[1] New manager Gordon Lee used the season to consolidate the club after it was readmitted to the Football League immediately after being expelled for illegal payment of players.

[1] New manager Gordon Lee thus began work on rebuilding his squad, announcing a team approach with an additional 'individual coaching plan' for players to improve their weaknesses.

[1] Stanley Matthews would become more of a scout and would only visit Burslem weekly; he also agreed to allow the £9,000 owed to him in payments delayed until the club were on a sounder financial footing.

[1] Some good home performances lifted the club off the bottom of the table, including a 4–1 thumping of Scunthorpe United and a stylish back-heeled goal from Roy Sproson in a 1–1 draw with Lincoln City.

[1] In November, goalkeeper Keith Ball was signed from Walsall for 'a small fee' and Graham Newton joined on trial after leaving the Atlanta Chiefs.

[1] A 5–0 mauling of Newport County on 18 January sent the Vale into the top half of the table, though just one goal was scored and one point gained in the next four games.

[1] On the 29th, with the club seeming safe from re-election, 'hooliganism reared its ugly head' as Chester found their team bus smashed with bricks following a 2–1 loss at Burslem.

[1] In the FA Cup, with Sharrat injured and Hickson re-called by Crewe, seventeen-year-old Milija Aleksic was roped in to play in the first-round clash with Third Division Shrewsbury Town.