Away Days 23/24: Port Vale - The U’s Are Staying Up!

Cambridge never do things the easy way. Only getting a point against Wycombe on Tuesday night meant relegation went down to the final day. The U’s found themselves in a favourable position, both Burton and Cheltenham had to win and Cambridge had to lose to go down. A point against already relegated Port Vale would be enough.

A 12:30 kick off meant an early start, we left The Abbey at 07:15. With over a thousand United fans making the trip to Stoke, the away travel buses were both double deckers! Although my excitement quickly faded, as I realised we were stopping at Norton Canes. Thankfully, it was pretty quiet there.

Security at Vale was tight. The steward even looked inside the hood of my hoodie! Once entry was permitted it was beer time.

Notice how there’s only one beer on sale? I asked the server for a beer and he asked me which one, I said you only sell one, to which he replied “oh yeah”.

The cruzcampo wasn’t great. Bland fizzy water.

The layout of Vale Park was weird. To get anywhere you had to go up or down stairs, which made me feel like I was in the film Labyrinth. After climbing the wrong stairs and ducking under a barrier with much grace, I was in the away end. Over a thousand of the amber nation made the trip!

Vale have a very decent ground. My only complaint is the amount of the pillars, which block the view. The sound system was particularly impressive, as it banged out Motörhead and Metallica! In truth, it’s the food, drink and toilet facilities which let Vale Park down. League 1 stadium with non-league facilities.

The match itself was a fairly dull affair. With Burton finding themselves 2-0 down to already relegated Fleetwood, the U’s were in full control. Port Vale looked poor and United didn’t really need to come out of third gear. We controlled the game and it was job done.

The players came over to thank the fans. Seeing Brophy head a beach ball into the net was probably the highlight of the day!

That concluded the 23/24 season. I managed 35 games, 12 new grounds and travelled 2800 miles!

32/92

Cambridge game: 528.

See you next season! Up the U’s!

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