The season started poorly, with just two wins in the opening thirteen games, and protests began to develop against Chairman Bill Bell and his selling policy.

On 2 October, Vale defeated Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road by two goals to one as Rudge experimented with a 4–5–1 formation with Stewart Talbot in place of a striker.

[1] A decent October, with wins over Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux and Birmingham City at home, was followed by a winless November – in which midfielder Jan Jansson became the first Swede to play for the club when he arrived on loan from IFK Norrköping.

Vale's form tailed off, and on 19 January, they managed to go from 4–0 up against Queens Park Rangers at half-time to finish the game drawn 4–4, with Jermaine Holwyn scoring an own goal on his debut.

More damaging though was the defeat at home to Wolves and a final day draw with eventual play-off winners Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.

In the FA Cup, Premier League Blackburn Rovers proved to be too strong, as Vale left Ewood Park having suffered a 1–0 defeat.