Harvey James Vale (born 11 September 2003) is an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for club Chelsea.

Early life

Born in

Haywards Heath Haywards Heath is a town in West Sussex, England, south of London, north of Brighton, south of Gatwick Airport and northeast of the county town, Chichester. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southwest, Horsham to the northwest, Crawl ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, Vale started his career at local side Crowborough FC, before joining West London side

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

. Initially a left-back, Vale played a number of positions at youth level, including covering for an injured goalkeeper for Fulham, before settling as a midfielder.

Career

Chelsea

Vale left Fulham to join West London rivals Chelsea at under-13 level, and signed his first professional contract in September 2020. On 26 October, he was named among the substitutes for an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

tie with

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Vale made his Chelsea debut on 22 December 2021 in the quarter-final of the EFL Cup, starting in a 2–0 win against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

. On 19 March 2022, he featured in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

quarter-final match against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

, coming on as a substitute for Romelu Lukaku in the 84th minute as Chelsea went on to win the game 2–0. On 22 May 2022, he was awarded the academy player of the year.

Loan to Hull City

On 1 September 2022, he moved on loan to Hull City for the season after signing a three-year contract with Chelsea. On 17 September 2022, Vale started in the 3–0 loss away to

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. The loan spell was cut short when he returned to Chelsea on 23 January 2023.

Loan to Bristol Rovers

On 15 August 2023, Vale agreed to join League One side, Bristol Rovers on a season-long loan. On 26 August 2023, Vale scored his first senior career goal, finishing a cross from the right-hand side for Rovers' consolation goal in a 2–1 home defeat to

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

. Having been utilised in a more unfamiliar left-back position, impressive performances from Vale saw comparisons made to Chelsea legend

Ashley Cole Ashley Cole (born 20 December 1980) is an English football coach and former player who is currently a first-team coach at Premier League club Everton. As a player, he played as a left-back, most notably for Arsenal and Chelsea. Cole is consi ...

from manager Joey Barton. He continued to impress across the season, ranking among the highest for minutes played by a Chelsea loanee, whilst also playing the second-most minutes for Rovers.

International career

Vale has represented England at under-15, under-16, under-17 and under-19 level. On 17 June 2022, Vale was included in the England U19 squad for the

2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2022 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2022) was the 19th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (69th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footba ...

. On 1 July 2022, Vale captained the England U19 side and provided an assist for

Carney Chukwuemeka Carney Chibueze Chukwuemeka (born 20 October 2003) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Chelsea. A product of the Northampton Town and Aston Villa academies, he made his debut for the latter club's first team ...

to score in a 3–1 victory against

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the final. His performances during the competition led to his inclusion in the UEFA team of the tournament. On 10 May 2023, Vale was included in the England squad for the

2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup will be the 23rd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 197 ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

England U19 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Individual * Chelsea Academy Player of the Year: 2021–22 * UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vale, Harvey 2003 births Living people Sportspeople from Haywards Heath English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football midfielders Fulham F.C. players Chelsea F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players English Football League players