Potteries derby
In English football, the Potteries derby is the local derby between the two major clubs in the city of Stoke-on-Trent – Port Vale and Stoke City, first contested in 1882. Port Vale plays at Vale Park whilst Stoke play at the bet365 Stadium, the two grounds are separated by roughly 4.3 miles (6.9 km). The fans of each club both consider the other to be their main rivals; this has led to a heated atmosphere at these matches. One study in 2019 ranked it as the joint-28th biggest rivalry in English professional football, level with the Manchester derby. The two teams have met in 92 competitive first team fixtures, including 44 English Football League, six FA Cup and two Football League Trophy fixtures, with the remaining 40 meetings coming in regional cup competitions.
The derby match played on 13 March 1920 | |
| Sport | Association football |
|---|---|
| Location | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Teams | Port Vale Stoke City |
| First meeting | 2 December 1882 Stoke 1–0 Burslem Port Vale Staffordshire Senior Cup |
| Latest meeting | 10 February 2002 Stoke City 0–1 Port Vale Football League Second Division |
| Stadiums | Vale Park (Port Vale) Bet365 Stadium (Stoke City) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 92 |
| Most wins | Stoke City (40) |
| Most player appearances | Bob McGrory (21) |
| Top scorer | Arthur Watkin (10) |
| All-time series | Port Vale: 26 Drawn: 26 Stoke: 40 |
| Largest victory | Port Vale 0–7 Stoke City (9 May 1932) North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup |
| Largest goal scoring | Port Vale 3–5 Stoke (22 March 1884) Staffordshire Senior Cup Stoke 5–3 Port Vale (6 October 1902) North Staffordshire Infirmary Cup |
| Current win streak | Port Vale (1) |
| Current unbeaten streak | Port Vale (6) |
Since 1919 the two clubs have found themselves in the same league for 22 seasons, with Vale finishing higher than Stoke in seven of these seasons. Stoke have spent the majority of their history playing in a higher division than Vale. Vale have had only five seasons playing at a higher level than Stoke.
Stoke-on-Trent is the least populous city to have two Football League clubs; Bradford, Cardiff, Coventry, Hull, Leeds and Leicester are all larger cities that contain just one league club. Nearby Crewe Alexandra are also covered in local media. In terms of support, the northern towns of Burslem and Tunstall are Port Vale strongholds, whilst Stoke City enjoy greater support in the other four towns of the city (Fenton, Hanley, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent) and in the area overall.