Port Vale manager Rob Page has certainly been a very busy man in the last week or so, following the culmination of their League One campaign. They ended the season with a heavy defeat, but Page has been keen to resolve the futures of his squad ahead of next season.
Their retained list has been named and nine players, a mixture of youth and experience, have been told they are free to leave the club. Page will certainly be hoping to add to the nine players already under contract, but offering extensions to 13 more first-team players.
Firstly, the following players are under contract with the club going into next season:
Jak Alnwick, Ryan Boot, Nathan Smith, Remie Streete, Ben Purkiss, Anthony Grant, Sam Kelly, Sam Foley and JJ Hooper.
The following players have all been offered contract extensions to remain at Vale Park:
Sam Johnson – sub goalkeeper
Adam Yates – cover right back
Carl Dickinson – experienced captain
Richard Duffy – regular centre back
Billy Reeves – youngster
Michael Brown – veteran midfielder
Michael O’Connor – ball-playing midfielder
Byron Moore – tricky winger
Ebo Anoch – skilful wide-man
Ryan Lloyd – handful of sub appearances last season
Chris Birchall – experienced cover
Louis Dodds – forward who scored eight last season
Ajay Leitch-Smith – top scorer
The following players have been allowed to leave the football club:
Chris Neal, Lewis Bergin, Ryan McGivern, Chekaine Steele, Omar Haughton, Jonathan Kapend, Achille Campion and Theo Robinson.
Amongst those leaving include goalkeeper Neal, who struggled for football this season but played over 100 times during a four year spell at the Staffordshire-based club. McGivern has 23 international caps for Northern Ireland and started over half of Port Vale’s League One games this season.