Togwell, by now captain of the reserve team, played in the opening three rounds of the League Cup in 2005–06, including a 2–1 defeat of European Champions Liverpool in which he marked Steven Gerrard. In November 2005, he joined League One club Port Vale on a six-week loan deal. He impressed at Vale Park, especially on 6 January when he scored both goals of a FA Cup Third Round defeat of Doncaster Rovers. Having already had the loan extended once, Martin Foyle managed to extend the deal until the end of the season after Togwell played some excellent football in January. In March, Vale made Palace an offer, to sign the young midfielder permanently in the summer. The next month, with Togwell and Vale agreed on personal terms, chairman Bill Bratt admitted that the two clubs were a long way from agreeing a deal, with Palace demanding a large sum in transfer fees. The cash-strapped club were forced to abandon hope of signing Togwell, though handed him the club's "Young Player of The Year" award in recognition of his performances in his 30 games that season.