Second Division The pre-season saw
Brian Horton bring in three key players on
free transfers:
George Pilkington (
Everton);
Jonny Brain (
Newcastle United); and Austrian
Andreas Lipa (
Skoda Xanthi). Meanwhile, promising keeper
Mark Goodlad began a lengthy period on the sidelines with injuries. Optimism surrounded the club, after the rebuilding of the new squad appeared to had finished after the break-up of the club's previous team due to financial troubles. On 23 August, Vale recorded a 4–3 home win over
Colchester United after having twice come from a goal down. On 13 September, Vale came from a goal down to record a 3–1 win over
Barnsley, with
Rory Fallon's eighth-minute opener cancelled out by Lipa header 15 minutes later, with Pilkington and
Adrian Littlejohn goals in the second half securing all three points. The season opened with seven wins in eleven games, earning
Brian Horton the
Manager of the Month award. The last of these victories was a 3–0 win over
Peterborough United on 30 September, with McPhee scoring two goals after being to the central striker position from out wide. Though this was followed by a sequence of five defeats in eight games as the goals dried up, this run included a 5–1 thumping at home to
Plymouth Argyle. They responded to this defeat with a 2–0 win over title-favourites
Queens Park Rangers as goals from Paynter and McPhee secured the three points despite a red card for
Rowland after he put in a two-footed challenge on
Marcus Bean. In November, backup keeper
Dean Delany joined
Macclesfield Town on a two-month
loan. On 27 January, Vale were beaten 5–2 at home by
Hartlepool United as
Sam Collins had a rare off night by giving away a goal and then being sent off. Horton resigned in February, with the club in the
play-offs. His replacement was Vale legend
Martin Foyle, whose only previous experience was in the club's youth set-up. As his assistant he appointed former teammate,
Dean Glover, another club legend. In March, Foyle made his first signing, bringing defender
Craig James on loan from
Sunderland, and after a few weeks he signed him permanently.
Mark Boyd headed out of the club however, and was allowed to sign with
Carlisle United. Vale lost just two of their final twelve games and ran close to a play-off place, only losing out due to their inferior
goal difference. They won 2–0 at
Rushden & Diamonds on the final day. However,
Swindon Town and
Hartlepool United played out a 1–1 draw to ensure they both finished in the play-offs instead of Vale. They finished in seventh place with 73 points. They were level on points with
Hartlepool United and
Swindon Town but finished outside of the play-off zone due to their inferior goal difference.
Stephen McPhee scored 27 goals to become the club's top-scorer, the highest tally since
Andy Jones hit 37 in
1986–87. Other major contributions came from
Billy Paynter (14),
Steve Brooker (8),
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (7) and Adrian Littlejohn (7). At the end of the season several players left the club:
Neil Brisco (
Rochdale);
Liam Burns (
Bristol Rovers); Adrian Littlejohn (
Lincoln City); and Dean Delany (
Shelbourne). Stephen McPhee also decided to leave the club, and though Chairman Bill Bratt had rejected offers of
£100,000 for the player, McPhee exploited a loophole in his
contract to join Portuguese side
Beira-Mar.
Marc Bridge-Wilkinson also turned down a new lower-paying contract, and instead signed with
Stockport County. Player-
coach Ian Brightwell also left Vale Park, having lost his assistant
manager role to Glover, and joined Horton at
Macclesfield Town. One boost was that
Billy Paynter and
George Pilkington put pen to paper on new long-term deals.
Finances Peter Walker was appointed as Chief Executive in August 2003, having volunteered to work for free for six months. One feature of the season proved to be the long-running courtroom battle between former chairman
Bill Bell and owners Valiant2001 over unpaid rent on the club shop. The club's finances were still worrying for supporters, though the problem appeared to have eased by the end of the season. In December, a Peter Jackson-led consortium put a £150,000 investment into the club, which Bratt said "...ensures the future of the club is safe". The club also rejected other investment proposals from confidential sources. Vice-chairman Charles Machin recommended the board sell the club to Italian businessman
Gianni Paladini for £530,000, but the board disagreed. In March 2004, Machin and director Geoff Wakefield were voted off the board, as the 'Jackson Five' clique elected Peter Jackson and Stan Meigh in their place. In the
replay, Vale had led 1–0 before a last minute
equaliser took the game into extra time. Despite having
substitute Ian Armstrong's
sent off, the "Valiants" escaped the lottery of the
penalty shoot-out when on 114 minutes Ford scored an
own goal. However, in the second round they were still eliminated by a non-League club, when Scarborough's
Ashley Sestanovich scored an 80th-minute winner at
Vale Park. This was the first time a League side had been beaten twice in the same season by the same non-League opponents. In the
League Cup, Vale faced
First Division Nottingham Forest. They held Forest to a goalless draw but were eliminated 3–2 in the subsequent penalty shoot-out. In the
Football League Trophy, Vale travelled to the
McCain Stadium, where they were defeated 2–1 by
Conference club
Scarborough. ==Results==