Fourth Division On 8 June, the club's future was decided, as a vote of 39 to 9 allowed the club readmission to the Football League, despite the conclusion of an investigation earlier in the year which ruled that the club should be expelled from the League. New
manager Gordon Lee thus began work on rebuilding his squad, announcing a team approach with an additional 'individual
coaching plan' for players to improve their weaknesses. Lee was big on coaching, and replaced
cross country running exercises with realistic match-day situations.
Stanley Matthews would become more of a
scout and would only visit
Burslem weekly; he also agreed to allow the £9,000 owed to him in payments delayed until the club were on a sounder financial footing. His name was removed from his office door, and he 'gradually drifted out of the picture'. Three signings of note included: 'tenacious, tough-tackling' wing-half
John King (
Tranmere Rovers); former
Wales international winger
Graham Williams (
Tranmere Rovers); and teenager
Bobby Gough (
Walsall). The season opened with a 3–1 defeat at
Chesterfield.
Roy Chapman scored goals in four games, though only three points were won in the first six encounters. With Sharratt out injured, in came 'part-time, pipe-smoking
civil servant'
Geoff Hickson on
loan from
Crewe Alexandra. Lee quickly earned the respect of the Vale fans despite his team lying bottom of the table in mid-September. A new club
mascot was unveiled at this time – 'Prince Val'. Some good home performances lifted the club off the bottom of the table, starting with a 3–0 victory over
York City. Other games of note included a 4–1 thumping of
Scunthorpe United and a stylish back-heeled goal from
Roy Sproson in a 1–1 draw with
Lincoln City. Chapman then developed
sciatica and had to be rested until December. An excellent defence helped the club then to achieve a five-game unbeaten run in the league. In November, goalkeeper
Keith Ball was signed from
Walsall for 'a small fee' and
Graham Newton joined on trial after leaving the
Atlanta Chiefs. On Boxing Day, Vale travelled to
Sincil Bank, where they beat second-placed Lincoln 1–0 in front of 12,208 spectators. Soon after
Bill Asprey retired as a player to coach at
Sheffield Wednesday. A 5–0 mauling of
Newport County on 18 January sent the Vale into the top half of the table, though just one goal was scored and one point gained in the next four games. In March, Lee adopted a more 'hit and run' style and saw his team achieve three straight wins. On 10 March, Vale won 1–0 away at
Darlington. Five days later, they beat
Brentford 4–1. On the 29th, with the club seeming safe from re-election, '
hooliganism reared its ugly head' as
Chester found their team bus smashed with bricks following a 2–1 loss at
Burslem. On 21 April, Sproson made his 700th league appearance in a 1–0 win over struggling
Grimsby Town. The final day was a 1–1 draw with wooden-spoon club
Bradford Park Avenue. However, the Vale had five goals disallowed. Nevertheless, this game was the first of a
club-record 19 league game streak without a loss that would end on 22 November 1969, the following season. They finished in 13th place with 46 points from their 46 games, scoring 46 and conceding 46 goals.
Finances On the financial side, a £10,900 loss was made despite donations of £16,734 from the Sportsmen's Association and the Development Fund. This left the club's total debts at £178,277. The club needed an average home attendance of 6,000 to break even and was almost two thousand short of this total. More stringent economies were thus imposed upon the club. Five professionals left on
free transfers:
Mick Cullerton (Chester);
Mick Mahon (
York City);
Jimmy Goodfellow (Workington); Graham Williams (
Runcorn); and Milija Aleksic (
Eastwood). Lee claimed 'it was a hard decision, but I have had to create room for improvement'. Roy Chapman was offered a new
contract, but opted instead to sign with Chester.
Cup competitions In the
FA Cup, with Sharrat injured and Hickson re-called by Crewe, 17-year-old
Milija Aleksic was roped in to play in the first round clash with
Third Division Shrewsbury Town. He also played in the
replay following the 1–1 draw, and the club progressed with a 3–1 win over their 'lacklustre' opponents. The "Valiants" also required a replay to progress past
Workington. Vale then exited in the third round with a 1–0 defeat at
Vicarage Road to
Watford. In the
League Cup, defeat came in the first round to
Wrexham at the
Racecourse Ground.
Stuart Sharratt cracked a
kneecap in the game and later contracted a
virus in his
blood, which kept him out of action for the rest of the season. ==Results==