Port Vale's Rebuild: Ben Garrity Offered New Deal
Relegation has forced Port Vale into hard decisions. The first one is clear: they want Ben Garrity at the heart of the rebuild.
The 29-year-old captain, an attacking midfielder who has become the club’s standard-bearer since arriving from Blackpool in June 2021, has been offered a new contract as Vale prepare for life back in League Two. Talks are under way, with the club keen to keep a player who has carried both the armband and much of the responsibility during a turbulent spell.
Garrity has racked up 198 appearances in all competitions for Vale, a figure that underlines his importance as much as his durability. He played a central role in the club’s promotion to League One in 2024-25, a high point that now feels a long way from a season that ended with a 22nd-place finish and relegation, 10 points from safety.
This year never truly caught fire for him. A disrupted pre-season, heavily affected by injury, left Garrity playing catch-up and he featured 28 times in a campaign that drifted away from Vale long before the final weeks. Even so, his influence on and off the pitch remains significant enough for the club to move quickly to keep him.
Core retained as others shown the door
While Garrity’s future is being negotiated, two other familiar names have already been locked in. Defender Connor Hall and midfielder Ryan Croasdale will both stay on for the 2026-27 season after Vale triggered extensions in their contracts. In a summer of change, they form part of the spine Jon Brady will lean on.
Beyond that, the clear-out is severe.
- Seven members of the squad that climbed out of League Two under Darren Moore two seasons ago are being released: Ben Amos, Mitch Clark, Ben Heneghan, Jesse Debrah, Sam Hart, Ben Lomax and Funso Ojo.
- Their departures mark the end of a short, sharp cycle – from promotion optimism to the cold reality of starting again in the same division they once escaped.
They are not alone. Arron Davies, Tyler Magloire, Grant Ward and Andre Gray will also leave the club, as Vale strip back a group that failed to keep its League One status.
Transfer list signals fresh start
The changes do not stop with the out-of-contract names. Goalkeeper Marko Marosi and midfielder Jordan Shipley, both of whom signed two-year deals at the start of the season, have been made available for transfer. So too have Rico Richards and Ruari Paton.
It is a blunt message: nobody is safe simply because they are tied down. Brady wants room to reshape the dressing room, and Vale are prepared to listen to offers to make that happen.
When the dust settles on the exits and the transfer list, the numbers are stark. Nineteen players will remain under contract as the club heads into a crucial summer, a squad size that offers a platform but also demands smart recruitment.
A new cycle under Jon Brady
For Brady, appointed to pick up the pieces after a deeply disappointing campaign, this is the chance to imprint his own identity on a club still nursing the bruise of relegation. The rebuild will not be gentle. Nor can it be, given how far adrift Vale finished.
Everything now hinges on how they use the space they have created – and whether Garrity, the captain who rode the high of promotion and the low of the drop, chooses to lead them out again when League Two comes calling.
