Striker off to Forest Green Rovers
Lee Hughes will leave the club today to join Forest Green Rovers and said his goodbyes this morning, with a special mention of the fans and best wishes to everyone at the club.
He is sad to go, but made the decision in order that he can play on a more regular basis as his career as a player eventually comes to an end.
He said: “To be fair my chances of playing have become limited and I understand that. The team have been doing well, the gaffer is doing a great job here and I just love playing football.
“I really want to play football, it’s not about the money wherever. I have enjoyed myself tremendously, the fans have been unbelievable and I would like to thank all the fans and all the staff.
“The manager, Micky, has been brilliant since I have been here, we have got on so well, and I am sad to leave.
“Port Vale is going to be the first team I look at on a Saturday and hopefully they will go on now and get into the play-offs, they have got a great chance and I just wish them all the best.
“I have enjoyed it here from day one when I came here and the gaffer said if it wasn’t for my goals last season we might not have got promoted.
“I am just glad that I have contributed in that way. They are a great bunch of lads and I am going to miss it here, but it’s one of those things in football where you just want to play, especially at my age now.
“I am not leaving on bad terms, the manager and me get on great and hopefully he will bring in a few more players and the younger players like Jordan Hugill and Ben Williamson can go on to prove themselves.
“Hopefully I have helped them and they have watched me and taken a lot on from the training ground and when they have watched how I play and that will give them a little bit of a boost in their game.
Lee has a couple of highlights during his twelve month spell with the club - unsurprisingly one of those was getting promoted at the end of last season.
He said: Obviously winning promotion last year stand out and scoring the hat-trick against Burton Albion when we thought we were in for a tough game which we felt we needed to win and also the goal on my debut at Gillingham last January.
“To be honest there have been loads of highs and I have enjoyed every minute of it and I am sad to be leaving all of the staff.
“The staff have been brilliant with me and so has the Chairman and all the coaching staff like Mark Grew the gaffer and Rob Page as well.”