1963–64 Port Vale F.C. season

The pre-season saw manager Freddie Steele spend unprecedented sums of money – though Vale's spending was insignificant to the standard of many of their rivals.[1] Steele brought in Northern Ireland international Billy Bingham from Everton for £15,000; Albert Cheesebrough from Leicester City for another £15,000; as well as Walsall's Tim Rawlings for £4,000.[1] Chairman Tom Talbot approved of these signings despite the club's financial problems.[1] The club also took a tour of Northern Ireland, though a friendly with Benfica (arranged to match rivals Stoke City's match with Real Madrid) was cancelled due to fixture congestion.[1]

The season opened with a 1–0 defeat to Shrewsbury Town at Gay Meadow.[1] This was followed with two victories, including a 4–1 win over Bristol City in which Tony Richards bagged a hat-trick.[1] After another three poor away games came a 3–0 win over Brentford in which Cheesebrough scored a hat-trick, and a 4–0 win over nearby Crewe Alexandra in front of 17,118 fans.[1] Richards sustained a bad leg injury in this win over Crewe.[1] In the beginning of October, Steele bought winger Ron Smith from Crewe for £6,500.[1] Vale improved as a consequence, and three successive victories followed, leaving Vale in fifth spot.[1] However with Richards' return came a downturn in form, as Vale's impressive strikers failed to find the net in a run of one win in nine league games.[1] This one win was a 1–0 victory over struggling Barnsley at Vale Park, though a subsequent pitch invasion by youths emphasised a growing hooligan culture that would plague the club and the sport itself for decades.[1]

In November, Vale paid Stoke City £12,000 for both ex-Scotland striker Jackie Mudie and left-back Ron Wilson.[1] The defeats kept coming, and so Steele experimented with a 4–2–4 formation, dropping Richards from the first eleven.[1] Vale then went six league games unbeaten, including a 4–4 draw with Bristol Rovers at the Eastville Stadium.[1] However a 1–0 home loss inflicted by Notts County sent Vale on a run of seven defeats and two draws in nine league games.[1] By March the club was in a relegation battle, though results then began to go Vale's way.[1] Only one defeat in their final eleven games ensured safety, as the season ended with a 5–0 drubbing of relegated Wrexham.[1]

They finished in thirteenth place with 46 points, a poor finish for the money spent on transfers.[1] Only 53 goals were scored, as Richards and Cheeseborough were affected with injuries, and Bingham struggled to find his footing in the third tier.[1] Their 49 goals conceded was an excellent record though.[1]

On the financial side, good attendance figures failed to prevent a massive loss of £42,650, which had come from a £45,567 deficit in transfer fees.[1] A donation of the £19,867 from the Sportsmen's Association and the social club could not disguise the disaster of poor finances.[1] The wage bill had also risen by 20% to over £40,000.[1] Leaving the club were Colin Grainger to Doncaster Rovers and Terry Harkin to Crewe Alexandra for a £3,000 fee.[1]

In the FA Cup, Vale conquered Fourth Division Bradford City with a 2–1 win at Valley Parade. They then defeated Workington 2–1 in a 'slipshod affair'.[1] The Third Round held First Division Birmingham City at St Andrew's. Three thousand of the 21,652 spectators were Vale fans, who 'sung and chanted their way through' a 2–1 victory.[1] In the Fourth Round Vale were drawn against top-flight giants Liverpool at Anfield. The "Reds" had inflicted a 6–1 thrashing of Stoke on Boxing day, in an ominous sign of the challenge the "Valiants" faced.[1] Vale achieved a goalless draw in front of 52,327 fans – 8,000 of them Vale supporters – in a fantastic team performance.[1] The replay at Vale Park ended in a 2–1 loss in front of 42,179 paying fans (as well as an additional 6,000 or so Liverpool supporters who 'mob stormed' the gates to enter the Railway Paddock).[1] Crowd trouble ate into the £8,000 worth of gate receipts, and more significantly caused the death of a Leek man (Harold Birch), and saw serious injuries inflicted to Liverpool fans Harry Taylor and James McDonough, as well as Vale supporter Billy Poulson.[1]

In the League Cup, a First Round exit came with a 2–1 defeat at Southend United's Roots Hall.