History of Port Vale F.C. - 2003–2011: Barely Surviving Under Valiant 2001

2003–2011: Barely Surviving Under Valiant 2001

Valiant 2001 eventually secured control of the club after a long and drawn–out process as the season neared its close. Bill Bratt became the new chairman, and even though the finances were still slim for quite a while, Vale were relatively buoyant. On the pitch, a brief cameo from veteran striker Brett Angell had kept the club above the relegation zone before Christmas with seven goals in fifteen games, and prodigy Billy Paynter helping out with five goals in a young–and–old partnership. However, with the financial problems, the funds were not found to keep Angell beyond November, and after a run of poor form Vale slipped into the bottom four in March.

With the concern of immediate extinction over, and Horton's resourceful signing of experienced Adrian Littlejohn (who scored three goals) the final ten games saw an upturn in form and Vale eventually finish in seventeenth place.

2003–04 was a new era for the club off the pitch, with the club coming out of administration under a new board of fan–ownership. A reduction in match– and season–ticket prices saw around 3,000 season tickets sold. On the pitch, the club had ridden out administration by avoiding relegation (the ten–point penalty did not apply in 2003) with Brian Horton building a young, pacey side.

The club made their best start to a season for many a year and found themselves top of the table at the end of September. Vale remained on course to at least be challenging for the play–offs come May. Their position in the table was based largely on the goals of an attacking front four: Billy Paynter and Adrian Littlejohn played on the right and left, while Steve Brooker and Stephen McPhee forming a partnership up front.

Despite a modicum of success, Horton left in February 2004 after the board revealed he would not be given a new contract on the same terms and his budget would be slashed due to cost–cutting after administration. He was to be replaced by former player Martin Foyle, who had been a success as the club's youth–team manager. Horton left the team in seventh place, just outside the play–offs, and this was ultimately where the club would finish after a final day at Rushden & Diamonds' Nene Park. Going into the game, Vale needed a win to overtake either Swindon or Hartlepool in the play–off places and hope one or the other lost. However, the twist was that both these teams were playing each other and needed just a point to deny Vale a play–off place — unless, that is, Vale won by seven clear goals. Vale dispatched Rushden with a 2–0 win (Steve McPhee scoring both and taking his tally to 27 for the season) but Swindon and Hartlepool played out a 1–1 draw at the County Ground, thus meaning Vale missed out on goal–difference.

Foyle spent almost four years as manager after this, but the style of football the team were playing did him few favours as Vale finished 17th and 13th in his first two full campaigns in charge despite promising starts. Arguably the clubs best recent achievements came in the two major cup competitions in the calendar year of 2006. Vale made it to the 4th round of the FA Cup in 2005–06 which was the clubs first appearance at that stage since the clubs giantkilling exploits a decade earlier. Vale were drawn away to Premier League Aston Villa but were defeated 3–1, holding the Birmingham side well into the 2nd period before succumbing to 2 Milan Baroš strikes and although Nathan Lowndes pulled one back, Steven Davis scored Villa's third.

The following season the club set a record for progression in the League Cup beating three Championship sides at home to set up a tie at Spurs (the first time the sides had met since Vale's infamous win 19 years beforehand). Vale again gave Spurs more than a run for their money taking the lead through Leon Constantine, and were eleven minutes from a major upset before Spurs equalised to force extra time and eventually prevailed 3–1. The signing of Constantine was to prove a big success as he set a post war record by scoring 19 goals before Christmas 2006. Coupled with exciting strike partner Akpo Sodje Vale were up with the early pace setter for League One in 2006–07, however several runs of poor form saw the side fade away to finish 12th despite a striking partnership which contributed 42 goals (Constantine 26, Sodje 16). This added to a shocking 4–0 F.A. Cup defeat to then League Two Hereford United saw fans start to lose patience with Foyle, although he remained in charge before the 2007–08 campaign.

A poor start to the 2007–08 season, in which several of Foyle's major signings did not live up to expectation, resulted in his dismissal on 4 November 2007, with Vale in deep relegation trouble. He was succeeded by Lee Sinnott, but Sinnott was unable to prevent the club from sliding into League Two after a 23rd–place finish, as well as crashing out to Chasetown (an 8th tiered club) in the FA Cup Second Round. Financially the club also suffered, recording losses of £383,738.

2008–09 was Vale's first season in the bottom tier of the Football League in over twenty years. Despite relegation, positive pre–season once again followed in which a cut price season ticket initiative took place in an attempt to boost attendances and bring cheaper football to the masses. This saw Vale fans snap up 6,400 season tickets in readiness for what the club hoped would be a more successful season. However it did not materialise and Sinnott was sacked on 22 September 2008, after an unsuccessful start to their League Two campaign with the Valiants in 16th place, Dean Glover taking over as caretaker-manager for the second time in twelve months. He was appointed as manager on a permanent basis on 6 October. Glover did initially oversee a slight upturn in form as Vale won at previously unbeaten (at home) Shrewsbury Town, which instigated a run of four away wins out of five.

After these highs however the poor form returned with the club losing in the FA Cup second round to Macclesfield and ultimately losing out on a home tie with Premiership Everton. This coupled with the club sliding back into lower mid–table and a similar position to when Sinnott was sacked. 2009 began with fans starting to seriously question the boards motives and the direction the club was going in, especially when it was revealed former manager Lee Sinnott was taking court action against the club for a breach of contract after his dismissal. The 2008–09 season finished with the club in 18th place in League Two, only a final day win at Barnet ensuring the club avoided its worst ever points tally in the bottom tier of the Football League. After months of speculation it was announced on 1 May 2009 that a new manager would be found for the 2009–10 season, with Dean Glover standing down from the role. Off the field, the club recorded a loss of £280,000 – £100,000 less than the previous campaign, having slashed the player wage bill by more than £600,000 to £1.12 million.

On 4 June 2009, it was announced that Micky Adams would become the club's new manager. Adams made a solid start to his tenure impressing the Vale faithful with his honest attitude on the clubs situation and did not take long to write himself into the club's history books. In just his second match, a League Cup tie at Championship side Sheffield United, Vale ran out 2–1 winners. This becoming only the third time in the clubs history that they had won away at a side two leagues above their own status (the others were in 1954 and 1964, both in the FA Cup). In the second round it was a case of deja vu, as Sheffield rivals Wednesday were dispatched 2–0. After a period of three defeats in seven days, including being knocked out of the League Cup at the third round, Adams decided to place his whole squad on the transfer list, saying of his team's performance: “We looked like a woman who had a big fur coat on but underneath she’s got no knickers on.” He later admitted he merely played "a psychological game with them... I don't think they fell for it – I don't think anybody fell for it". Nevertheless they stormed into the play–off places for the first time in the season with just two games left to play. However a loss and a draw saw them finish the season in tenth place.

History repeated itself for the start of 2010–11, with Adams leading Vale to their fifth ever win over opposition two tiers higher than themselves, new signing Justin Richards scoring a brace in a 3–1 win at Queens Park Rangers in the League Cup First Round. Adams left the club in December 2010, with Vale second in the table, after his hometown club Sheffield United chose him as their new manager. Jim Gannon was appointed to finish the promotion job, having already masterminded Stockport County's escape from the division some years previous. Vale lost ground during the transition phase, though hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons in February, after Gannon and assistant Geoff Horsfield had a bust-up during a pre-match coach trip, which resulted in both men leaving the bus to return to Burslem. This argument proved to be just the tip of the iceberg, and Gannon was sacked in March after alienating most of the fans, players and staff. This ten week reign was the shortest in the club's history for a permanent appointment. Mark Grew failed to lift the club back into the play-offs, though at the end of the season supporters were delighted to learn that Micky Adams would be returning as manager. Adams also took up a position as director, while chairman Bill Bratt resigned as chairman, and was replaced by Mike Lloyd. This, combined with promised investment into the club, quelled growing fan unrest. In September 2011, the investors were revealed to be sports construction firm Blue Sky International, who planned to plough £5 million into the club in twelve months, as well as a further £2.5 million by 2016. This sum would secure the long-term future of the club. Bratt resigned as a director in October 2011, as the Valiant2001 era drew to a close. However it quickly emerged that the deal was in jeopardy due to unforeseen 'contractual issues', and new chairman Peter Miller and CEO Perry Deakin came in for criticism from the fans after it was revealed that they had not purchased shares in the club as previously stated. In December, Blue Sky CEO Hank Julicher confirmed that neither his company or his family had invested any money into the club, and claimed that the £8 million deal the club had announced was pure fantasy. Supporters showed their disapproval against the board by displaying red cards in the home fixture against Aldershot Town, a game in which loanee Guy Madjo scored a hat-trick. By the end the year, Deakin had resigned from his post and the board decided to end Miller's reign as chairman.