2003–04 Port Vale F.C. season

The 2003–04 season was Port Vale's 92nd season of football in the English Football League and fourth-successive season (41st overall) in the Second Division. The campaign began under manager Brian Horton, but mid‑season setbacks led to his resignation in February. Martin Foyle was appointed in his place and guided the club to a seventh‑place finish with 73 points, missing out on a play‑off spot on goal difference in what was their highest league position of the era.

In cup competitions, the Valiants struggled to make a mark. They exited the League Cup at the First Round, falling to Nottingham Forest, while the FA Cup run ended in the Second Round at the hands of Conference side Scarborough. Vale also suffered elimination from the Football League Trophy in the First Round, again losing to Scarborough. On the field, Stephen McPhee was the driving force for Vale, finishing as both club top scorer (25 in the league, 27 in total) and Player of the Year, before departing at the end of the season to play abroad. Despite the relative on‑pitch success, financial fragility persisted: chairman Bill Bratt continued to seek fan-backed investment but remained adamant none would hold a controlling share (over 50%)

The pre-season saw Brian Horton bring in three key players on free transfers: George Pilkington (Everton);^[1] Jonny Brain (Newcastle United);^[2] and Austrian Andreas Lipa (Skoda Xanthi).^[3] Meanwhile, promising keeper Mark Goodlad began a lengthy period on the sidelines with injuries.^[4] Optimism surrounded the club, after the rebuilding of the new squad appeared to had finished after the break-up of the club's previous team due to financial troubles.^[5]

On 23 August, Vale recorded a 4–3 home win over Colchester United after having twice come from a goal down.^[6] The season opened with seven wins in eleven games, earning Brian Horton the Manager of the Month award.^[7] The last of these victories was a 3–0 win over Peterborough United on 30 September, with McPhee scoring two goals after being to the central striker position from out wide.^[8] Though this was followed by a sequence of five defeats in eight games as the goals dried up, this run included a 5–1 thumping at home to Plymouth Argyle. They responded to this defeat with a 2–0 win over title-favourites Queens Park Rangers as goals from Paynter and McPhee secured the three points despite a red card for Rowland after he put in a two-footed challenge on Marcus Bean.^[9] In November, backup keeper Dean Delany joined Macclesfield Town on a two-month loan. On 27 January, Vale were beaten 5–2 at home by Hartlepool United as Sam Collins had a rare off night by giving away a goal and then being sent off.^[10]

Horton resigned in February, with the club in the play-offs.^[11] His replacement was Vale legend Martin Foyle, whose only previous experience was in the club's youth set-up.^[12] As his assistant he appointed former teammate, Dean Glover, another club legend.^[13] In March, Foyle made his first signing, bringing defender Craig James on loan from Sunderland,^[14] and after a few weeks he signed him permanently.^[15] Mark Boyd headed out of the club however, and was allowed to sign with Carlisle United. Vale lost just two of their final twelve games and ran close to a play-off place, only losing out due to their inferior goal difference. They won 2–0 at Rushden & Diamonds on the final day.^[16] However, Swindon Town and Hartlepool United played out a 1–1 draw to ensure they both finished in the play-offs instead of Vale.^[17][18]

They finished in seventh place with 73 points. They were level on points with Hartlepool United and Swindon Town but finished outside of the play-off zone due to their inferior goal difference. Stephen McPhee scored 27 goals to become the club's top-scorer, the highest tally since Andy Jones hit 37 in 1986–87. Other major contributions came from Billy Paynter (14), Steve Brooker (8), Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (7) and Adrian Littlejohn (7).

At the end of the season several players left the club: Neil Brisco (Rochdale); Liam Burns (Bristol Rovers); Adrian Littlejohn (Lincoln City); and Dean Delany (Shelbourne).^[19] Stephen McPhee also decided to leave the club, and though Chairman Bill Bratt had rejected offers of £100,000 for the player,^[20] McPhee exploited a loophole in his contract to join Portuguese side Beira-Mar.^[21] Marc Bridge-Wilkinson also turned down a new lower-paying contract, and instead signed with Stockport County.^[22] Player-coach Ian Brightwell also left Vale Park, having lost his assistant manager role to Glover,^[23] and joined Horton at Macclesfield Town.^[24] One boost was that Billy Paynter and George Pilkington put pen to paper on new long-term deals.^[25]

Peter Walker was appointed as Chief Executive in August 2003, having volunteered to work for free for six months. One feature of the season proved to be the long-running courtroom battle between former chairman Bill Bell and owners Valiant2001 over unpaid rent on the club shop. The club's finances were still worrying for supporters, though the problem appeared to have eased by the end of the season.^[26]

In December, a Peter Jackson-led consortium put a £150,000 investment into the club, which Bratt said "...ensures the future of the club is safe".^[27] The club also rejected other investment proposals from confidential sources.^[28] Vice-chairman Charles Machin recommended the board sell the club to Italian businessman Gianni Paladini for £530,000, but the board disagreed.^[29] In March 2004, Machin and director Geoff Wakefield were voted off the board, as the 'Jackson Five' clique elected Peter Jackson and Stan Meigh in their place.^[29] Machin said that "I will not go away. I will haunt the corridors of power like Marley's ghost".^[29] However, he was never elected back onto the board.^[29]

In the FA Cup, Vale risked humiliation in a 2–2 draw with non-League Ford United at Vale Park.^[30] In the replay, Vale had led 1–0 before a last minute equaliser took the game into extra time. Despite having substitute Ian Armstrong's sent off, the "Valiants" escaped the lottery of the penalty shoot-out when on 114 minutes Ford scored an own goal.^[31] However, in the second round they were still eliminated by a non-League club, when Scarborough's Ashley Sestanovich scored an 80th-minute winner at Vale Park.^[32] This was the first time a League side had been beaten twice in the same season by the same non-League opponents.^[33]

In the League Cup, Vale faced First Division Nottingham Forest. They held Forest to a goalless draw but were eliminated 3–2 in the subsequent penalty shoot-out.

In the Football League Trophy, Vale travelled to the McCain Stadium, where they were defeated 2–1 by Conference club Scarborough.^[34]

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

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