# 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. Brian Horton resigned in February, and was replaced by Martin Foyle. Vale fought for promotion but finished outside the play-off zone on goal difference. In the FA Cup, Vale narrowly avoided humiliation by beating non-League Ford United after the replay went to extra time. However, Vale exited in the Second Round with a defeat to Conference club Scarborough, who also knocked the Vale out of the Football League Trophy in the First Round. Vale also left the League Cup at the First Round stage. Stephen McPhee was Player of the Year and top-scorer with 27 goals, but he left the club at the end of the season to play abroad. Financial problems still hounded the club, and Chairman Bill Bratt was desperate to attract investment from fans. However, he was unwilling to allow one person to have more than 50% of the club's shares.

## Overview
### Second Division

The pre-season saw Brian Horton bring in three key players on free transfers: George Pilkington (Everton); Jonny Brain (Newcastle United); and Austrian Andreas Lipa (Skoda Xanthi). Meanwhile, promising keeper Mark Goodlad began a lengthy period on the sidelines with injuries. 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.
On 23 August, Vale recorded a 4–3 home win over Colchester United after having twice come from a goal down. The season opened with seven wins in eleven games, earning Brian Horton the Manager of the Month award. 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. 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. 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.
Horton resigned in February, with the club in the play-offs. His replacement was Vale legend Martin Foyle, whose only previous experience was in the club's youth set-up. As his assistant he appointed former teammate, Dean Glover, another club legend. In March, Foyle made his first signing, bringing defender Craig James on loan from Sunderland, and after a few weeks he signed him permanently. 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, but Swindon Town and Hartlepool United played out a 1–1 draw to ensure they both finished in the play-offs instead of Vale.
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). Stephen McPhee also decided to leave the club, and though Chairman Bill Bratt had rejected offers of £100,000 for the player, McPhee exploited a loophole in his contract to join Portuguese side Beira-Mar. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson also turned down a new lower-paying contract, and instead signed with Stockport County. Player-coach Ian Brightwell also left Vale Park, having lost his assistant manager role to Glover, and joined Horton at Macclesfield Town. One boost was that Billy Paynter and George Pilkington put pen to paper on new long-term deals.

### Finances

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.
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". The club also rejected other investment proposals from confidential sources. Vice-chairman Charles Machin recommended the board sell the club to Italian businessman Gianni Paladini for £530,000, but the board disagreed. 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. Machin said that "I will not go away. I will haunt the corridors of power like Marley's ghost". However, he was never elected back onto the board.

### Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale risked humiliation in a 2–2 draw with non-League Ford United at Vale Park. 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. 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. This was the first time a League side had been beaten twice in the same season by the same non-League opponents.
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.

## League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 5 | Swindon Town | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 76 | 58 | +18 | 73 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 6 | Hartlepool United | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 76 | 61 | +15 | 73 | Qualification for the Second Division play-offs |
| 7 | Port Vale | 46 | 21 | 10 | 15 | 73 | 63 | +10 | 73 | |
| 8 | Tranmere Rovers | 46 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 59 | 56 | +3 | 67 | |
| 9 | Bournemouth | 46 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 56 | 51 | +5 | 66 | |

## Results

Port Vale's score comes first

### Football League Second Division
#### Results by matchday

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 |
| Ground | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | H | A | H | H | A | A | A | A | H | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | L | W | D | W | L | L | L | W | D | L | W | L | D | D | W | D | L | W | W | L | L | W | W | L | W | L | L | D | W | D | W | D | L | W | L | D | W | W | W |
| Position | 8 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |

#### Matches

| Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Scorers |
| 9 August 2003 | A.F.C. Bournemouth | H | 2–1 | 6,465 | McPhee, Littlejohn |
| 16 August 2003 | Grimsby Town | A | 2–1 | 4,816 | McPhee, Paynter |
| 23 August 2003 | Colchester United | H | 4–3 | 5,133 | Collins, Paynter, Armstrong, McPhee |
| 25 August 2003 | Hartlepool United | A | 0–2 | 5,314 | |
| 30 August 2003 | Brentford | H | 1–0 | 5,257 | Paynter |
| 6 September 2003 | Stockport County | A | 2–2 | 5,316 | Paynter, Collins |
| 13 September 2003 | Barnsley | H | 3–1 | 7,809 | Lipa, Pilkington, Littlejohn |
| 16 September 2003 | Luton Town | A | 0–2 | 5,079 | |
| 20 September 2003 | Bristol City | A | 1–0 | 11,369 | Paynter |
| 27 September 2003 | Wycombe Wanderers | H | 1–1 | 6,822 | McPhee |
| 30 September 2003 | Peterborough United | H | 3–0 | 5,495 | McPhee (2), Collins |
| 4 October 2003 | Wrexham | A | 1–2 | 5,822 | Paynter |
| 11 October 2003 | Oldham Athletic | A | 1–2 | 6,913 | Bridge-Wilkinson (pen) |
| 18 October 2003 | Plymouth Argyle | H | 1–5 | 5,786 | McPhee |
| 21 October 2003 | Queens Park Rangers | H | 2–0 | 5,243 | Paynter, McPhee |
| 25 October 2003 | Swindon Town | A | 0–0 | 5,313 | |
| 1 November 2003 | Chesterfield | A | 0–1 | 4,088 | |
| 15 November 2003 | Notts County | H | 1–0 | 4,900 | McPhee |
| 22 November 2003 | Tranmere Rovers | A | 0–1 | 7,081 | |
| 29 November 2003 | Rushden & Diamonds | H | 1–1 | 4,586 | Littlejohn |
| 12 December 2003 | Brighton & Hove Albion | A | 1–1 | 5,811 | Littlejohn |
| 26 December 2003 | Sheffield Wednesday | A | 3–2 | 24,991 | Littlejohn, Paynter, Brooker |
| 28 December 2003 | Stockport County | H | 2–2 | 6,237 | McPhee (2) |
| 10 January 2004 | A.F.C. Bournemouth | A | 1–2 | 5,926 | McPhee |
| 14 January 2004 | Blackpool | H | 2–1 | 4,523 | Brooker, Bridge-Wilkinson |
| 17 January 2004 | Grimsby Town | H | 5–1 | 5,133 | Bridge-Wilkinson (2), Lipa, Collins, Paynter |
| 27 January 2004 | Hartlepool United | H | 2–5 | 4,845 | Brooker, Cummins |
| 31 January 2004 | Brentford | A | 2–3 | 4,306 | McPhee (2) |
| 7 February 2004 | Sheffield Wednesday | H | 3–0 | 7,958 | Littlejohn, McPhee, Brooker |
| 14 February 2004 | Oldham Athletic | H | 1–0 | 6,035 | McPhee |
| 21 February 2004 | Plymouth Argyle | A | 1–2 | 11,330 | McPhee |
| 24 February 2004 | Colchester United | A | 4–1 | 2,539 | Brooker, Brown (og), Cummins, Bridge-Wilkinson |
| 2 March 2004 | Queens Park Rangers | A | 2–3 | 12,593 | Brooker, Littlejohn |
| 6 March 2004 | Blackpool | A | 1–2 | 6,878 | Paynter |
| 13 March 2004 | Brighton & Hove Albion | H | 1–1 | 5,646 | Paynter |
| 16 March 2004 | Luton Town | H | 1–0 | 5,048 | Cummins |
| 20 March 2004 | Barnsley | A | 0–0 | 8,267 | |
| 27 March 2004 | Bristol City | H | 2–1 | 6,724 | Brooker, Bridge-Wilkinson |
| 30 March 2004 | Swindon Town | H | 3–3 | 5,702 | McPhee (2), Paynter |
| 3 April 2004 | Wycombe Wanderers | A | 1–2 | 4,738 | McPhee |
| 10 April 2004 | Wrexham | H | 1–0 | 5,892 | Cummins |
| 12 April 2004 | Peterborough United | A | 1–3 | 4,988 | Bridge-Wilkinson |
| 17 April 2004 | Chesterfield | H | 1–1 | 5,582 | Paynter |
| 24 April 2004 | Notts County | A | 2–1 | 5,834 | McPhee, Brooker |
| 1 May 2004 | Tranmere Rovers | H | 2–1 | 6,806 | McPhee (2) |
| 8 May 2004 | Rushden & Diamonds | A | 2–0 | 5,240 | McPhee (2) |

### FA Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 | 8 November 2003 | Ford United | H | 2–2 | 4,016 | McPhee, Burns |
| R1 Replay | 19 November 2003 | Ford United | A | 2–1 | ? | Paynter, Chandler (og) |
| R2 | 7 December 2003 | Scarborough | H | 0–1 | 4,651 | |

### League Cup

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 | 12 October 2003 | Nottingham Forest | H | (2)0–0(3) | 4,950 | |

### Football League Trophy

| Round | Date | Opponent | Venue | Result | Attendance | Goalscorers |
| R1 | 14 October 2003 | Scarborough | A | 1–2 | 1,003 | McPhee |

## Player statistics
### Appearances and goals

| Pos. | # | Name | Football League | Football League | FA Cup | FA Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Football League Trophy | Total | Total |
| Pos. | # | Name | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| GK | 1 | Mark Goodlad | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| DF | 2 | George Pilkington | 44 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 49 | 1 |
| DF | 3 | Ian Brightwell | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| DF | 4 | Andreas Lipa | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 2 |
| DF | 5 | Michael Walsh | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| DF | 6 | Sam Collins | 43 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 47 | 4 |
| MF | 7 | Neil Brisco | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| MF | 8 | Micky Cummins | 42 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 46 | 4 |
| FW | 9 | Steve Brooker | 32 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 8 |
| FW | 10 | Stephen McPhee | 46 | 25 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 51 | 27 |
| MF | 11 | Marc Bridge-Wilkinson | 32 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 7 |
| GK | 12 | Dean Delany | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| MF | 13 | Levi Reid | 11 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| MF | 15 | Ian Armstrong | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 22 | 1 |
| DF | 16 | Steve Rowland | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| MF | 17 | Chris Birchall | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| FW | 18 | Billy Paynter | 44 | 13 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 48 | 14 |
| FW | 19 | Simon Eldershaw | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MF | 20 | Adrian Littlejohn | 36 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 7 |
| DF | 21 | Liam Burns | 27 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 |
| DF | 22 | Ryan Brown | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| GK | 23 | Joe Molloy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GK | 24 | Jonny Brain | 32 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| DF | 25 | Craig James | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Players that left the club mid-season: |||||||||||||
| MF | 14 | Mark Boyd | 22 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 0 |

### Top scorers

| Place | Position | Nation | Number | Name | Second Division | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Total |
| 1 | FW | Scotland | 10 | Stephen McPhee | 25 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 |
| 2 | FW | England | 18 | Billy Paynter | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 3 | FW | England | 9 | Steve Brooker | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| 4 | MF | England | 11 | Marc Bridge-Wilkinson | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| – | MF | England | 20 | Adrian Littlejohn | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| 6 | MF | Ireland | 8 | Micky Cummins | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| – | DF | England | 6 | Sam Collins | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | DF | Austria | 4 | Andreas Lipa | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | DF | England | 2 | George Pilkington | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | MF | England | 15 | Ian Armstrong | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | DF | Northern Ireland | 21 | Liam Burns | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| – | | – | – | Own goals | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| | | | | TOTALS | 73 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 78 |

## Transfers
### Transfers in

| Date from | Position | Name | From | Fee |
| June 2003 | DF | Andreas Lipa | Skoda Xanthi | Free transfer |
| June 2003 | DF | George Pilkington | Everton | Free transfer |
| August 2003 | GK | Jonny Brain | Carlisle United | Free transfer |
| March 2004 | DF | Craig James | Sunderland | Free transfer |

### Transfers out

| Date from | Position | Name | To | Fee |
| March 2004 | MF | Mark Boyd | Carlisle United | Free transfer |
| May 2004 | DF | Ian Brightwell | Macclesfield Town | Free transfer |
| May 2004 | DF | Liam Burns | Bristol Rovers | Released |
| May 2004 | GK | Dean Delany | Shelbourne | Free transfer |
| June 2004 | MF | Marc Bridge-Wilkinson | Stockport County | Rejected contract |
| June 2004 | MF | Neil Brisco | Rochdale | Free transfer |
| June 2004 | FW | Stephen McPhee | Beira-Mar | Bosman transfer |
| August 2004 | MF | Adrian Littlejohn | Lincoln City | Free transfer |

### Loans out

| Date from | Position | Nationality | Name | To | Date to | Ref. |
| 27 November 2003 | GK | | Dean Delany | Macclesfield Town | 14 January 2004 | |