Port Vale boss Jon Brady says he is "baffled" by a fixture schedule until the end of the season that will see them play 12 games in the space of 43 days.
Published March 20, 2026 • Source: bbc.com
By Dan Wheeler, BBC Sport, West Midlands  and  Phil Bowers, BBC Radio Stoke
Port Vale boss Jon Brady says he is "baffled" by a fixture schedule until the end of the season that will see them play 12 games in the space of 43 days.
Vale's run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, in which they will play Premier League Chelsea on 4 April, has been a major factor in the pile-up.
And it means they will play 11 League One games and at least that one cup tie, between taking on Bolton this Saturday and the visit of Lincoln on the final day of the season on Saturday, 2 May.
Stockport County making the final of the Vertu Trophy has also meant their league fixture with Vale had to be fitted in as a midweek game on 28 April.
Brady said Vale had written to the English Football League about the matter, but they turned down the club's request to extend the season.
"Unfortunately, we've had no help from the EFL, which has been really frustrating," Brady - whose side have just finished a run of four league games and two FA Cup ties in 18 days - told BBC Radio Stoke.
"We've written some emails to them and asked if they could help us. It's due to your care of the players as well.
"As you can see, the group has already been breaking. But it is what it is."
In a statement, the EFL acknowledged Vale's "challenging fixture schedule" and "the difficulties experienced because of the condition of the playing surface and postponements as a result of scheduling in both the FA Cup and Vertu Trophy".
The governing body said that the regular league season could not be extended beyond 2 May because of "the requirement for all final fixtures within a division to be played simultaneously and the resulting impact any extension would have on the scheduling of the playâoff semiâfinals".
They added: "In accordance with EFL regulations, the League has therefore confirmed revised dates for the affected fixtures after consultation with the relevant clubs."
Vale 'punished' for FA Cup success - Brady
Although Vale's hopes of avoiding relegation from League One look very slim, with the club 14 points from safety at the bottom of the table, they have impressed in the FA Cup in which theirsuperb win over Sunderlandbooked their first quarter-final appearance since 1954.
"We've been lucky enough, or we've been good enough, to go through in the FA Cup and that's caused the fixture pile up," Brady said.
"I don't know when it was last time that ever happened, but obviously no one's thought that would ever happen and Stockport getting through to the Vertu [Trophy] final has added to our load but we're punished for that.
"They tell me a board has been put together to assess this and I asked if the board that they put together has ever played professional sport and they told me none of the board have - how they can quantify making some of these decisions baffles me.
"We've put certain things to them but everything we put to them has not been granted, not one thing."