Third Division

The pre-season saw manager Freddie Steele spend unprecedented sums of money – though Vale's spending was insignificant to the standard of many of their rivals.^[1] Steele brought in Northern Ireland international Billy Bingham from Everton for £15,000; Albert Cheesebrough from Leicester City for another £15,000; as well as Walsall's Tim Rawlings for £4,000.^[1] Chairman Tom Talbot approved these signings despite the club's financial problems.^[1] The club also took a tour of Northern Ireland, though a friendly with Benfica (arranged to match rivals Stoke City's match with Real Madrid) was cancelled due to fixture congestion.^[1]

The season opened with a 1–0 defeat to Shrewsbury Town at Gay Meadow.^[1] This was followed with two victories, including a 4–1 win over Bristol City in which Tony Richards bagged a hat-trick.^[1] After another three poor away games came, followed by a 3–0 win over Brentford in which Cheesebrough scored a hat-trick, and a 4–0 win over nearby Crewe Alexandra in front of 17,118 fans.^[1] Richards sustained a bad leg injury in this win over Crewe.^[1] In the beginning of October, Steele bought winger Ron Smith from Crewe for £6,500.^[1] Vale improved as a consequence, and three successive victories followed, leaving Vale in fifth spot.^[1] However, with Richards' return came a downturn in form, as Vale's impressive strikers failed to find the net in a run of one win in nine league games.^[1] This one win was a 1–0 victory over struggling Barnsley at Vale Park. However, a subsequent pitch invasion by youths emphasised a growing hooligan culture that would plague the club and the sport itself for decades.^[1]

In November, Vale paid Stoke City £12,000 for both ex-Scotland striker Jackie Mudie and left-back Ron Wilson.^[1] The defeats kept coming, and so Steele experimented with a 4–2–4 formation, dropping Richards from the first XI.^[1] Vale then went six league games unbeaten, including a 4–4 draw with Bristol Rovers at the Eastville Stadium.^[1] However, a 1–0 home loss inflicted by Notts County sent Vale on a run of seven defeats and two draws in nine league games.^[1] By March, the club was in a relegation battle, though results then began to go Vale's way.^[1] Only one defeat in their final eleven games ensured safety, as the season ended with a 5–0 drubbing of relegated Wrexham.^[1]

They finished in thirteenth place with 46 points, a poor finish for the money spent on transfers.^[1] Only 53 goals were scored, as Richards and Cheeseborough were affected with injuries, and Bingham struggled to find his footing in the third tier.^[1] Their 49 goals conceded was an excellent record though.^[1]

Finances

On the financial side, good attendance figures failed to prevent a massive loss of £42,650, resulting from a £45,567 deficit in transfer fees.^[1] A donation of £19,867 from the Sportsmen's Association and the social club could not disguise the disaster of poor finances.^[1] The wage bill had also risen by 20% to over £40,000.^[1] Leaving the club were Colin Grainger to Doncaster Rovers and Terry Harkin to Crewe Alexandra for a £3,000 fee.^[1]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale conquered Fourth Division Bradford City with a 2–1 win at Valley Parade. They defeated Workington 2–1 in a 'slipshod affair'.^[1] The Third Round held First Division Birmingham City at St Andrew's. Three thousand of the 21,652 spectators were Vale fans, who 'sung and chanted their way through' a 2–1 victory.^[1] In the Fourth Round Vale were drawn against top-flight giants Liverpool at Anfield. The "Reds" had inflicted a 6–1 thrashing of Stoke on Boxing Day, in an ominous sign of the challenge the "Valiants" faced.^[1] Vale achieved a goalless draw in front of 52,327 fans – 8,000 of them Vale supporters – in a fantastic team performance.^[1] The replay at Vale Park ended in a 2–1 loss in front of 42,179 paying fans (as well as an additional 6,000 or so Liverpool supporters who 'mob stormed' the gates to enter the Railway Paddock).^[1] Crowd trouble ate into the £8,000 worth of gate receipts, and more significantly caused the death of a Leek man (Harold Birch), and saw serious injuries inflicted to Liverpool fans Harry Taylor and James McDonough, as well as Vale supporter Billy Poulson.^[1]

In the League Cup, a First Round exit came with a 2–1 defeat at Southend United's Roots Hall.

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	44	0	5	0	1	0	50	0
GK	John Cooke	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Roy Sproson	46	0	5	1	1	0	52	1
DF	Selwyn Whalley	41	0	5	1	1	0	47	1
DF	Terry Lowe	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
DF	Terry Alcock	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
DF	Ron Wilson	24	0	4	0	0	0	28	0
DF	John Nicholson	46	0	5	0	1	0	52	0
MF	Terry Miles	24	2	2	0	1	0	27	2
MF	Colin Grainger	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
MF	Tim Rawlings	19	1	3	0	0	0	22	1
MF	Ron Smith	34	5	5	0	0	0	39	5
FW	Harry Poole	26	3	2	0	1	0	29	3
FW	Stan Steele	44	5	5	1	1	0	50	6
FW	Barry Hancock	5	1	0	0	0	0	5	1
FW	John Rowland	23	4	4	0	1	0	28	4
FW	Tony Richards	30	12	4	1	0	0	34	13
FW	Terry Harkin	10	1	0	0	1	1	11	2
FW	Jackie Mudie	18	6	3	1	0	0	21	7
FW	Mick Porter	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW	Billy Bingham	35	6	2	1	1	0	38	7
FW	Albert Cheesebrough	25	6	1	1	1	0	27	7

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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	12	1	0	13
2	FW	Scotland	Jackie Mudie	6	1	0	7
–	FW	Northern Ireland	Billy Bingham	6	1	0	7
–	FW	England	Albert Cheesebrough	6	1	0	7
5	FW	England	Stan Steele	5	1	0	6
6	MF	England	Ron Smith	5	0	0	5
7	FW	England	John Rowland	4	0	0	4
8	FW	England	Harry Poole	3	0	0	3
9	MF	England	Terry Miles	2	0	0	2
–	FW	Northern Ireland	Terry Harkin	1	0	1	2
11	FW	England	Barry Hancock	1	0	0	1
–	FW	England	Tim Rawlings	1	0	0	1
–	DF	England	Roy Sproson	0	1	0	1
–	DF	England	Selwyn Whalley	0	1	0	1
–	–	–	Own goals	1	0	0	1
			TOTALS	53	7	1	61

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Transfers in

More information Date from, Position ...

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
June 1963	MF		Tim Rawlings	Walsall	£4,000	[3]
August 1963	FW		Albert Cheesebrough	Leicester City	£20,000	[3]
August 1963	FW		Billy Bingham	Everton	£15,000	[3]
October 1963	MF		Ron Smith	Crewe Alexandra	£6,500	[3]
November 1963	FW		Jackie Mudie	Stoke City	£12,000	[3]
November 1963	DF		Ron Wilson	Stoke City	£12,000	[3]

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Transfers out

More information Date from, Position ...

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
May 1964	GK		John Cooke	Macclesfield Town	Free transfer	[3]
July 1964	MF		Terry Harkin	Crewe Alexandra	£3,000	[3]
July 1964	MF		Jim Watton	Doncaster Rovers	Free transfer	[3]
Summer 1964	FW		Barry Hancock	Crewe Alexandra	Released	[3]

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