EFL League Two Despite being unable to prevent
relegation as
caretaker manager the previous season,
Michael Brown was confirmed as the club's new permanent
manager in May 2017; incumbent assistants
David "Ned" Kelly and
Chris Morgan also retained their positions, as did chief
scout Darren Wrack. Brown said that the budget available left him with "a good chance of gaining
promotion". His first summer signing was former two-time Player of the Year
Tom Pope on a
free transfer after he managed to secure his release from
Bury. He made his second signing four weeks later, goalkeeper
Rob Lainton, who also arrived on a free transfer from Bury. Also arriving were Colombian winger
Cristian Montaño, released from
Bristol Rovers, and former Vale
youth team centre-back
Joe Davis, on a free transfer from
Fleetwood Town, and 22-year-old
Burton Albion goalkeeper
Sam Hornby. These signings were quickly followed by the arrival of 19-year-old
Sheffield United left-back
Graham Kelly. A third Bury player also arrived in the form of 34-year-old centre-back
Antony Kay, a veteran of over 600 professional matches. However, Brown also revealed that defender
Kjell Knops had picked up an infection in his knee and missed the entire season after undergoing surgery. Heading into July, Brown brought in target man striker
Tyrone Barnett on a free transfer from
AFC Wimbledon. He took on a wide variety of players on trial, including:
Danny Green,
Neal Eardley,
Michael Tonge,
Gavin Gunning,
Billy Whitehouse,
Tom Walker, Gaetan Lenoir, and Nicolas Guidicelli. He signed 19-year-old
Huddersfield Town striker
Rekeil Pyke on a season-long loan. As last season's
captain Ben Purkiss rejected a new
contract offer, Brown signed right-back
Lawrie Wilson on a free transfer from
Bolton Wanderers to replace him. Having decided against signing one of the wingers on trial, Brown instead brought in
Burton Albion's
Marcus Harness on a season-long loan. On the same day that Barnett was revealed to have suffered a serious
hamstring tear, the club announced that trialist centre-back Gavin Gunning had signed a contract of undisclosed-length. The day before the opening game of the season, Brown secured veteran trialist midfielder Michael Tonge to a one-year deal, and also brought in 21-year-old winger
Ben Whitfield on a half-season loan from
AFC Bournemouth. Brown played eight débutantes at
Crawley Town on 5 August, and it was two of these, Kay and Tonge, who scored the opening goals of a 3–1 victory, finished off with a first league goal for
Dan Turner. Two days later Brown signed 21-year-old left-back
Tyler Denton on a season-long loan from
Leeds United.
Adebayo Akinfenwa put
Wycombe Wanderers ahead within two minutes of the opening home game of the season at
Vale Park on 12 August, and by the 25-minute mark he had scored the opposition's final goal of a 3–2 defeat for the "Valiants". In the week following the defeat to Wycombe, both
Anton Forrester and
Danny Pugh were ruled out of action for three to four months, and Brown signed 20-year-old
Sheffield Wednesday winger
Jack Stobbs on a season-long loan. The match at
Chesterfield was declared "
Ernie Moss Day" in tribute to the legend of both clubs, but another poor performance saw Vale slip to a 2–0 defeat to a side that had previously failed to pick up a point. Fans booed the team and turned on the manager, chanting 'You don't know what you're doing'. In the week building up to the local derby with
Crewe Alexandra, Brown signed highly rated midfielder
David Worrall. Worrall made his debut against Crewe, but it was midfield partner
Michael Tonge who made the headlines for the wrong reasons, as he was
sent off four minutes after Crewe's
Chris Dagnall scored the only goal of the game on the half-hour mark; Brown said that Tonge was unlucky to be sent off and he was proud of his team's performance. On the final day before the
summer transfer window closed, Brown signed
Burnley centre-back
Tom Anderson on a season-long loan and
Doncaster Rovers central midfielder
Harry Middleton on a free transfer. Vale fell to 23rd-place at the beginning of September with a 1–0 home defeat to
Notts County; Brown said his team were "sucker punched, against the run of play". Seven days later
Tyrone Barnett returned from injury to make his Vale debut at
Coventry City, however, goalkeeper Lainton picked up an injury as Vale fell to rock bottom of the Football League with a 1–0 defeat despite playing against ten-men for the closing stages of the game; the injury-list now included Lainton, Pugh, Montaño, Forrester, Pyke, Knops, with Tonge suspended. A sixth consecutive league loss followed in a 2–0 defeat at
Luton Town, which was also the sixth-successive game in all competitions in which Vale had failed to score a goal – a
club record. Chief Executive Colin Garlick said the club had not set any ultimatum to Brown for the home game with second-from-bottom
Forest Green Rovers on 16 September. Brown signed
Derby County goalkeeper
Kelle Roos on an emergency loan and played him against Forest Green. Turner broke Vale's barren spell against Forest Green, scoring his third of the campaign in a rare start, but Rovers made three early substitutions and came back into the game to force a 1–1 draw which kept Vale bottom of the table; despite this Brown was confident he would still be in charge of the club for the following match. His confidence was misplaced however, as he was sacked shortly after the match; his assistants, David "Ned" Kelly and Chris Morgan were placed in charge of the club on an interim basis. They first took charge for the trip to
Yeovil Town on 23 September, and were on the way to a 1–0 win when an error from Roos gifted Yeovil an equaliser; Vale ended up holding on to a 1–1 draw after
James Gibbons marked his league debut with a
sending off for two yellow cards. Three days later they took the lead at home to high-flying
Accrington Stanley, but fell to a 2–1 defeat after a
Billy Kee brace either side of
half-time. The run of poor form continued with a 2–0 defeat at
Stevenage. Meanwhile, the search for a new manager dragged on, as Smurthwaite ruled out
National League managers
John Askey and
Neil Aspin, stating that the list of prospective names had been narrowed down to three 'exceptional' candidates. Despite previously being ruled out by Smurthwaite,
Gateshead manager Neil Aspin was installed as Port Vale manager on 4 October, advised by former manager
John Rudge in a director of football role. Three days later his new team got off to an excellent start at home to
Grimsby Town as they were leading 1–0 at half-time with a Tom Pope goal, but then a second-half turnaround saw them lose the match 2–1 and slip back into the relegation zone. Aspin managed a victory in his second game though, with Pope scoring a brace in a 3–1 home win over
Cheltenham Town. Aspin went on to name
Danny Pugh as the club's new captain, ahead of the dropped Antony Kay. Vale then recorded a 3–0 win at
Morecambe, with Pope again scoring a brace and Montaño marking his return to action with his first goal for the club. Pope again scored at third-placed
Exeter City to give Vale a 1–0 victory in blustery conditions. Following an injury to Roos, Aspin acted swiftly to sign the big Bulgarian goalkeeper
Dimitar Evtimov on loan from
Nottingham Forest, who started immediately in the 3–0 home defeat to
Swindon Town. Aspin said he was "very disappointed about the whole goalkeeping situation". Aspin went on to be nominated for the
EFL League Two Manager of the Month award and Pope was nominated for the
EFL League Two Player of the Month award, after three wins in five games and five goals and one
assist for Pope. Going into November, Aspin signed 20-year box-to-box midfielder
Chris Regis, who had previously entered
non-League football after spending time on the books at
Arsenal,
Southampton and
Colchester United. Vale then travelled to
Newport County, and returned home with a point after coming back from 1–0 down,
Anton Forrester scoring with his first league appearance of the campaign. Fellow relegation battlers
Barnet arrived in Burslem on 18 November, and Vale claimed a hard-fought victory after Pope converted a late
penalty won by Gibbons. This was Port Vale's first penalty since 20 January. However, three days later the Vale fell to a 4–0 defeat at home to
Mansfield Town, though Aspin said his team worked hard and the scoreline was not a fair reflection on the game. They then suffered a 3–1 defeat away to
Lincoln City, having looked second best to the
National League champions for most of the match; Aspin said the performance was not good enough. Also in November, long-serving full-back
Adam Yates returned from a loan spell at
Macclesfield Town only to suffer extensive facial injuries in a collision with Hornby in a reserve team match; despite his injury and in light of his service to the club, Yates was given a contract extension to keep him on until the end of the season. However, he went on to announce his retirement from playing in March. Aspin paid tribute to supporters who helped clear snow off the
pitch before an important 2–0 home win over
Cambridge United on 9 December; Montaño scored both of the goals either side of half-time, helping to put an end to the team's recent run of bad results. They continued their good form under Aspin with a 2–1 victory at
Carlisle United, as he changed
tactics with the scores at 0–0 after sensing the hosts were there to be beaten. The following week the club and Aspin agreed on a new two-and-a-half-year contract. The team celebrated by securing a useful point at
play-off hopefuls
Colchester United, coming from a goal down at half-time to draw the game 1–1.
Nathan Smith then scored the only goal of the Boxing day game with play-off chasing
Coventry City. They ended the year in style with a 4–0 home victory over league leaders Luton, which left them ten points clear of the relegation zone and nine points off the play-offs; "Hatters" boss
Nathan Jones said that "they were better than us all over the park. They got second balls, they outworked us, we didn't handle Pope all afternoon and we got what we deserved." Aspin was nominated for that month's EFL League Two Manager of the Month award, though lost out to
Danny Cowley at
Lincoln City. Vale opened the New Year with a 1–0 defeat at second-placed Notts County, and though Aspin was pleased with his players he was highly critical of the
referee for his award of a late penalty, calling it "a really bad decision". Earlier in the day he made his second signing as manager, bringing in striker
Dior Angus from non-League
Redditch United. Meanwhile, Gavin Gunning left the club on the expiry of his contract, whilst Jack Stobbs, Rekeil Pyke and Tyler Denton returned to their parent clubs. In contrast, Whitfield's loan was extended until the end of the season. Gunning made his debut for Forest Green on 6 January, and kept a
clean sheet as Rovers beat the Vale 1–0 with a goal from fellow débutante
Reuben Reid; Aspin apologized to supporters after the match for the team's performance. Aspin went on to allow Lawrie Wilson to join National League side
Ebbsfleet United after the full-back failed to make the first-team under his tenure. He also agreed to terminate the contract of French midfielder
Anthony de Freitas, whilst bringing in striker
Donovan Wilson on loan from
Wolverhampton Wanderers. Vale put in a poor performance at home to Yeovil, though did claim a 1–1 draw after Pope converted a late penalty. Aspin went on to sign midfielder
Luke Hannant from Gateshead for an undisclosed fee, having previously signed the 24-year-old from
Team Northumbria in 2016. He also boosted the defensive numbers by bringing in centre-back
Zak Jules on loan from
Shrewsbury Town. Hannant made his debut at Accrington Stanley on 20 January, a game in which Vale led 2–0 at half-time only to lose 3–2; Aspin went on to criticise both the referee for failing to spot a handball for Accrington's equaliser and also his team for poor defending. Jules made his debut and Lainton returned to the starting eleven for the visit of Colchester on 27 January, and Vale managed to secure a 2–2 draw despite a poor performance thanks to a brace from Worrall. A surprise departure was then announced, as Anderson was recalled early from his loan spell by Burnley. Aspin responded quickly by signing former youth-team centre-back
Charlie Raglan on loan from
Oxford United, 21-year-old defender
Kyle Howkins on loan from
West Bromwich Albion and 23-year-old defender Callum Howe for an undisclosed fee from Lincoln City. Raglan started at home to struggling Morecambe on 3 February and helped the defence to keep a clean sheet in a dour 0–0 draw. However, they then conceded five at Cheltenham Town, including a
hat-trick from
Mohamed Eisa, after long spells of defensive errors. Tonge opened the scoring at Swindon on 17 February, but defensive and goalkeeping errors from the returning
Ryan Boot ended up costing the team a 3–2 defeat, with former player
Marc Richards scoring a brace. Vale then kept a clean sheet at home to Newport County, but played poorly and only picked up a point whilst relegation rivals Chesterfield, Barnet, Forest Green, Crewe Alex and Morecambe all gained three points. Without a win since 2017, Vale then lost top-scorer Tom Pope for the month of March after he was forced to undergo an operation to repair a
hernia. Grimsby Town were in even worse form however, and on 10 March Vale seemed to be on their way to a vital 1–0 away win despite missing a penalty; however, a stoppage-time equaliser from
James Berrett extended Vale's winless streak and instigated a
pitch invasion and punch-up from amongst the away end. They then faced a hastily rearranged trip to bottom club Barnet three days later, and salvaged a 1–1 draw after Forrester capitalised on a goalkeeping error. Vale went on to come from two goals down at Stevenage to salvage a point, Wilson and Hannant scoring their first goals for the club, to maintain a healthy seven point gap with the relegation zone with only nine games left to play. Despite a decent performance, they failed to extend this gap after losing 1–0 at home to promotion-chasing Exeter. Vale went on to gain a useful point with a hard-working performance during a 0–0 draw at third-place Wycombe; Boot's performance in goal earned him a place on the EFL Team of the Week. They hosted 23rd-placed Chesterfield in a crucial game on Good Friday, and Pugh went from hero to villain on the cusp of half-time as he scored the opening goal and then got sent off for a studs up challenge two minutes later to leave his teammates to defend their 1–0 lead with ten men over the course of the second half; Vale did concede an equaliser, before
substitute Whitfield won the game late on with an excellent strike. Vale took the short trip to Crewe on 2 April and started poorly after an error from Boot gifted
Ryan Wintle the opening goal on seven minutes, but they equalised before half-time with a penalty against the run of play; Kay seemed to have scored the winning goal from long-range on 71 minutes, but a stoppage-time equaliser from
Charlie Kirk denied Vale the three points. Five days later Vale lost 2–1 at home to Crawley after Smith gave away a penalty and scored an
own goal, though the penalty decision of referee
Mike Jones was highly contentious; Aspin called the referee's performance 'diabolical'. Newly crowned
EFL Trophy champions Lincoln visited Vale Park on 14 April, and Vale all but secured their safety on that day after Kay scored the winner on 63 minutes. Vale set up defensively at Mansfield and managed to rescue a point after a late equalising goal from Pope cancelled out a clumsy own goal; after match Aspin summarised the season by saying that "I think they have done well, from the position they were in, to getting to safety." Angus scored on his home debut on 28 April, but this was not enough to prevent the final match of the season at Vale Park being a 2–1 defeat to Carlisle United, much to Aspin's disappointment. Vale ended their league campaign with a 5–0 defeat at Cambridge United, leaving them in 20th place – the joint-lowest finish in the
club's history (the other being the
1979–80 season). At the end of the season Aspin released ten players – Chris Regis, Ryan Boot, Luke Dennis, Anton Forrester, Graham Kelly, Kjell Knops, Harry Middleton,
Billy Reeves, Joe Slinn and Charlie Walford – and
transfer-listed Tyrone Barnett, Joe Davis, Callum Howe and Rob Lainton, as he attempted to build his own squad for the
2018–19 season.
Finances & ownership issues Norman Smurthwaite resigned as chairman at the end of the 2016–17 season, and 67-year-old former
British Rail manager and lifelong Vale supporter Tony Fradley was unveiled as his successor, though Smurthwaite remained as owner. Following relegation, season ticket prices were cut by
£50 to £295 with under-12s allowed in for free. The new shirt sponsors were the manorshop.com, owned by Kidsgrove businessman Kevin Jones, who had made a failed attempt to buy the club in May 2017. Speaking in August, Smurthwaite said that the wage budget was 20% higher than the previous season due to the extra money raised from the sales of
Jak Alnwick and
Anthony Grant in January 2017. The club took out £50,000 in 'promotion insurance', which would cover the cost in bonuses should the club achieve promotion at the end of the season. On 31 January 2018, the sale of
Jordan Hugill from
Preston North End to
West Ham United gained Vale around £1.8 million thanks to a 20% sell on clause negotiated by
Micky Adams following his departure from Vale Park in 2014. Smurthwaite attended the Port Vale Supporters Club meeting in March and stated that the club was losing around £150,000 a month, that the playing budget was £1.6 million (he believed this to be a top ten League Two budget), that he would only sell to the right buyer and would not be publicly naming his asking price, that when he took over the club the Football League appointed
Karl Oyston as his mentor, and he challenged the fans to raise £800,000 among themselves (£270 each for the club's 3,000 hardcore supporters) to fund the club throughout the summer in a "positive way of demonstrating to me that you don't want me".
Cup competitions Vale had a difficult tie at home to
EFL League One side
Oxford United in the first round of the
FA Cup, but proved to be the superior side on the night as they progressed with a 2−0 win thanks to goals from Gunning and Pope. A home tie with Yeovil Town awaited in the second round, and for the first time since
20 January 1982 Staffordshire Police granted the club permission to play a home tie at the same date and time as
Stoke City. Despite a poor first half Vale seemed to have the game won thanks to a Tom Pope
header, but the team switched off defensively to allow substitute
Jordan Green to score a last-minute equaliser and take the game to a
replay. The game at
Huish Park proved eventful, as red cards for Montaño and Gibbons did not prevent the Vale from twice equalising the match before eventually losing 3–2 after
extra time; Harness had scored his first goal for the club to take the game into extra-time in style with a long-range
shot, but his effort was upstaged by Kay, who scored the "goal of his life" with a stunning long-range
lob. Aspin was highly critical of referee Gavin Ward, particularly for his decision to both issue a penalty and send off Montaño for a "soft" challenge. Vale were drawn away to
EFL Championship club Leeds United in the first round of the
EFL Cup. Before the match Brown spoke of his pride at managing against former club Leeds. He named another former Leeds player, Danny Pugh, as captain for the night. However, the match ended on a sour note as Brown accused hat-trick hero
Samuel Sáiz of spitting at Davis just before half-time, and Gunning was sent off as Vale fell to a 4–1 defeat. Vale were drawn into
EFL Trophy Northern Group D, alongside
Oldham Athletic,
Newcastle United Academy, and local rivals
Crewe Alexandra. They began the group with their solitary away game, playing out a 0–0 draw with League One side Oldham at
Boundary Park, before they managed to pick up two points after winning the resulting
penalty shoot-out. Vale then recorded a 1–0 victory over the Newcastle United Academy in front of a first-team record low crowd at Vale Park of 824. The game against already eliminated Crewe was largely inconsequential but proved to be an entertaining one as Regis marked his debut with a goal in a 4–2 win. League One high-flyers
Shrewsbury Town came to Burslem in the second round. Vale sensed an upset after Montaño scored in the first minute, but former Valiant
Louis Dodds initiated a second-half comeback to eliminate Vale from the competition. ==Results==