[4] He scored five goals in 56 Third Division North appearances as Billy Wootton's "Latics" posted 11th and sixth-place finishes in the 1947–48 and 1948–49 campaigns.
Spurdle then joined Jock Thomson's Manchester City for a £12,000 fee in January 1950 but could not prevent the club from suffering relegation out of the First Division in 1949–50.
[4] Les McDowall was then put in charge at Maine Road, and led the club to an immediate promotion with a second-place finish in the Second Division in 1950–51.
City struggled in the lower half of the table in the 1953–54 campaign, before exploiting the "Revie plan" to push on to a seventh-place finish in 1954–55.
[4] The "Sky Blues" improved further in the 1955–56 season, finishing fourth and reaching the FA Cup final for a second consecutive year.
However, this was not enough to turn around Vale's season or to save manager Freddie Steele's job, as the "Valiants" were relegated with Norman Low at the helm.
[3] They finished 15th in 1957–58, one point below the Third Division threshold, and as a result Ted Goodier was replaced as manager by Norman Dodgin.