When Chris Birchall decided to come back home from America, there was only one place he wanted to be, and there was only one club he wanted to join. He certainly hasn’t regretted his decision so far.
The Vale midfielder said: “It was time for me to come back from America. I’d had a great time but for family reasons I wanted to come back and I wanted to come back to Stoke on Trent.
“Micky gave me the opportunity to come and train and then from there I always knew that if he wanted me I wanted to come back to Port Vale.
“In January it was a case of ‘do you want to come and do you want to stay?’ It is a club that I always looked out for, a club that has always been close to my heart.
“I have always looked for their results and I am a supporter at the end of the day and for Micky to be the manager as well, the history that me and him have had, it was inevitable that I would want to come back.
“It is a place I want to be, even if I played well and it was a club from a division higher that wanted me to go there, I would always want to stay here.
“It is home for me, I know what the club is all about and I have been here since a very young age. If the gaffer wants me to stay and the chairman wants me to stay, then there will be no questions from my end.
If Vale do get promoted this season, Chris believes he can do a job for Vale in league One, but of course he knows we haven’t yet completed the job.
“Apart from playing in the MLS, I have been based in League One – apart from playing in the Championship with Coventry, so I know what League One is all about.
“It is getting a lot tougher – there are a lot of big teams in that division, but we have just got to see if we get promoted first.
“There are still four games to go and we are not there yet. We will be very disappointed if we don’t get there, but hopefully we can beat Aldershot on Tuesday and see what the other results bring.”