Second Division The pre-season saw
Stan Turner and
Ken Griffiths undergo operations, keeping them out of action for the start of the campaign. The season began with just one loss in the opening eleven games, including victories over
West Ham United at
Upton Park and second-placed
Fulham at
Craven Cottage, and a 1–0 home win over
Potteries derby rivals
Stoke City in front of a crowd of 37,261. Nevertheless, injuries began to affect the
first XI, leaving room for reserves like
Derek Mountford,
Stan Smith, and
Tom Conway to make an impression. The 'Steele Curtain' defence was still in operation, picking up five clean sheets in these eleven games. Journalist Bernard Jones compared 'the Vale Plan' to the
Brazilian method of defence, defending the
penalty area at all costs as that was from where 95% of all goals were scored. However,
manager Freddie Steele responded by claiming there was no such plan, and that the main objective was simply 'to beat the opposition'. On 22 October,
Sheffield Wednesday went away from
Vale Park with a 1–0 win, this was followed with a 4–1 defeat at
Filbert Street where
Cyril Done cracked his kneecap. Steele began to initiate a modern pre-match ritual of having the players warm up in their tracksuits 15 minutes before
kick-off, though on 12 November this did them no favours at
Ewood Park, as
Blackburn Rovers romped to a 7–1 victory. Steele tried moving
Basil Hayward from left-back to centre-forward for the fixture with second-from-bottom
Hull City, though the result was a 1–0 defeat. Steele made eight changes following the defeat, which made little difference as Vale extended their run without a win to nine games. This left them in 15th place by mid-December, with a host of players out with injuries. Done's return to match fitness was marked with a 2–1 win over
Bristol Rovers at the
Memorial Stadium, beginning a sequence of one defeat in ten games. This left them in seventh place by February, with a shot of
promotion. In January,
Eddie Baily was signed from
Tottenham Hotspur for a
club-record £7,000. Signing an inside-forward who was part of
England's
1950 FIFA World Cup squad was a sign of the club's ambitions for top-flight football. He scored on his debut, a 3–1 win over
Notts County on 14 January. On 18 February, Vale were beaten 2–1 by bottom club Hull City during a blizzard at
Boothferry Park, with the winning goal coming from Hull's own half. Outclassed by Wednesday on 3 March, they lost 4–0 at
Hillsborough, but followed this with wins over Blackburn Rovers and
Bristol City. On 31 March they came to a 'hard-fought' 1–1 draw at Stoke's
Victoria Ground, which left the "Valiants" in fifth place, level on points with second-placed
Liverpool. In with a great chance of promotion by April, defeats at home to
Nottingham Forest and
Leicester City, and a 4–1 loss to
Liverpool at
Anfield ruined their chances.
Harry Poole made his debut on the last day of the season, as Vale recorded a 3–2 win over
Middlesbrough. They finished in twelfth position with 45 points, one point and one position above rivals Stoke. The Steele Curtain boasted the best defensive record in the division, though only the bottom five scored fewer goals.
Finances On the financial side, a loss was made of £4,974, blamed upon a 'crippling burden' of £12,422 in
entertainment tax. Home attendances were down by around 2,000 a game to 18,985, leaving gate receipts at £60,784. Steele retained thirty professionals, releasing
Albert Mullard and
Ray Hancock (
Northwich Victoria), and
Tom Conway (
Leek Town).
FA Cup In the
FA Cup, Vale narrowly defeated
Third Division South side
Walsall 1–0 in front of a 21,836 record-high crowd at
Fellows Park to win a fourth round tie with
First Division Everton. A crowd of 44,278 saw 'a match that had everything', as the "Toffees" escaped with a 3–2 victory, Vale having had two goals disallowed. ==Results==