The season started with five players making their débuts in a 1–0 defeat to Swindon Town at The County Ground.[1] Waddington damaged his cartilages in this game.[1] McGrath attempted to sign Norwich City's Mick Channon, but failed.[1] Instead he took Bob Newton from Hartlepool United for £15,000.[1] Stoke then took Neville Chamberlain to the Victoria Ground for £40,000.[1] Vale's form did not suffer, and they instead won five straight games in October, taking them into third place.[1] Also Chairman Don Ratcliffe was replaced by Jim Lloyd.[1] Winger Steve Fox also arrived from Welsh club Wrexham on a free transfer.[1] During the club's 2–1 win over Crewe Alexandra on 22 October at Gresty Road a petrol bomb was thrown at the 3,000 strong Vale crowd, though it was extinguished by police without doing 'any real damage'.[1] On 6 November, Vale were losing 3–0 to Rochdale at Spotland and The Sentinel headlined their report with "Heavy defeat for Port Vale".[1][2] This proved to be an inaccurate headline, as substituteJimmy Greenhoff inspired a Vale fightback, and the match finished 3–3.[1] In December, Colin Tartt was transfer listed following 'a bust-up with McGrath'.[1] They built on this result with a 1–0 home win over Hull City, with Russell Bromage doing an excellent job of man-marking Brian Marwood whilst goalscorer Phil Sproson helped the defence to keep both Les Mutrie and Billy Whitehurst from scoring.[3] Following only one win in a run of five games, Tranmere Rovers' players told the Vale players "see you next season" after picking up a 1–0 win at Vale Park.[1]
A win over Wimbledon started a run of ten wins in twelve games, despite having to sign Everton's Neville Southall on loan following a knee injury to Siddall.[1] Their run put them nine points clear at the top of the table.[1] On 3 January, Greenhoff scored a volley from 30 yards (27 m)s out in a 2–1 win over York City.[4] At the end of February, Southall was recalled, and Stoke refused to loan back Harrison as cover.[1]Wolverhampton Wanderers' Andy Poole proved to be an inadequate replacement.[1] Vale then lost Greenhoff to Rochdale, who offered him the vacant management post.[1]Lol Hamlett's last match as trainer (he retired due to illness) was a 2–0 defeat to Blackpool at Bloomfield Road, as Vale were in danger of failing to win promotion.[1] McGrath decided to sign striker Jim Steel from Oldham Athletic for £10,000, and loaned Mark Lawrence from Hartlepool United.[1] Siddall returned and so did Vale's form, as they recorded five victories in seven games.[1]Ernie Moss left for Lincoln City for a £1,500 fee, McGrath saying 'age caught up with him'.[1] On 4 April, Vale only managed a draw at Bristol City, with McGrath commenting that striker Newton was "going through one of those spells when he could not hit the back of a bus". Four days later, Newton opened the scoring in a 2–0 win at Tranmere Rovers.[5]Wimbledon ran away with the championship, though Vale managed to secure promotion with a 2–0 win over Stockport County at Edgeley Park on 6 May.[1] The crowd of 5,516 was Stockport's biggest gate of the season.[6] The jubilant players seemed distracted in the final two games, and their two defeats allowed Hull City to take the runners-up spot.[1]
They finished in third place with 88 points, seven points clear of fifth-placed Bury.[1] Conceding just 34 goals, theirs was the best defensive record in the top four divisions, along with Hull.[1]Bob Newton was top-scorer with twenty goals, whilst four players were chosen for the PFAFourth Division team – Phil Sproson, Russell Bromage, Geoff Hunter, and Steve Fox.[1]
Finances
On the financial side, a record £100,888 profit was announced, their first profitable season since 1975–76.[1] The lottery brought in £142,324, the open market rents took in £51,462, whilst Vale's average home attendance was the second-highest in the division.[1] Total liabilities stood at £236,850 and the bank overdraft was £128,123.[1] Two players departing at the end of the season were Les Lawrence (Aldershot) and Steve Waddington (Chesterfield), who had not established themselves in the first-team.[1]
