Vale Park is a football stadium in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England. It is the home ground of Port Vale F.C., who have played at the ground since 1950.

The ground has seen its capacity go up and down, its peak being 42,000 in 1954 against Blackpool, although a club record 49,768 managed to squeeze in for a 1960 FA Cup fifth round fixture against Aston Villa. It now has a notional capacity of around 22,000; however with all the developments and a switch to an all-seater stadium in recent years, it is more likely around 19,000 once the Lorne Street stand is completed.

At 520 feet above sea level it is the eleventh highest ground in the country, and second highest in the Football League. The pitch is clay underneath the grass, rather than sand. These two factors make the pitch vulnerable to freezing temperatures. There is also a coal seam under the pitch, and numerous mine shafts dotted around the local area, including many under the park opposite the ground. The Head Groundsman is Steve Speed, as of September 2011. He was one of three groundsmen nominated for the League Two Groundsmen of the Year award in 2009.

In geography, a vale is a wide river valley, usually with a particularly wide flood plain or flat valley bottom. Vales commonly occur between the escarpment slopes of pairs of chalk downs, where the chalk dome has been eroded, exposing less resistant underlying rock, usually clay.

A park is a protected area, in its natural or semi-natural state, or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment, or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. It may consist of rocks, soil, water, flora and fauna and grass areas. Many parks are legally protected by law.

Wilderness parks are intact and undeveloped areas used mainly by wild species. Protected wilderness zones are required for some wild species to survive. Some protected parks focus mainly on the survival of a few threatened species, such as gorillas or chimpanzees.

The first parks were deer parks, land set aside for hunting by royalty and the aristocracy in medieval times. They had walls or thick hedges around them to keep game in and people out.

These game preserves evolved into landscaped parks set around mansions and country houses from the sixteenth century onwards. These may have served as hunting grounds but they also proclaimed the owner's wealth and status. An aesthetic of landscape design began in these stately home parks where the natural landscape was enhanced by landscape architects such as Capability Brown. As cities became crowded, the private hunting grounds became places for the public.

Jim Pearson (born 24 March 1953 in Falkirk) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played for St. Johnstone, Everton and Newcastle United until injury cut short his football career.

Pearson went on to work for Nike where he played a pivotal role in the evolution of the Nike brand in the UK as Head of Football, he held that position for 14 years.

Pearson is a Sports Consultant for Blacks Solicitors LLP in Leeds.

Amy Macdonald (born 25 August 1987 in Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire) is a Scottish recording artist. Macdonald rose to fame in 2007 with her debut album, This Is the Life (2007) and its fourth single, "This Is the Life". The single charted at number one in six different countries worldwide, and charted inside the top ten in another eleven countries worldwide.

The success of the single achieved Macdonald success in the American music market, where she was a guest on shows such as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson in 2008, where she performed two singles from the album, leading her album, This Is the Life to reach ninety-two on the Billboard 200. In the European Union, This Is the Life reached number one in six European countries, including the United Kingdom, Denmark and the main European album charts. This is the Life has sold three million copies worldwide.

"Don't Tell Me That It's Over" was released in March 2010 as the lead off single from Macdonald's second studio album, A Curious Thing which was released on March 8, 2010. Five singles have since been released from A Curious Thing. The album's lead single, "Don't Tell Me That It's Over" was released worldwide on March 1, 2010 and this was followed by the release of a second single "Spark" on May 10, 2010. Further singles were released, with the third being "This Pretty Face" which was successful in European countries such as Germany, where MacDonald holds a strong fanbase. A further two singles were released, "Love Love" and "Your Time Will Come" which were both released in late 2010. Worldwide, A Curious Thing, the album has sold 1,000,000 copies worldwide.