With Saturday's game away to Crawley Town marking the start of the 2017/18 Sky Bet League Two campaign, we have decided to look back in numbers at how Vale have fared on the opening day over the last 20 seasons.

14 - Michael Brown and his players will be hoping to prolong an impressive undefeated run that stands at 14 years. The Valiants last lost on the opening day back in 2002 when Tranmere ran out 4-1 winners at ValePark.

27 - The number of goals Vale have netted on the first day of the season since 1996. Despite that, the last two openers have ended in 0-0 stalemates.

173,017 - That's how many spectators have been present at Vale's opening fixtures during the past 20 years.

7,576 - Vale's biggest home attendance during that time came in 2012 when Brentford visited Burslem to kick the 2012/13 campaign off. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.

12 - ValePark has hosted 12 of the Valiants' last 20 opening day games. The other eight have been away from home.

33 - The number of points Vale have earned on the first weekend of the season over the past 20 years. On average, that means the Valiants have averaged 1.65 points per game.

6 - Vale have kept six clean sheets on the opening day between 1996 and 2016. The last did come at the beginning of last season as the Valiants drew 0-0 away to BradfordCity.

4 - The number of goals shared when Vale last met CrawleyTown on the opening day. Marc Richards and Louis Dodds scored for the Valiants during a 2-2 draw at ValePark back in 2011.

1,245 - Including the journeys to and from the stadium, Vale have travelled 1,245 miles to play their first fixture away from home during the last 20 years.