Port Vale co-owner – “We are building ready for League One when we get there…”

What was said…

Here are a selection of areas discussed.

On the pain of relegation

“It’s been a really tough couple of years. This didn’t just happen in the last few weeks. The second-half of last season… it was hard.”

On going up too quickly

“We went up very early… we went up on the whole impetus of emotion. Were we ready? in retrospect probably not but would you take promotion? Always. We got there and it was great but we struggled right from getting there. I don’t want to struggle next time.”

On the long-term plans

“We are looking at building a team that can not only get us into League One but can be very comfortable in League One. We are building ready for League One when we get there.”

On giving Darren Moore free reign in the transfer market

“What we wanted to do. We wanted to give Darren the best possible chance of success. So, we rang him and said don’t wait just go straight away and build what you need to build and we will back you. Why didn’t we do it before? Because the time wasn’t right.”

On the partnership between Moore and CEO Matt Hancock

“One of the biggest supports he has had is Matt Hancock. Bringing the club and the football side together has been something I have wanted but not had to this extent during my time in the club. That cohesion between M and D is very together and very supportive of each other.”

On considering their ownership of the club

“I looked very seriously – am I the right person to be running this football club? We went away, it gave us a lot of time to talk and think about it. We’ve now worked hard to get the two right people there why wouldn’t we want to be there. But it was important that we then committed.

“You can’t allow yourself to be vulnerable and I did after a match. We really hadn’t played well and I was hurting. Someone recorded it and they just put it out on social media. I thought that was so mean. I just speak from the heart, I’m not scripted.

“To have that amount of vulnerability. I can’t become the person who becomes scripted so I had to shut up. But it isn’t right that that behaviour wins. I’m not naive anymore.

“We all hurt from last season. It was so hard.”

On the new season under Darren Moore…

“I can’t wait to see next season. Some of those signings… they are audacious. I didn’t go after Darren to sustain what we’ve got, I wanted him to build what we want. He wants to make it work. He sees it in the same way I do.”

New season expectations…

“Success for me will be not feeling what I felt. Success will be that I have thrived and the club has thrived. No dramas please, just knowing what it is that we’re trying to achieve. On the pitch it’s giving the fans the style of football which they want.”

On targets for the club…

“I’d like us to reach our potential as to where we could be. I’d like to say we took Port Vale to where it could go. There’s no reason why we can’t do it. We have to be determined and learn and bring the right people in and just do it…”

Message to the fans

“I want to say thank you. I want to say thank you to the fans who supported us last season as that was tough. We really are grateful. For this season,  I want them to be loud and proud. Be part of what we are doing. We’re the ones who are here at the moment but Port Vale is about all the fans who have be coming for generations in the past and coming for generations in the future and we are 100% respectful about that.”