It was a difficult opening day for the Valiants as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at Sixfields, with keeper Lucas Covolan red-carded just 10 minutes into the second half to compound matters.
They hosted Sunderland on Tuesday night in the first round of the Carabao Cup, and the Black Cats appeared to have had the job done with a goal each from Josh Hawkes and Aidan O'Brien either side of the break.
Former Blue Jamie Proctor had other ideas as he registered his first goal for his new club, but it proved to be not quite enough to give Darrell Clarke a win in his 500th game as a manager.
Their first home league outing was against Tranmere on Saturday and Vale will feel they missed a trick as they dominated the game, but failed to register on the scoresheet. Rovers also missed the target, so 0-0 meant a first point of the season was put on the board.
The summer kicked off with the dramatic news that striker and club legend Tom Pope had departed. Pope is the club's record post-war goal scorer with 115 goals in 343 appearances.
Vale moved quickly to begin the reshaping with midfielder Brad Walker signing a two-year deal at the beginning of June.
Ben Garrity then joined from Blackpool, and James Wilson was next in the queue as he moved on from Salford.
Defenders Aaron Martin and Dan Jones also moved to Vale Park with June still just 10 days old.
Torquay's goal scoring keeper Lucas Covolan headed north a fortnight later, and fellow glovesman Aidan Stone also arrived from Mansfield Town.
The end of June brought more activity with defender Ryan Johnson penning a two-year deal, and Tom Pett and Mal Benning came in from Stevenage and Mansfield respectively.
July followed the theme with free agent Jamie Proctor agreeing a one-year deal, and Newcastle defender Lewis Cass secured a one-season loan move the same day.
Also on the football side of the business a new first-team copach was appointed with Dean Whitehead joining Darrell Clarke's backroom staff.
23-year-old Devante Rodney has 12 goals in his 46 appearances at Vale Park so far and he's a lively forward who can cause all kinds of problems is he's given the freedom to roam.
He works well alone, as a two or in a three, and will be looking to get off the mark as quickly as possible.
This game is available to watch on our iFollow streaming service.
Click HERE to purchase a match pass.
With match commentary also provided by BBC Radio Cumbria, this is a fantastic way to follow your team through this season.
Click HERE for more information on this season's iFollow coverage.
| Carlisle wins | Draws | Port Vale wins | |
| League | 14 | 9 | 10 |
| League Cup | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Cup | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| FA Cup | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 15 | 11 | 14 |
It was a tight encounter in Cumbria in April 2017 when both sides kept plugging away without quite managing to pick a way through.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The trip to Port Vale in October 2020 brought a 1-0 away win for the Blues courtesy of a second half goal from Jon Mellish.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
These sides met just once in the 2019/20 season as the Covid-19 outbreak wiped out their April meeting here at Brunton Park.
Vale took the honours at their place in November 2019 as Dave Worrall and Mark Cullen cancelled out a first minute strike from Ryan Loft.
Watch the highlights from that meeting here:
The last meeting between these teams prior to that was in January 2019 when United put the 10-man Valiants to the sword courtesy of a late goal from striker Connor Simpson.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
We were at Brunton Park in August 2018 when the Blues secured a 2-1 home victory. Goals either side of the break from Danny Grainger and Tom Parkes gave United a comfortable cushion, but Luke Hannant had hearts fluttering when he bagged a Valiant consolation with just two minutes left on the clock.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Back at Vale Park in March 2018 and second half goals from Ashley Nadesan and Hallam Hope handed the Blues a hard fought victory. Dior Angus had given the home side a first half lead, but Antony Kay was sent off for the hosts as tempers flared late in the game.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
The Blues had made heavy weather of the game earlier in that season, just before Christmas, when they allowed Tyrone Barnett and Tom Pope to give the visitors an unexpected two-goal cushion. A late strike from Richie Bennett did little to prevent the away side from taking the spoils on the day.
Watch the highlights from that game here:
Referee - Paul Howard
Assistant Referee 1 - Declan Ford
Assistant Referee 2 - Lewis Raper
Fourth Official - Matthew Smith
Observer - Gary Kellett
Our referee for this fixture is Mr Paul Howard. Paul has taken charge of two games so far this season and has shown
He was our man in the middle for our meeting with Cambridge at the Abbey Stadium in September 2020. The hosts won 3-0 and yellow cards were shown to Callum Guy, Jon Mellish, Omari Patrick and Gime Toure.
Tickets will be unreserved seating.
Tickets will be available on the day of the game with a £2 increase in price (except for 12 & under which remains FoC). There is a cash only turnstile at the away ticket office.
Prices:
| Adult | £20 |
| Senior 62+ | £15 |
| Young adult 18-21 | £12 |
| Junior 13-17 | £8 |
| 12 & under | FoC |
Dates of sale:
| Date | Time |
| Mon 16 Aug | 10am – 5pm |
Methods of purchase: