Port Vale have stunned Sunderland with a 1-0 victory in the FA Cup.
The win sends Vale into the quarter-finals for only the second time in their history. Their League One campaign has been a different story, as they sit at the bottom of the table. They are currently 11 points adrift of safety.
Vale’s Contrasting Fortunes
The contrast between their league and cup form is stark.
Their victory over the Black Cats was their seventh in the two major cup competitions. These are the FA Cup and Carabao Cup. They have only won six of their 32 league games.
They have now scored as many times in cups as they have in the league this term, too.
Manager’s Reaction
Port Vale manager Jon Brady was “still in shock” when interviewed after the match.
He said the players are “proving themselves” and “hopefully” they can turn their league form around. Five of their six league wins have been in 2026, four of them since Brady took charge in January.
Waine’s Winner
Ben Waine scored the winning goal for Port Vale against Sunderland.
Victory was made even sweeter for scorer Ben Waine by the fact that he is a boyhood fan of Sunderland’s big rivals Newcastle.
The New Zealand striker’s goal put Port Vale in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1954.
Waine said he did not realise they had made the last eight. “I didn’t even clock it was the quarters we got into to be honest! I just heard that. It’s amazing,” he told BBC Sport after the match, having also netted the winner against Bristol City.
Manager Brady thought the same, saying: “I haven’t even looked who is in it. I couldn’t believe we were in the last 16 – I told my kids we were in the last 32!”
“It’s nice to create history, isn’t it?”
On knocking Sunderland out of the competition, 24-year-old Waine added: “It doesn’t get better than that. That was something I’ve never even dreamt of, for it to go that way I think my family will be happy!”
Looking Ahead
Port Vale will be the lowest-ranked side in the last eight. Fellow League One club Mansfield Town having been knocked out by Arsenal on Saturday.
- Port Vale are in the FA Cup quarter-finals for the first time since 1954.
- Their cup form contrasts sharply with their league form.
- Ben Waine, a Newcastle fan, scored the winning goal against Sunderland.
Waine says that, after a “tough old season”, their recent improvements give them belief that they could defeat the odds.