1968–69 Port Vale F.C. season
season of football team
The 1968–69 season was Port Vale's 57th season of football in the English Football League, and their fourth-successive season (fifth overall) in the Fourth Division. Under newly-appointed manager Gordon Lee and chairman Arthur McPherson, Vale consolidated their league status with a 13th‑place finish, earning 46 points from 46 matches, and achieving an exactly balanced record of 46 goals scored and conceded.
Roy Chapman led the scoring charts with 11 league goals (12 in all competitions), while left-back Ron Wilson was voted Player of the Year for his consistent performances. Attendance figures saw a high of 8,800 for the fixture against Shrewsbury Town on 18 November 1968, a low of 2,679 against Grimsby Town on 21 April 1969, and an overall average league attendance of 4,361 fans. The club's most emphatic victory came with a 5–0 home win over Newport County on 18 January 1969, while their heaviest defeat was a 3–0 loss at Aldershot on 5 March 1969.
Vale exited the FA Cup in the Third Round, knocked out by Watford, and suffered a First Round exit in the League Cup at the hands of Wrexham. Off the field, financial problems persisted: the club recorded another seasonal loss, pushing total debt higher, despite Lee laying the groundwork for a more stable future.
Overview
Fourth Division
On 8 June, the club's future was decided, as a vote of 39 to 9 allowed the club readmission to the Football League, despite the conclusion of an investigation earlier in the year which ruled that the club should be expelled from the League. New manager Gordon Lee thus began work on rebuilding his squad, announcing a team approach with an additional 'individual coaching plan' for players to improve their weaknesses. Lee was big on coaching, and replaced cross country running exercises with realistic match-day situations.
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