However, Micky Adams left the club in December to take charge of Sheffield United, leaving the promotion push to be finished by a new man Jim Gannon.

The turbulence of Gannon's reign, typified by a bust-up on a pre-match journey that became known as 'busgate', and the boardroom battle between multi-millionaire Water World owner Mo Chaudry and Bill Bratt's Valiant 2001 led some to call the season a 'soap opera farce'.

Before the start of the season there was speculation that manager Micky Adams would be approached by his former employers at Championship side Leicester City, having impressed in his position at Port Vale.

[2] Adams continued to make his mark at Vale though, releasing nine players, and signing Sean Rigg,[3] Stuart Tomlinson,[4] Justin Richards,[5][6] Ritchie Sutton and Gary Roberts.

[18] Micky Adams was also handed the award for November, after his club advanced into the Third Round of the FA Cup and rose to the top of the League Two table on the back of five clean sheets in seven games.

[20] Departing for his boyhood club Sheffield United at the end of December 2010, Micky Adams left Vale in second position in League Two,[21] though on a poor run of form.

[22][23] Saying that finishing outside of the top seven would be a failure, the Cheshire-based manager's first task after 'burying the hatchet' with Gareth Owen was to look for a new striker,[24] as injuries struck down both Marc Richards and Doug Loft.

[31] Losing four of his first five games in charge, Gannon was forced to respond to criticism over his team selections and substitutions,[32][33] and announced plans to expand the club's non-playing staff.

[34] On 1 February the players met with the chairman and rumours spread that Gannon had 'lost the dressing room', as comparisons were made with the tenure of Brian Clough in The Damned United.

[36] However, tension remained, as proven at the end of the month when it was reported that Gannon left the team bus on a pre-match journey after rowing with assistant manager Geoff Horsfield (who had been appointed by Adams).

[38] This came on the same day that local paper The Sentinel ran an editorial that questioned his loan signings, his decision to drop Gary Roberts and branded his tactics and team selections as baffling.

[42] Ugly post-match scenes at the Crown Ground saw Geohaghon confront fans who singled him out for abuse, whilst Gannon was ushered quietly out of the back door.

[48][49] Later in the month Grew released Kristian Cox,[50] before a home defeat to bottom of the table Stockport County on 23 April meant that winning their remaining three games no longer guaranteed them a play-off spot.

[51] Their penultimate game of the season was a 7–2 mauling of Morecambe, which saw Louis Dodds and Justin Richards score the first hat-tricks at Vale Park since Martin Foyle hit three in 1994.

[66] In September 2010 Bratt gave up his role as chief executive, but remained as chairman,[67] denying that this decision was influenced by the recent Newton takeover bid.

[80] Chaudry had the stadium revalued at £3.4m, some £2.3m less than stated in the board's accounts – Staffordshire University academic Ian Jackson commented that these were a part of the "skirmishes of negotiation".

[83] Chaudry then teamed up with another local businessmen, Mark Sims, to purchase the maximum allowed 24.9% of shares each (to give them a combined total of 49.8% control).

[91] Many believed this would ensure the end of Bratt's reign,[92] despite his warning that fans should "look at other clubs who have gone down this line and they have no longer got their ground and are paying vast sums in rent".

[110] In the FA Cup, Vale nearly slipped up at Princes Park to Conference South Dartford, and were saved only by an 84th minute John McCombe header.

[114] In the League Cup, Vale managed to defeat a Championship side by slaying high-flying Queens Park Rangers 3–1 at Loftus Road,[115] new signing Richards scoring twice.

[116][117] Premier League opposition proved to be too much of a challenge however, as a strong Fulham side destroyed the Vale 6–0 at Craven Cottage – Zoltán Gera and Bobby Zamora both bagging braces.