1987–88 Port Vale F.C. season

The pre-season saw Russell Bromage traded to Bristol City in exchange for Lawrie Pearson and £25,000.[1] Jon Bowden was also sold to Wrexham for £12,500.[1] The club also announced a new sponsorship deal with ABC Minolta, whilst the English Football League announced that midweek games would be played on Monday nights instead of Tuesday nights.[1] John Rudge bought Darren Beckford from Manchester City for £15,000.[1]

The season began with Andy Jones scoring all four goals in his 100th appearance for the club, to beat Aldershot 4–2.[1] With Pearson performing poorly, Darren Hughes was signed from Brighton & Hove Albion for a £10,000 fee.[1] Paul Smith was also offloaded to Lincoln City for £40,000.[1] Vale then won three consecutive games to go top of the table.[1] After goal machine Andy Jones was sold to First Division Charlton Athletic for £350,000 – a sale Rudge described as like 'cutting off my right arm'[1] – Vale slid down the table. Alex Williams was also forced to retire with a back injury, leading to the return of a fit again Mark Grew in goal.[1] More injuries came as Chris Banks had his nose broken after a reserve match at Barnsley when he was attacked by a gang of youths whilst waiting at a fish and chip shop.[1] Alan Webb then suffered second degree burns at Preston North End's plastic pitch at Deepdale.[1] The next month Rudge tried to replace Jones when he signed David Riley from Nottingham Forest for £20,000.[1] Despite a good start Riley soon entered a goal drought, as Vale went twelve league games without a win (including eight defeats).[1] Robbie Earle missed much of this period with a hernia injury.[1] In November Kevin Steggles was signed from West Bromwich Albion for 'a small fee' to replace the still-injured Webb.[1] More signings were made with former England international Peter Barnes arriving on loan from Manchester City, and 'hard-working' Simon Mills purchased from York City for £35,000.[1]

Rumours of a Rudge exit from Vale Park came after Alan Oakes quit in protest after being demoted to youth coach, and 'taskmaster' Mike Pejic was promoted in his place.[1] Nevertheless, he signed Gary Ford from Leicester City for £36,000, whilst Pearson had his contract cancelled by mutual consent. Michael Cole also arrived on loan from Ipswich Town.[1] Rudge switched from a formation of 4–4–2 to 4–3–3 and only one defeat followed in the next thirteen league games.[1] As Barnes returned to Manchester, Richard O'Kelly was transferred to Walsall.[1] Cole was replaced by another loanee Dean Holdsworth (from Watford), who found greater success with Vale.[1] However Gary Hamson was forced to retire through injury.[1] A 5–0 win over Doncaster Rovers on 2 April helped the Vale into tenth place, giving Vale a faint hope of reaching the play-offs.[1] Vale ended the season poorly however, winning just two of their final nine games.[1]

They finished in eleventh place with 65 points, ten points short of play-off contenders Bristol City.[1] Top-scorers Beckford and Riley had managed ten goals each, just four more than Jones had done in his eight games.[1] Ray Walker was honoured with the club's Player of the Year award and was selected for the PFA's Third Division team of the year.[1]

On the financial side, the cup run and sale of Jones had raised a record profit of £410,239.[1] Match receipts had increased by 67% to £380,387, whilst advertising and broadcast revenues had more than doubled to £157,861.[1] The club's shirt sponsors were ABC Minolta Copiers. The wage bill had also fallen to £367,836.[1] Three players were given free transfers at the season's end: Kevin Steggles (Bury Town), Chris Banks (Exeter City), and Paul Maguire (Northwich Victoria).[1]

In the FA Cup, Vale put in their 'worst away performance of the season' in a 2–2 draw at Prenton Park.[1] They managed to beat Tranmere Rovers 3–1 in the replay in Burslem. A 'splendid' performance then defeated Notts County 2–0.[1] They overcame non-league Macclesfield Town with a Kevin Finney goal to book a Fourth Round home tie with Tottenham Hotspur. Ground improvements increased Vale Park's capacity, though a watered down pitch persuaded "Spurs" boss Terry Venables to leave star man Osvaldo Ardiles on the bench.[2] Despite this, TV pundit Jimmy Greaves reckoned that "The only trouble Spurs will have at Port Vale, is finding the place."[3] As it happened 20,045 turned up to witness a 'famous' 2–1 victory.[1] [4] The "Valiants" were in 'another gear' as Ray Walker nailed a 'stunning' 25 yard strike and Phil Sproson scored the second vital goal.[1] The club received £80,000 for the game from the BBC, with the match also broadcast on radio in Australia.[1] The Fourth Round held Watford, and 22,483 turned up for the original goalless tie in Stoke-on-Trent (the highest Vale Park attendance since the visit of Liverpool in 1964).[1] A further £87,699 was taken from the game.[1] At the replay at Vicarage Road Vale were eliminated 2–0, though Vale were delighted with their £175,000 winning cup run.[1]

In the League Cup, 3,460 saw Vale's opening tie with Northampton Town fail 'to produce the passion of a schoolyard kickabout', though both sides had two players sent off in the 2–0 defeat.[1] Vale were then thumped 4–0 at Sixfields to exit the tournament 6–0 on aggregate.[1]

In the League Trophy, Fourth Division strugglers Newport County beat the Vale 2–0 at Somerton Park, though a 2–0 home win over Exeter City took the Vale through the group stage. They then were eliminated by Torquay United at Plainmoor with a 1–0 loss.