After experiencing the delights of the Sunday Lunch experience at Vale Park I was eager to experience more matchday hospitality options and this weekend I got to take part the Port Vale mascot package experience.
The Port Vale mascot package offers young valiants a chance to walk out at Vale Park holding hands with their favourite player. This special experience will make a memory for any young valiant and it’s not just the kids who will enjoy the experience, the grown ups will too!
Tagging along with some friends of mine and with some help from the Port Vale Foundation who run the mascot package experiences I was allowed to join the matchday group for the full mascot package experience.
The package is available for children aged 4-16 years of age and is priced at £160 (which includes a home or away kit of your choice) or £130 if you already have a kit.
Here’s what the full package includes:
*A signed PVFC football
*Behind the scenes stadium tour
*Opportunity to meet the players and management staff*
*Lunch provided by PVFC Foundation
*Pitchside warm-up
*Chance to lead the team out onto the pitch before kick-off
*Two match day programmes
*Many Photograph opportunities around Vale Park
*A personal acknowledgement in the matchday programme, tannoy announcement and scoreboard message
*PVFC goodie bag
*Four matchday tickets for the game (two child and two adults, with one child being the mascot)
Port Vale Mascot Package Review
The day started at 12pm as we all met inside the Port Vale Foundation activities room and were given complimentary drinks to start the day along with an activity for the kids which involved guessing the starting line-up for todays game.
Just having somewhere to chill out especially during those bad weather days is certainly a nice way to start your matchday experience.
All of the staff were young, lovely and friendly and seemed as excited to be running the experiences as we were experiencing it.
Once we were all settled and the drinks were had our tour of the stadium began.
This tour went on for a solid 60 minutes and included trips to the numerous suites and hospitality boxes that Port Vale offer in a addition to the upper levels of the stadium where the TV highlights are shot and numerous areas of seating with great views of Vale Park.
The tour was digestible and wasn’t too in-depth, it got straight to the point and involved the kids with many questions and interactions.
As we toured the stadium we spotted numerous players, coaching staff and more who were more than happy to say hello as we passed.
We headed down to the dug-out for a little tour around there and it was here where we met some of the players.
Usually one player arrives for the meet and greet but today we were lucky enough to have four!
Nathan Smith, Aaron Martin, David Amoo and Aidan Stone all came down from the tunnel to meet the 4 young lads who were a part of the mascot package for photos and a quick chat.
Once that was wrapped up we had a little look around the press area where numerous members of the media were setting up their equipment ahead of the days game against Scunthorpe and then it was back to the Vale Foundation room for a bite to eat.
Chips and a numerous array of sandwiches were handed out and even the parents had some food too which was a nice touch.
They even went out of their way to give me some food too, that was nice, I hadn’t payed a penny to be there!
After a bite to eat the line-up was released and Port Vale mascot Boomer came in to hand out gifts to the kids including a signed ball, chocolate, match programme and more!
Now that the line-up had been announced the lads could choose which player they’d like to walk out onto pitch with.
Bayleigh who was in our group chose James Wilson and ahead of the game we headed down to the touch-line where the kids would have a kick-around on the side of the pitch with the parents getting pitch-side exclusive access to take as many photos and videos as they like.
Seeing the players come out of the tunnel for training and just having a chat to staff around this area was nice. It felt very exclusive and was a great way to see the family-like mentality that Carol and Kevin have installed into the club since their arrival.
Everyone was so friendly and happy to be there and generally just enjoying the day but the players had a job to do so there wasn’t too many stopping around for a chat at this point understandably.
Once training had finished though however some players came over to give autographs (James Wilson especially) and the countdown to kick-off was on.
As Bayleigh walked out with James Wilson the lads head to the centre circle for a group photo and just like that the experience concluded.
For £130 I certainly think you get your moneys worth for the exclusivity and general insider VIP experience you get that lasts a good 3 hours.
I’d certainly have more variety of food on offer as chips and sandwiches are great but a wider option of food would also be nice but that’s just me being picky as I love my food.
Port Vale mascot packages are very popular and you can see why, this is the perfect experience for any young valiant and surrounded by lovely staff who run the experience this is one for all the family to enjoy and a memory for your child that will last a lifetime.
Find out more about the Port Vale mascot package HERE
I want to express a huge thank you to the Port Vale Foundation for letting me tag along to the experience.
Up the Vale!
