Port Vale

1993–94 season
Chairman	Bill Bell
Manager	John Rudge
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Second Division	2nd (88 Points)
FA Cup	Fourth Round (knocked out by Wolverhampton Wanderers)
League Cup	First Round (knocked out by Lincoln City)
Football League Trophy	Area Quarter-finalists (knocked out by Swansea City)
Player of the Year	Neil Aspin
Top goalscorer	League: Martin Foyle (17) All: Martin Foyle (18)
Highest home attendance	12,042 vs. Southampton, 18 January 1994
Lowest home attendance	5,175 vs. Lincoln City, 17 August 1993
Average home league attendance	8,377
Biggest win	6–0 vs. Hartlepool United, 12 November 1994
Biggest defeat	0–4 vs. Reading, 23 October 1993
Home colours
← 1992–93 1994–95 →

The 1993–94 season was Port Vale's 82nd season of football in the English Football League and fifth-successive (37th overall) season in the Second Division. They won promotion to the First Division as the division's runners-up, just one point away from champions Reading. In the FA Cup, John Rudge's men caused an upset by defeating top-flight Southampton, before they exited in the Fourth Round. Vale were knocked out of the League Cup in the First Round and the Football League Trophy in the Area Quarter-finals.

The pre-season saw John Rudge sign left-back Allen Tankard from Wigan Athletic for £87,500. Experienced forward Keith Houchen was allowed to join Hartlepool United on a free transfer, and Paul Kerr signed with Leicester City.

The season opened with a 2–1 defeat to Burnley at Turf Moor, a result which belied their tag as favourites for promotion.^[1] Though the season got going for the Vale with their opening home game, as they recorded a 6–0 win over Barnet despite an early sending off for Peter Billing, both Martin Foyle and Bernie Slaven bagging hat-tricks.^[2] This, however, would be the only victory in the first seven league games. In September, Steve Livingstone joined the club on loan from Chelsea. Then, in October, Canadian Ollie Heald signed from Norvan, having impressed whilst on trial. Vale shot up the table with eight victories in ten games. In January, Aidan Newhouse arrived on loan from Wimbledon but only played two games. Rudge made enquiries after Andy Saville, but the club could not afford the £350,000 expected by Birmingham City.^[3] On 5 February, Vale beat Reading 2–1 to record the first away league win for a club at Elm Park in 12 months.^[4] Bernie Slaven left the club in February for Darlington. The next month, Rudge brought Joe Allon to the club after Allon had left Brentford. He also signed winger David Lowe on loan from Leicester City. Vale picked up four clean sheets in the first five games of March but ended the month with two defeats. They had a solid April, winning six of their eight games, with Foyle scoring a hat-trick past Leyton Orient at Brisbane Road on 4 April. On 30 April, Vale defeated Exeter City by three goals to one, two of which were scored by Foyle – including a diving header for his 20th of the season; a Vale Park pitch invasion ensued on the final whistle.^[5] Two victories from their final two games of the season ensured promotion. A 3–1 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion was witnessed by 15,423 people – the biggest crowd at the Goldstone Ground for six years. Glover opened the scoring and a brace from Foyle confirmed the victory despite the home side pulling a goal back from a Dean Wilkins free kick.^[6]

They finished second with 88 points, despite having finished third the previous season with 89 points. The top scorer was Martin Foyle with eighteen goals, though Ian Taylor and Nicky Cross also hit double figures.

At the end of the season, star midfielder Ian Taylor was sold to Sheffield Wednesday for £1 million (plus add-ons). The club also sold Peter Swan to Plymouth Argyle for £300,000. Also leaving the club were Nicky Cross and Trevor Wood, who joined Hereford United and Walsall respectively.

The club's shirt sponsors were Tunstall Assurance.

In the FA Cup, Vale brushed aside Blackpool (2–0) and Huddersfield Town (1–0). Drawn against Premier League Southampton in the Third Round, the "Valiants" earned a 1–1 draw at The Dell with an Andy Porter goal from a free kick, which helped to put more pressure on struggling opposition manager Ian Branfoot, which would have been worse still without Ian Dowie's equaliser.^[7] Back at Burslem, Vale achieved a giantkilling with a Bernie Slaven goal on a mud-filled Vale Park pitch; a clean sheet was achieved as Neil Aspin kept Matt Le Tissier quiet.^[7] In the Fourth Round they faced First Division Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, and were defeated 2–0.

In the League Cup, Vale exited in the First Round to Third Division Lincoln City on away goals, having drawn 2–2 at Vale Park and 0–0 at Sincil Bank.

In the Football League Trophy, Vale reached the Area Quarter-finalists. They would not enter the competition again until 2000–01.

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Reading	46	26	11	9	81	44	+37	89	Division Champions, promoted
2	Port Vale	46	26	10	10	79	46	+33	88	Promoted
3	Plymouth Argyle	46	25	10	11	88	56	+32	85	Participated in play-offs
4	Stockport County	46	24	13	9	74	44	+30	85
5	York City	46	21	12	13	64	40	+24	75

Port Vale's score comes first

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
14 August 1993	Burnley	A	1–2	12,592	Taylor
21 August 1993	Barnet	H	6–0	7,538	Foyle (3), Slaven (3)
28 August 1993	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–2	6,072
31 August 1993	Cambridge United	H	2–2	6,484	Cross, Kerr
4 September 1993	Cardiff City	H	2–2	8,140	Slaven (2)
11 September 1993	Bristol Rovers	A	0–2	4,908
14 September 1993	Huddersfield Town	A	1–1	5,154	Slaven
18 September 1993	Hartlepool United	H	1–0	7,279	Kerr
25 September 1993	Brentford	A	2–1	5,106	Cross, van der Laan
2 October 1993	Wrexham	H	3–0	8,722	Cross (2), Kerr
9 October 1993	Hull City	H	2–1	9,459	Cross (2)
16 October 1993	Blackpool	A	3–1	8,969	Cross (2), Taylor
23 October 1993	Reading	H	0–4	9,252
30 October 1993	Rotherham United	A	2–0	4,786	Foyle, Taylor
6 November 1993	Swansea City	H	3–0	7,854	Cook (og), Glover, Taylor
20 November 1993	Exeter City	A	1–1	3,908	van der Laan
27 November 1993	Brighton & Hove Albion	H	4–0	7,261	Cross, Foyle (2), Taylor
7 December 1993	Bournemouth	A	1–2	2,954	Jeffers
11 December 1993	Barnet	A	3–2	3,100	Foyle, Kerr, Taylor
18 December 1993	Burnley	H	1–1	10,710	Slaven
27 December 1993	Fulham	A	0–0	5,760
29 December 1993	Leyton Orient	H	2–1	8,978	van der Laan (2)
1 January 1994	York City	A	0–1	5,903
15 January 1994	Blackpool	H	2–0	7,915	Briggs (og), Cross
22 January 1994	Hull City	A	0–0	6,918
5 February 1994	Reading	A	2–1	7,645	Foyle, Kent
12 February 1994	Stockport County	H	1–1	10,628	Foyle
19 February 1994	Plymouth Argyle	H	2–1	9,093	Lowe, Taylor
22 February 1994	Cambridge United	A	0–1	2,543
1 March 1994	Bradford City	H	0–0	7,294
5 March 1994	Bristol Rovers	H	2–0	8,682	Taylor (2)
12 March 1994	Hartlepool United	A	4–1	1,798	Aspin, Cross, Gilchrist (og) Lowe
15 March 1994	Huddersfield Town	H	1–0	7,010	Kent
19 March 1994	Brentford	H	1–0	8,269	Taylor
26 March 1994	Wrexham	A	1–2	7,202	van der Laan
29 March 1994	Bradford City	A	1–2	5,776	Foyle
2 April 1994	Fulham	H	2–2	7,380	Allon (2)
4 April 1994	Leyton Orient	A	3–2	3,412	Foyle (3)
12 April 1994	Rotherham United	H	2–1	6,804	Griffiths (2)
16 April 1994	Bournemouth	H	2–1	7,603	Cross, Taylor
19 April 1994	Stockport County	A	1–2	5,910	Lowe
21 April 1994	York City	H	2–1	8,703	Glover, Lowe
26 April 1994	Swansea City	A	1–0	4,252	Taylor
30 April 1994	Exeter City	H	3–0	10,377	Foyle (2), Kent
3 May 1994	Cardiff City	A	3–1	4,705	Kent, Lowe, Taylor
7 May 1994	Brighton & Hove Albion	A	3–1	15,423	Foyle (2), Glover

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	13 November 1993	Blackpool	H	2–0	8,211	Foyle, Kerr
R2	3 December 1993	Huddersfield Town	H	1–0	8,602	Tankard
R3	8 January 1994	Southampton	A	1–1	11,086	Porter
R3 Replay	18 January 1994	Southampton	H	1–0	12,042	Slaven
R4	29 January 1994	Wolverhampton Wanderers	H	0–2	21,999

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1 1st Leg	17 August 1993	Lincoln City	H	2–2	5,175	Slaven, Taylor
R1 2nd Leg	24 August 1993	Lincoln City	A	0–0	3,642

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	19 October 1993	Shrewsbury Town	A	2–2	2,192	Kerr, Taylor
R1	9 November 1993	Wrexham	H	0–0	4,376
R2	30 November 1993	Cambridge United	A	4–2	1,648	Foyle (2), Taylor, Cross
QF	11 January 1994	Swansea City	A	0–1	2,630

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup/League Trophy		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Paul Musselwhite	46	0	5	0	6	0	57	0
DF	Dean Glover	46	3	5	0	6	0	57	3
DF	Neil Aspin	40	1	5	0	6	0	57	1
DF	Peter Swan	40	0	5	0	5	0	50	0
DF	Bradley Sandeman	9	0	1	0	0	0	10	0
DF	Peter Billing	8	0	0	0	1	0	9	0
DF	Gareth Griffiths	4	2	0	0	0	0	4	2
DF	Dean Stokes	21	0	3	0	1	0	25	0
DF	Allen Tankard	26	0	2	1	5	0	33	1
MF	Andy Porter	37	0	5	1	3	0	45	1
MF	John Jeffers	25	1	5	0	5	0	35	1
MF	Robin van der Laan	33	5	5	0	5	0	43	5
MF	Kevin Kent	30	4	2	0	4	0	36	4
MF	Ian Taylor	42	13	2	0	6	3	50	16
MF	Paul Kerr	25	4	3	1	6	1	34	6
MF	Ray Walker	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW	Nicky Cross	37	12	5	0	5	1	47	13
FW	Martin Foyle	37	17	3	1	5	2	45	20
FW	Bernie Slaven	23	7	4	1	4	1	31	9
FW	Joe Allon	4	2	0	0	0	0	4	2
FW	Ollie Heald	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
FW	Steve Livingstone	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
FW	David Lowe	19	5	0	0	0	0	19	5
FW	Aidan Newhouse	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Second Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Football League Trophy	Total
1	FW	England	Martin Foyle	17	1	0	2	20
2	MF	England	Ian Taylor	13	0	1	2	16
3	FW	England	Nicky Cross	12	0	0	1	13
4	FW	Scotland	Bernie Slaven	7	1	1	0	9
5	MF	England	Paul Kerr	4	1	0	1	6
6	FW	England	David Lowe	5	0	0	0	5
–	MF	Netherlands	Robin van der Laan	5	0	0	0	5
8	MF	England	Kevin Kent	4	0	0	0	4
9	DF	England	Dean Glover	3	0	0	0	3
10	FW	England	Joe Allon	2	0	0	0	2
–	DF	England	Gareth Griffiths	2	0	0	0	2
12	DF	England	Neil Aspin	1	0	0	0	1
–	MF	England	John Jeffers	1	0	0	0	1
–	DF	England	Allen Tankard	0	1	0	0	1
–	MF	England	Andy Porter	0	1	0	0	1
–		–	Own goals	3	0	0	0	3
			TOTALS	79	5	2	6	92

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
January 1993	DF		Dean Stokes	Halesowen Town	Free transfer	[9]
February 1993	DF		Gareth Griffiths	Rhyl	£1,000	[9]
May 1993	DF		Peter Billing	Coventry City	£35,000	[9]
July 1993	DF		Allen Tankard	Wigan Athletic	£87,500	[9]
September 1993	MF		Ollie Heald	Norvan	Free transfer	[9]
March 1994	FW		Joe Allon	Brentford	Free transfer	[9]

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
September 1993	FW		Brian Mills		Released	[9]
February 1994	FW		Bernie Slaven	Darlington	Free transfer	[9]
May 1994	FW		Nicky Cross	Hereford United	Free transfer	[9]
May 1994	DF		Simon Mills	Boston United	Free transfer	[9]
May 1994	GK		Trevor Wood	Walsall	Free transfer	[9]
1 July 1994	MF		Ian Taylor	Sheffield Wednesday	£1,000,000	[9]
23 July 1994	DF		Peter Swan	Plymouth Argyle	£300,000	[9]
Summer 1994	MF		Paul Kerr	Wycombe Wanderers	Free transfer	[9]

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
September 1993	FW		Steve Livingstone	Chelsea	September 1993	[9]
January 1994	FW		Aidan Newhouse	Wimbledon	January 1994	[9]
February 1994	MF		David Lowe	Leicester City	End of season	[9]

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date to	Ref.
March 1994	MF		Paul Kerr	Leicester City	End of season	[9]

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