Vale: the modern greats and ultimate stylists
In the second part of an eight-week series looking back at the finest players club by club, Rob Batiste focuses on Vale Rec.
IT JUST does not seem right to see Vale Rec languishing near the foot of the Division One table.
There is some merit in the argument that the Corbet Field is the mecca of Guernsey club grounds and it does not require close analysis to come forward with the statement that Vale are the outstanding club of the past 30 odd years with 15 Priaulx championships.
Over in the UK that record must still draw a wry smile from one Tony Williams, the man most responsible for launching Vale from being almost the Rovers of their day into consistently one of the most powerful clubs in Channel Islands football.
Having found himself at Blanche Pierre Lane, the Englishman was a terrific winger who added a touch of class to the great Saints side of the mid-60s.
But, he wanted a challenge and drew up a grand plan to draw top talent to the Corbet Field.
In the players came, one by one, and by the end of the 1960s the green-and-golds were pushing Saints hard for the title.
