Stoke & Staffordshire

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  1. Vale make defender McGowan 10th summer signing

    Aaron McGowan warms up before a match for Tranmere Rovers. He is wearing a navy blue sweat top with the club's badge.Shutterstock

    Aaron McGowan started his career with Morecambe before spells at Hamilton Academical, Kilmarnock, Northampton Town and Tranmere Rovers

    Port Vale have continued their recruitment drive before the start of the new season with the signing of defender Aaron McGowan on a one-year deal.

    The 30-year-old has been on trial at Vale Park following the end of his contract with Tranmere Rovers this summer.

    McGowan played under Vale boss Jon Brady at Northampton Town and helped the Cobblers win promotion to League One in the 2022-23 season.

    He spent four years with Northampton before moving to Tranmere last summer.

    McGowan has operated right across the back four for Vale in pre-season and becomes the club's 10th signing of the summer.

  2. Three footballers in green shirts and two in yellow shirts are on a pitch with little green grass at this angle. A building in the background includes the words Wolverhampton Casuals on a sign.

  3. Mo Faal watches the action during a match for Wrexham. He is wearing a black and grey away shirt.

  4. Watch Brady's Vale preview with BBC Radio Stoke

    Port Vale manager Jon Brady discusses the new League Two season

    Port Vale boss Jon Brady joined BBC Radio Stoke's Valiants reporter Phil Bowers in the studio on Thursday evening to look ahead to the new League Two season.

    In an hour-long special, Brady reflected on last term's relegation from League One, new signings and hopes for 2026-27.

    If you missed any of it, you can watch it all by clicking the play button above.

  5. Five small cows with yellow ear tags are standing in a very small space with what looks like animal dung and mud on the floor. The animals, who are either black and white or brown and white, look to have mud matted in their fur and are thin

  6. Arfan and Tyler stand together outside Sizzlers. Arfan has his arm around Tyler. Tyler has short brown hair and and Arfan is wearing a black top.

  7. A man wearing a green hat and jumper is holding many containers of strawberries and standing in a large covered environment, with rows of plants behind him.

  8. A man in a red shirt and cap smiles at the camera as he stands in a room with yellow walls, colourful paintings and a pink woolly mammoth sculpture behind him.

  9. The side of a fire engine with red and green/yellow rectangles in a pattern and "fire and rescue" written on the side.

  10. cows on farm

  11. A man with short black hair, glasses and wearing a police uniform, smiles while standing in front of a light background.

  12. Stoke best place for me to take step up - Graham

    Luke Graham in action for Dundee. He is wearing a white shirt with thin orange stripes with a navy blue collar.Getty Images

    Luke Graham was part of Scotland's World Cup training camp but did not make the final squad for the tournament

    New Stoke City defender Luke Graham says his move to the club is a definite step up and the "perfect place" to make him a better player.

    The 22-year-old arrived at the Potters at the start of the month from Scottish Premiership side Dundee, where he came through the youth set-up.

    Graham won both the players' player and young player of the year awards at Dens Park last season in a breakthrough campaign that featured 41 appearances in all competitions.

    "This feels like the next logical step," Graham told BBC Radio Stoke, having had time to settle in during pre-season.

    "Working with the coaching staff on the pitch every day, it's only going to make me a better player."

    Despite finishing an ultimately disappointing 17th last season, Stoke had one of the best defences in the second tier - conceding just 56 goals - with only the top four teams letting in fewer.

    And Graham said that shows he is in the right place to improve.

    "Coaching aside, the players you've got in the defensive areas are top, top players and you know there's real good competition at the back to try to get in the team every week," the Scot added.

    "I think that's what edges you to give that extra 10% in training, because of that competition. It's no surprise why that defence did so well last season.

    "I've played in every division in Scotland so that next step was coming here and playing in the Championship and trying to take my game to the next level.

    "I think this is a perfect place to do that."

  13. A man in a white polo shirt next to a woman in a green, blue and yellow shirt with purple top underneath. They are stood behind a newsagent's counter with newspapers on top

  14. A composite image comprised of two police mugshots. On the left is a man with a long grey beard, and on the right a woman with shoulder length brown hair

  15. A man in a blue red and white striped shirt holding an eagle

  16. A photo of a man standing in a field with a loaf of bread, he is looking directly down into the camera. He is wearing a shirt and a vest jacket.

  17. A still image of CCTV of a newsagent with papers on the counter and shelves with confectionary for sale. To the right of the counter, a woman in a black gilet with grey hair wields a stick at a man in black who appears to be bent over with his back to her.

  18. A women with black curly hair tied back, she is wearing a navy polo top with Wrights Dairy embroidered into it. She is stood in a cow shed with various cows behind her feeding.

  19. The river bed of the River Wye is seen exposed looking toward Old Bridge after weeks of no rainfall. Buildings and trees can be seen along the right-hand-side of the bank.

  20. A man with short grey hair and wearing a dark coat and striped shirt, looks to our right with a solemn expression on his face.

  21. Stoke changes starting to show results - Robins

    Stoke City manager Mark Robins watches from the touchline in his club sweatshirt. He has his left hand in a fist which is touching his chin.Shutterstock

    Stoke finished 17th in the Championship last season after being in the top six for most of the first half of the campaign

    Stoke City boss Mark Robins says the changes that have been made to the way the squad trains are starting to show "really good signs" in an effort to avoid a repeat of their injury crisis last season.

    Robins would not elaborate on what is different about their preparation regime for games this season but was adamant they had to do something after the way 2025-26 was undermined by having so many players unavailable for long periods.

    "I'm not going into that [what's changed] but you can't keep doing the same things can you?" he told BBC Radio Stoke.

    "On the back of a really disappointing campaign last year, something had to give, so we just looked at a lot of other things.

    "We've changed the way we train because of last year. We've still got a long way to go, even though we've only got a couple of weeks until the first game.

    "The work that we're doing is standing them in good stead and they're putting the work in. There's some really good signs."

    Among the changes the club have made off the field is a revamp of their sports science department with the re-appointment of Damian Roden as head of medical and performance.

    In addition, former players Erik Pieters and Danny Pugh have taken coaching roles in the academy under new director Jack Higgins.

    Robins said he "really liked" the new support teams and was enjoying working with them.

    "You've got a synergy that you have to have for things to function properly. So there are a lot of conversations, meetings in the morning and plan for the day, meetings at the end of the day to make sure you're ready for the next day. And you go on," he said.

    "It's been good so far and will get better over time."

  22. A man in a white shirt, black tie and dark jeans walks into a court building with three women. He has silver hair and a beard.

  23. A man with short black hair, glasses and wearing a police uniform, smiles while standing in front of a light background.

  24. A bungalow that is charred and blackened with parts of its roof collapsed or missing due to a fire. Grey smoke rises from the remains.