A highlight of the season came in the FA Cup third round, as a glamour tie at Premier League champions Manchester City ended in a 4–1 defeat.

They went unbeaten throughout February, picking up wins over promotion rivals Northampton Town and Colchester United, to end the month in the play-off places.

Manager John Askey called for patience as he and new owners Carol and Kevin Shanahan tried to rebuild the club following Norman Smurthwaite's ownership.

[9][10] Askey also evaluated five trialists in pre-season friendlies: 19-year-old Bradford (Park Avenue) midfielder Alex Hurst, former Darlington goalkeeper Jonny Maddison, former Millwall and Reading right-back Shaun Cummings, former Yeovil Town winger Rhys Browne and former Coventry City striker Kwame Thomas.

[13] The club kit was reverted to Erreà manufacturers and the shirt sponsors were revealed as Synectics Solutions, the company owned by chairpersons Carol and Kevin Shanahan.

[16] Trialist winger Rhys Browne, yet another former Macclesfield player, became the ninth summer signing on the day of the club's final pre-season friendly.

[19] Vale opened the season with a creditable 1–1 draw at Colchester United, having had a fifth-minute Tom Pope penalty cancelled out by a Luke Norris goal just before half-time.

[20] Connell Rawlinson left Vale for National League side Notts County on a free transfer on 5 August, having been transfer-listed by Askey in pre-season.

[21] The first game at Vale Park of the Shanahan era came against Northampton Town, and Amoo opened his account for the club with a header before "Cobblers" midfielder Ryan Watson levelled the score at 1–1 just before half-time; Askey said the players performed well but needed to show more belief.

[25] Askey boosted his squad with a triple signing, bringing in 29-year-old former Notts County defender Shaun Brisley, 25-year-old former Bury striker Jordan McFarlane-Archer, and 20-year-old midfielder Jake Taylor on loan from Nottingham Forest.

[30] On 14 September, Vale suffered three first-half injuries at home to pre-season promotion favourites Plymouth Argyle, but rallied to a 1–0 victory after Nathan Smith scored the game's only goal on 76 minutes.

[36] Back on the pitch, Askey signed versatile midfielder Will Atkinson on a short-term deal following injuries to Tom Conlon and Manny Oyeleke.

[41] Three days later they won 2–1 at second-placed Bradford City, with substitute Atkinson scoring his first goal for the club to win the game three minutes into injury-time.

[43] Vale travelled up the A500 to face local rivals Crewe Alexandra on 2 November, who were top of the table and managed to edge a tight game 1–0 with a strike from Taylor on 61 minutes.

[44] A fortnight later and they were one goal down at home to managerless Carlisle United within the opening minute, but then came from behind to win the game 2–1 with a late strike from substitute Cullen.

[45] However, they then lost a one-goal lead at Scunthorpe United to lose 2–1, with in-form David Worrall also picking up Vale's first red card of the season for scuffling with Matty Lund after the final whistle.

[46] Vale's unbeaten home league record came to an end on 7 December, as struggling Walsall engineered a 1–0 victory with the only goal of the game coming within the first minute of the second half; Conlon was also sent off.

[51] Vale's habit of losing points from winning positions was demonstrated again on New Year's Day as they blew a half-time lead to draw 2–2 with Macclesfield Town.

[54] They returned to Vale Park to play out-of-form Leyton Orient and won 1–0 thanks for a strike from Amoo, closing the gap to the play-offs to three points.

[61] In the face of multiple suspensions and the difficult conditions posed by Storm Dennis, Vale cruised to a 3–0 home victory over Colchester United to take their place in the play-offs, with Conlon scoring his first of the season and Cullen bagging a brace.

[64] Vale faced a difficult trip to play-off rivals Cheltenham on 7 March, but managed to end their hosts five match winning run with a goalless draw and had two penalty shouts turned down, including one that referee Scott Duncan initially gave only to change his mind after consulting his linesman.

[84] Askey made eleven changes for the visit of Newcastle United's youngsters as Vale had already qualified for the next round; Cullen scored both goals of a 2–1 victory.