How Port Vale FC is keeping the faith on and off the pitch

From the Midlands

Port Vale FC chairman Carol Shanahan is a woman on a mission. As one of only two female owners of an English football club – the other being Delia Smith at Norwich City – she wants her team to win.

But for Carol it is much than just success on the pitch. While that is important – and she has ambitions to take Port Vale up the league – it is the impact a football club makes off the field which is at the heart of what she does.

Carol left school without any qualifications and could easily have drifted from one unfulfilling job to another. But when she was given the chance to have an interview with an IT company in Stoke on Trent she took it. The rest, as they say, is history.

Over the past five years Carol has set up the charity The Hubb Foundation supporting local people in Stoke. It provides meals and activities for low income families during the summer holidays. Her work led to her being awarded the OBE.

She and her husband Kevin own and run Synectics Solutions, a major IT risk and fraud company, which supports the charity and works with the Port Vale Foundation Trust. The Trust looks at ways to encourage sport and activities, education and social inclusion in the community.

If that wasn’t enough, they then bought Port Vale FC and through the club, extend support to the area. For Carol the fortunes of the club cannot be separated from the fortunes of the city.

“Whether you are a football fan or not, when the club does well, it lifts the city. Football is about faith and belief. Port Vale is a massive part of this community and it’s important we keep the faith.”

For further information on The Hubb Foundation contact [e-mail] and Port Vale Foundation - [e-mail]

The interview was recorded pre-season in March 2021.