeats in games he was unable to attend due to him testing positive for COVID-19.
David Flitcroft was appointed as the club's first ever director of football in February and Darrell Clarke was signed from Walsall as the club's new manager. It took Clarke eight games to get his first win as Vale manager. Still, this was followed by another two consecutive victories, which left Vale nine points clear of the relegation zone going into April. The winning run continued and 16 out of a possible 18 points were secured in April, with just a single goal conceded. Clarke released all 15-out-of-contract players at the end of the season and placed a further three contracted players on the transfer-list.