The Voice - Match preview #36: Port Vale vs Bradford City (UPDATE) Wednesday 11th March 2026 7:45pm

EFL League One Fixture #36
Wednesday 11th March 2026 19:45
Port Vale (24th) vs Bradford City (4th)
Vale Park

Record:
Games Won: 47
Games Drawn: 32
Games Lost: 36

Last 5:
13 Nov 2021: Port Vale 1 – 1 Bradford City
19 Mar 2022: Bradford City 1 – 2 Port Vale
26 Dec 2024: Bradford City 2 – 1 Port Vale
01 Apr 2025: Port Vale 2 – 0 Bradford City
29 Dec 2025: Bradford City 1 – 0 Port Vale

Port Vale:
League One’s bottom side Port Vale have found a new lease of life under manager Jon Brady, recording back-to-back FA Cup giant killings over Bristol City and Premier League Sunderland, both 1-0 wins at Vale Park. The victory over Bristol City was achieved in Extra Time, but was well-earned after the away side put in a dour performance, but it was the win over Sunderland – in normal time – that bore all the hallmarks of a classic cup upset. Battered until the final whistle, Sunderland threw everything at Port Vale in an attempt to resecure parity, but this was a night for the Burslem-based outfit – and it would be remiss of my duties writing this article to not share the highlights here:

Port Vale 1 – 0 Sunderland [FA Cup 5th Round]



Ben Waine was the hero on Saturday afternoon, as well as the previous Tuesday against Bristol City, and again the previous weekend in a 1-1 draw at home to Luton Town that has allowed Vale to extend their current unbeaten run to 5 games in all competitions. The New Zealand international, brought to England by Plymouth Argyle and now well-known to be a Newcastle United fan, now has as many FA Cup goals (3) as League goals (3), and a further 2 in the EFL Trophy taking his tally for the season to 8 in all competitions. The man-of-the-moment now draws level with Port Vale’s top league scorer and top overall goalscorer this season, Devante Cole (6), who contributed a pair of FA Cup goals this season in their 5-1 First Round win over non-league Maldon and Tiptree. Jayden Stockley (3) is the only other player to have netted more than twice in the league this campaign.

In truth, it has been a season of cup magic for Vale, the second tier strugglers having dispatched both Blackpool and Birmingham City in their EFL Cup exploits, grabbed wins over all of Leeds United U21’s, Accrington Stanley, Barnsley and Bolton Wanderers in the EFL Trophy, as well as Bristol Rovers, Fleetwood Town, Bristol City and Sunderland in their (ongoing) FA Cup run. It’s perhaps bizarre to see just how badly Port Vale have struggled in league action, then, after picking up just 6 wins from 32 games, and losing a full 17 times while chalking up a Goal Difference of -18. It’s goals scored that has been the issue all season for Vale in their fight for League One survival – 26 goals is by far the lowest in the division, although with the caveat the Valiants have now played significantly fewer games than their relegation rivals.

Northampton Town – sat in 23rd place and 8 points above Port Vale – have played FOUR games more than Vale, while Blackpool – the team Vale must chase down as things stand in order to secure their League One future – have played 3 more and amassed an 11 point gap. Is it over for Port Vale, then? Well, frankly, no.

While at one point the prognosis for Vale’s season was very bleak indeed, the dismissal of Darren Moore and the installation of former non-league winger Jon Brady has revived their fortunes somewhat. Vale have played 14 times since Brady’s appointment on January 6th, winning 6, drawing 5, and losing a further 6. That’s roughly midtable form, though if distilled down to just league action, Brady’s record reads: 2 wins, 3 draws and 4 defeats – or a point-per-game, which would still see Port Vale in the bottom 4 of extended across the course of a full season.

Things do still need to improve, then, if Port Vale are to stay up this campaign. It would be quite the story if their cup heroics proved to be little more than a sideshow in an otherwise miserable tale of relegation, and in truth that is how it’s tracking. Vale may have beaten relegation rivals Northampton Town, but that’s their only league win in their last 6, and before that it was victory over another relegation rival in Leyton Orient. That tells it’s own story, unfortunately, as wins for Vale just won’t come against League One’s better sides.

The last time the Valiants beat a top half side was back in September when they bested Barnsley 2-0 at the Oakwell Stadium. 6 months have passed, and nary another win against a side not immediately threatened by the dreaded drop. That’s dismal reading, and Jon Brady will realise by now that if his side are unable to replicate their cup upsets in league action, their fate may already be sealed.

Port Vale 1 – 1 Luton Town


Northampton Town 0 – 1 Port Vale


Bradford City:
Bradford City did what Bradford City do best on Saturday afternoon: they won at Valley Parade.

A 2-1 victory over Leyton Orient wasn’t as routine as one might have hoped, however, as Ollie O’Neill was able to drill in an equaliser to cancel out Antoni Sarcevic’s equaliser before half time, and that was long before dreadful referee Ollie Yates issued a straight red card to Aden Baldwin for a full-blooded challenge. Sarcevic, booked in the dying moments for a “dive” would have the last laugh, though, and he appeared to make a point of it to Ollie Yates after the final whistle when he signalled for Yates to watch the replay of that particular incident on a screen. Put clean through by an outstanding pass from substitute Stephen Humphrys, Sarcevic showed all the class and experience gained over the course of a long and successful career, dinking it over onrushing keeper Will Dennis to secure all 3 points.

Graham Alexander and his opposite number, Richie Wellens, heaped praise on a full-throated Valley Parade crowd after the game, and though Baldwin’s red will not be rescinded by the FA, it was nonetheless another 3 points in the bag as the Bantams look to close out a playoff spot this campaign. Alexander and his men could yet do Leyton Orient a favour on Wednesday evening by ending Port Vale’s mini-revival and 5-game unbeaten run, but City have had real problems on the road of late and have picked up just 1 win in 7 games on the road since the turn of the year.

City fans thought they might have secured victory at Reading the previous week, only for a 90th minute leveller and 90+7th minute winner to break Bantams hearts. It was scarcely deserved; City had out-played their playoff rivals for much of the game, and in truth that late one-two represented Reading’s only two efforts on target. Sickener? You bet.

And now yet more doubts will swirl around in the heads of not only the fans, but those in the dressing room too. This away day funk has now seen City lose all of their last 5 on the road, with Stephen Humphrys twice grabbing consolation goals in otherwise already-lost games against Luton Town and AFC Wimbledon, before Matthew Pennington was denied even so much as a point in return for his thumping opener at Reading.

Despite Humphrys’ fine form, including a worldie of a pass to put Sarcevic in the clear in the 79th minute against Orient, Alexander seems to prefer the youthful exuberance (and weak finishing) of young loanee Ethan Wheatley. A hard-worker, Wheatley can cover the ground and turn defence into attack, but his lack of a final product is a concern for a City side struggling for goals on the road. Will Graham switch things up and give Humphrys a go against the division’s bottom side?

Time will tell on that front.

Bradford City 2 – 1 Leyton Orient


Reading 2 – 1 Bradford City

 

Prediction:
A lot can be said about Port Vale’s recent recovery and pair of FA Cup upsets, the improving form of striker Ben Waine, and Vale’s better defensive performances of late, but the fact is Vale are still poor in front of goal and are often put under-the-cosh for the majority of their games against better performing sides. Add in that Vale have only been winning league games against struggling opponents, and there’s little reason to suspect the victories over Bristol City and Sunderland mean a change in fortunes in league football, too.

Port Vale will be buoyed, though, and just like with City at the weekend against Leyton Orient, Jon Brady will be in his rights to ask Valiant fans to become the ‘12th man’ and really pile the pressure on a side with a frankly horrible away record of late. If every man, woman and child in Vale Park comes together to try and repel City, it will make life much harder for a team so used to walking away empty handed from opposition grounds. Then again, the dramatic highs – particularly of the win over Sunderland – will be hard to replicate here, perhaps making it more of a slog for a heavy-legged side who have worked their socks off in back-to-back giant killings.

Ultimately, this is a game between a side who haven’t been able to beat any teams in the top half against a side that hasn’t been able to beat any team away from home in their last 5 attempts. The question is, who is more likely to rectify their own individual poor performance, Port Vale or Bradford City?

The pick will be an away win. A 1-1 draw would work for City, perhaps, as it would stop the rot on the road, but it wouldn’t be enough for Port Vale who are now in urgent need of points despite their numerous games in hand. Vale must push for the winner, and in doing so might open up new avenues for a City side who must show they can offer something on the road. As BantamTalk posters are already pointing out, if City are to make the playoffs come the end of the season – and the omens are certainly hopeful of that – then they will have to play two of three potential ties (should they qualify for the final) away from the safe confines of fortress Valley Parade. Bradford City cannot, then, meekly accept that they just can’t win elsewhere. They need to break the hoodoo and they need to do it now.

Final Score:
Port Vale 0 – 1 Bradford City