Swindon… The Ultimate bogey side!

Swindon… The Ultimate bogey side!

The number 16 means a lot of things to many people, to some it is the age at which you can legally buy a lottery ticket, to some it’s the number of pawns on a chess set, to others it’s simply the number which follows on from 15. However, for Vale fans it symbolises the grisly figure of the number of goals Vale have conceded in their last 3 games at the County ground. It’s a mystery as to what causes our defensive wall to fall quicker than the number of tickets available for Shortwood every time we step over that white line in deepest Wilshire. Even Lee Sinnott couldn’t put his finger on it when he alluded to aliens popping up at the near post and putting one in. Amongst all this head scratching from Vale’s finest philosophers many a theory has arisen, maybe it’s a Pagan curse from nearby Stonehenge or the swirl of the ‘magic roundabout’ putting our players out of sorts. Either way, it’s clear the ground which has left the like of Chris Martin feeling cold after play is not a happy hunting ground for the Valiants. Swindon… can we NOT play you every week!

Shaun Crank