Third Division

The pre-season saw the arrival of John Rowland, a 'tall and skilful' outside-right from Nottingham Forest for £6,000.^[1]

The season opened with six points from four games, with three clean sheets to boot. Rowland was dropped from the first XI following a 2–0 defeat at Ashton Gate on 1 September.^[1] Vale then became inconsistent, and so Low added young forward Terry Harkin to the squad from Coleraine, and transfer-listed Stan Steele after he began to be targeted by hecklers at Vale Park.^[1] Despite beating Southend United 5–1, the club continued to sink down the table.^[1] They then began a nine-game unbeaten streak on 20 October with a 1–1 draw with Carlisle United at Brunton Park.^[1] However, ten days later manager Norman Low tendered his resignation, to the shock of fans and pundits.^[1] Low cited disagreements with the board as the reason for his departure.^[1] The club felt they needed a marquee signing and so approached first Tom Finney and then European cup winning coach Béla Guttmann, who had just departed Benfica, both declined the role.^[2] Low's successor instead proved to be his predecessor, Freddie Steele, in another development that took many by surprise.^[1] Roy Sproson later noted "He [Steele] had changed. He had not got the enthusiasm or drive as before, but the lads still responded to him".^[1]

It took until the sixth game of Steele's reign for a goal to be conceded (525 minutes) as 'the Steele Curtain' again descended upon Vale Park.^[1] The goal was scored by former Valiant turned bogey player Ronnie Allen for Crystal Palace in a 4–1 home win for Vale.^[1] They finished the year chasing promotion, despite losing 4–3 to Reading at Elm Park. No league games were played in January or February due to the Big Freeze.^[1] To help with finances during this spell of two months without competitive action, Bert Llewellyn was sold to Northampton Town for £7,000 and Arthur Longbottom was sold to Millwall for £2,000.^[1] Back in action in March, Steele found his offence wanting, and so purchased Tony Richards from Walsall for £9,000.^[1] Richards immediately impacted himself on the club's scoring charts, eventually finishing as top-scorer for his two months work.^[1] For the four weeks following 20 April, Vale recorded eight wins from their final ten matches, though this would prove to be too little to late as far as promotion was concerned.^[1]

They finished in third spot with 54 points, four short of promotion, though enough to earn them £500 in talent money.^[1] Their 58 goals conceded total was fewer only than Swindon Town.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, a profit of £2,275 was made despite an operating loss of £20,557.^[1] A donation from the Sportsmen's Association and social club stood at a highly impressive £22,832.^[1] Whilst wages remained fairly constant at £33,120, gate receipts had fallen by £8,000.^[1] The club's overdraft stood at £41,000, leading to a discussion over whether or not to take out a mortgage on Vale Park.^[1] The club management took the decision to replace the black and amber kit with the traditional white shirts, black shorts and black and white socks – the kit Steele's men triumphed in almost ten years previously.^[1] On the playing front, Peter Ford's departure to Macclesfield Town was the only transfer of note.

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale took their revenge upon Bristol Rovers, dumping them out of the competition at the first stage with a 2–0 win at Burslem on 21 November. Three weeks later Aldershot suffered the same fate, in what was Sproson's 500th appearance for the club.^[1] In the Third Round they beat Fourth Division Gillingham 4–2 at Priestfield. They then lost 2–1 to First Division Sheffield United in front of 22,207 rain-soaked supporters.^[1]

In the League Cup, Bristol Rovers won the First Round clash at the Memorial Stadium 2–0.

Football League Third Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Appearances

More information Pos., Name ...

Pos.	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	Ken Hancock	46	0	4	0	1	0	51	0
DF	Roy Sproson	42	1	4	0	1	0	47	1
DF	Selwyn Whalley	20	0	1	0	0	0	21	0
DF	Terry Lowe	35	0	4	0	1	0	40	0
DF	John Nicholson	46	0	4	0	1	0	51	0
MF	Terry Miles	37	3	3	0	1	0	41	3
MF	Peter Ford	25	5	3	1	1	0	29	6
MF	Colin Grainger	25	5	3	2	1	0	29	7
MF	Stan Edwards	27	6	4	2	0	0	31	8
MF	Bernard Wright	14	2	0	0	1	0	15	2
MF	Jim Watton	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
MF	Mel Machin	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
FW	Harry Poole	43	3	4	0	0	0	47	3
FW	Stan Steele	35	6	4	1	1	0	40	7
FW	Bert Llewellyn	18	7	2	3	1	0	21	10
FW	Barry Hancock	9	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
FW	Arthur Longbottom	10	2	0	0	1	0	11	2
FW	John Rowland	37	7	4	0	0	0	41	7
FW	Tony Richards	14	13	0	0	0	0	14	13
FW	Terry Harkin	17	10	0	0	0	0	17	10

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Top scorers

More information Place, Position ...

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Third Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	FW	England	Tony Richards	13	0	0	13
2	FW	Northern Ireland	Terry Harkin	10	0	0	10
–	FW	England	Bert Llewellyn	7	3	0	10
4	MF	England	Stan Edwards	6	2	0	8
5	FW	England	John Rowland	7	0	0	7
–	FW	England	Stan Steele	6	1	0	7
–	MF	England	Colin Grainger	5	2	0	7
8	FW	England	Peter Ford	5	1	0	6
9	MF	England	Terry Miles	3	0	0	3
–	FW	England	Harry Poole	3	0	0	3
11	MF	Northern Ireland	Bernard Wright	2	0	0	2
–	FW	England	Arthur Longbottom	2	0	0	2
13	DF	England	Roy Sproson	1	0	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	2	0	0	2
			TOTALS	72	9	0	81

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Transfers in

More information Date from, Position ...

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
August 1962	FW		John Rowland	Nottingham Forest	£6,000	[4]
August 1962	MF		Bernard Wright	Sligo Rovers	Free transfer	[4]
September 1962	MF		Terry Harkin	Coleraine	£2,000	[4]
September 1962	MF		Jim Watton	De Graafschap	Free transfer	[4]
March 1963	FW		Tony Richards	Walsall	£9,000	[4]

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Transfers out

More information Date from, Position ...

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
January 1963	FW		Arthur Longbottom	Millwall	£2,000	[4]
February 1963	FW		Bert Llewellyn	Northampton Town	£7,000	[4]
May 1963	MF		Bernard Wright		Released	[4]
July 1963	MF		Stan Edwards	Bangor City	Free transfer	[4]
Summer 1963	MF		Peter Ford	Macclesfield Town	Released	[4]

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Loans out

More information Date from, Position ...

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
April 1963	MF		Bernard Wright	Stafford Rangers	May 1963	[4]

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