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League Two team open the doors for an insight into training and community activities, including the ‘stitch and bitch’ club. Photographs by Christopher ThomondIt is Armistice Day and as it nears 10.55am at Vale Park, manager Darrell Clarke and his staff filter out, past the Roy Sproson statue and towards a corner of the stadium to pay their respects. The owners, Carol and Kevin Shanahan, lay a wreath and players in tracksuits stand beside kitchen staff, a couple of dozen supporters, and contractors. Passersby peer over the wall on Hamil Road. The Golden Valiants, a group of over-50s who meet every Thursday, including 92-year-old Vera Hill, lead a chorus of We’ll Meet Again. “It’s not one minute and then the game starts – it is two minutes of silence,” Carol says, to a warm smattering of laughter.Matchday is 36 hours away. “Come on, lads: training ground, we need you ready for Saturday,” she says, and the players disperse towards the home changing room, revamped as part of £200,000 summer facelift, first for a squad photo – Clarke has won League Two manager of the month two months running – then for a team meeting. “Have you met Eminem?” Clarke says of the defender Dan Jones who has bleach-blond hair. A few hundred yards down the road is the Red Lion, a pub once run by the parents of the pop star and ardent Vale fan Robbie Williams. “I met his dad at an awards night not so long ago,” Clarke says. “He’s not rung me up giving me any tactical advice just yet so I must be doing an all right job.” Continue reading...