2002–03 Port Vale F.C. season

The 2002–03 season was Port Vale's 91st season of football in the English Football League and third-successive season (40th overall) in the Second Division. It proved another difficult year under manager Brian Horton, as the side endured an inconsistent league campaign before narrowly avoiding relegation with a 17th‑place finish on 53 points. In December, the club entered administration amid mounting financial pressure, and in March the Valiant 2001 supporters' group completed a takeover, ending the regime of chairman Bill Bell.

Port Vale

2002–03 season
Owner	Valiant 2001 (March onwards)
Chairman	Bill Bell (until December) Administrators (December – March) Bill Bratt (from March)
Manager	Brian Horton
Stadium	Vale Park
Football League Second Division	17th (53 Points)
FA Cup	First Round (knocked out by Crewe Alexandra)
League Cup	First Round (knocked out by Crewe Alexandra)
Football League Trophy	Area Quarter-finalists (knocked out by Shrewsbury Town)
Player of the Year	Sam Collins
Top goalscorer	League: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (9) All: Marc Bridge-Wilkinson (9)
Highest home attendance	6,395 vs. Wigan Athletic, 26 December 2002
Lowest home attendance	2,222 vs. Chesterfield, 12 November 2002
Average home league attendance	4,436
Biggest win	5–1 vs. Huddersfield Town, 26 April 2003
Biggest defeat	0–4 vs. Queens Park Rangers, 15 February 2003
Home colours Away colours
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Port Vale's cup adventures were brief. Both the FA Cup and League Cup ended at the First Round, each time following defeats to local rivals Crewe Alexandra — the FA Cup exit came courtesy of a Dean Ashton goal, and Crewe also knocked Vale out of the League Cup by a 2–0 scoreline. The club fared slightly better in the Football League Trophy, reaching the Northern Section Area Quarter‑Finals before being eliminated by Shrewsbury Town.

On the field, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson led the scoring charts for Vale with nine goals in all competitions, despite injury setbacks earlier in the season. The team recorded a season‑highlight result in April with a 5–1 victory over Huddersfield Town, but overall results remained erratic, and average attendance dipped to around 4,436. While the club ultimately survived in mid‑table, off-field challenges around debt, administration, and ownership change loomed large as the campaign closed.

Robbie Williams decided against purchasing the club.

John Durnin left the club at the end of the season.

Overview

Second Division

The pre-season saw Brian Horton make several free signings: Jon McCarthy (Birmingham City); Brett Angell (Rushden & Diamonds); Ian Brightwell (Walsall);^[1] Phil Charnock (Crewe Alexandra); Sam Collins (Bury);^[2][3] and Mark Boyd (Newcastle United).^[4] Midfielder Dean Keates had a trial at the club over the summer, but was not offered a contract.

The season started poorly, with four straight defeats. Only one goal scored from open play, causing fans to barrack Horton.^[5] Their form changed with a 1–0 win over Wigan Athletic at the JJB Stadium – the first in a sequence of five consecutive victories. Following this run, victories were sparse for the Vale, and they picked up just four league victories until the beginning of March. The club agreed to sell Stephen McPhee to Wigan Athletic for £300,000, though the deal fell through over personal terms.^[6] In October, Lee Ashcroft arrived on loan from Wigan Athletic.^[7] Meanwhile, Jon McCarthy was released,^[8] and signed with Doncaster Rovers.^[9] The next month Brett Angell also departed after rejecting a new deal with the club,^[10] and instead joined Queens Park Rangers.

A mini-revival began in the new year, as Vale were unbeaten in their three January league games. In February, defender Peter Clarke arrived on a three-month loan deal from Everton.^[11][12] Adrian Littlejohn also joined the club on a monthly contract,^[13] having left Lincoln City. On 1 March, Vale were beaten 4–1 away at Colchester United, with Gareth Williams scoring a hat-trick.^[14] There was a turnaround in form following a 1–0 win over Blackpool on 8 March, as 18 points from the final twelve games of the season were enough to see off the fan's fears of relegation. Horton remained unpopular with some sections of Vale's supporters.^[15] On 12 April, Vale came from behind to beat Northampton Town at home after Horton angrily remonstrated with a supporter in the crowd who demanded his resignation whilst the club were a goal down.^[16] They finished in 17th place with 53 points, just five points above Cheltenham Town in the relegation zone. They finished 33 points and 15 places behind Crewe, who were promoted as runners-up. The end-of-season table was unusual in that 15 points separated 7th and 8th, whilst 17 points separated 8th and 21st. Marc Bridge-Wilkinson was the club's top-scorer with just nine goals in all competitions.

At the end of the season, several players left the club on free transfers: Matt Carragher (Macclesfield Town);^[17] Paul Byrne (Barry Town); Phil Charnock (Bury); Sean McClare (Rochdale); John Durnin (Accrington Stanley); and Rae Ingram (Bangor City).

Finances, administration & a change of ownership

Talks of Bell selling the club circulated at the start of the season,^[18] as Staffordshire Police were forced to write off £100,000 worth of debt.^[19] Meanwhile, Marketing executive Terry Smith resigned after just six weeks in the job. Bell told the press that the Lorne Street stand would be open at the start of the season, though work never got going on the project. Director Jim Lloyd resigned in September, leaving the club with just Bell and two directors (only one of whom was allowed to vote; Bell had the casting vote in the event of a tie). The club's financial crisis came to a head in the season, with the club £2.4 million in debt and posting £500,000 a year in losses.^[20] On 25 November, Bell put his shares up for sale at £10 each.^[21]

The club entered administration on 16 December,^[22] with £600,000 owed to Inland Revenue and the Customs & Excise;^[23] Birmingham-based administration firm Poppleton & Appleby took control. Assistant manager Mark Grew and Ray Williams were both laid off to save money.^[24] The club approached millionaire pop star and Vale fan Robbie Williams,^[25] who rejected the opportunity to invest in the club.^[26] Rumours circulated of a possible merger with rivals Stoke City and a ground-share at the Britannia Stadium,^[27] fuelled by the belief that a 'mystery bidder' was the Icelandic owners of Stoke City.^[28] Stoke Holdings, the Icelandic company which owned Stoke City, offered Bill Bell £50,000 to buy his debt and thereby take control of the club by bypassing the administrators; however, Bell rejected the offer. Valiant2001 eventually agreed to rent the club shop off Bell as an incitement for him to accept their offer (his vote was needed as he was the club's biggest creditor). The administrators received a number of bids for the club,^[29] and received interest from Mo Chaudry (owner of WaterWorld), Summerbank Management (Tunstall based consultancy firm), and property developing duo Steve Ball and Iain McIntosh.^[30] A late bid from Gianni Paladini seemed likely to succeed,^[31] however, Bill Bratt's 'Valiant 2001' fan-based consortium's bid was accepted in March,^[32] and the group took control the following month.^[33] The group had had a £1 million bid rejected by Bell the previous year.^[34] The total cost of administration was £255,000, and Bratt said "It has been a ride of terror".^[35]

In May, the club announced a new two-year £200,000 shirt sponsorship deal with local mobile phone company Tricell, ending ten years of sponsorship from Tunstall Assurance.^[36] The new board also appointed former player Andy Porter as youth coach,^[37] and got the club's transfer embargo lifted in July.^[38]

Cup competitions

In the FA Cup, Vale were knocked out by nearby Crewe Alexandra with a Dean Ashton goal.^[39]

In the League Cup, Crewe made the first of their three visits to Vale Park (all of which they won) and advanced with a 2–0 victory, both goals scored by Rodney Jack.^[40]

In the Football League Trophy, Vale advanced through the opening rounds with home wins over Hull City and Chesterfield (after a penalty shoot-out^[41]). In the Northern Section Quarter-Finals, they faced Shrewsbury Town at Gay Meadow and lost 2–1.

League table

Main article: 2002–03 Football League

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
15	Notts County	46	13	16	17	62	70	−8	55
16	Brentford	46	14	12	20	47	56	−9	54
17	Port Vale	46	14	11	21	54	70	−16	53
18	Wycombe Wanderers	46	13	13	20	59	66	−7	52
19	Barnsley	46	13	13	20	51	64	−13	52

Source: ^[42]
Rules for classification: In the Football League goals scored (GF) takes precedence over goal difference (GD).

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	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A
Result	L	L	L	L	W	W	W	W	W	L	L	D	D	D	L	W	D	D	L	W	L	L	L	L	D	W	D	L	L	W	L	D	L	L	L	W	D	W	L	D	W	W	L	D	W	L
Position	24	24	24	24	22	19	15	11	9	10	13	12	12	14	14	12	13	13	16	12	14	15	18	19	17	15	15	16	19	15	17	19	19	20	22	19	20	18	19	19	17	16	19	18	16	17
Points	0	0	0	0	3	6	9	12	15	15	15	16	17	18	18	21	22	23	23	26	26	26	26	26	27	30	31	31	31	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	39	42	42	43	46	49	49	50	53	53

Source: Statto^[43]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Scorers
10 August 2002	Tranmere Rovers	H	1–4	5,629	Brooker
13 August 2002	Cardiff City	A	1–3	13,296	Bridge-Wilkinson (pen)
17 August 2002	Chesterfield	A	1–2	3,598	Angell (pen)
24 August 2002	Stockport County	H	0–1	4,070
26 August 2002	Wigan Athletic	A	1–0	6,532	Armstrong
31 August 2002	Peterborough United	H	1–0	3,862	Angell
7 September 2002	Swindon Town	A	2–1	5,029	Bridge-Wilkinson (2)
14 September 2002	Colchester United	H	1–0	3,328	Collins
17 September 2002	Notts County	H	3–2	3,505	Angell (2), Paynter
21 September 2002	Blackpool	A	2–3	7,756	Collins, Bridge-Wilkinson
28 September 2002	Bristol City	H	2–3	4,286	Paynter, Cummins
5 October 2002	Huddersfield Town	A	2–2	9,091	Collins, Paynter
12 October 2002	Oldham Athletic	H	1–1	5,563	McPhee
19 October 2002	Brentford	A	1–1	5,177	Paynter
26 October 2002	Crewe Alexandra	H	1–2	6,374	Angell
29 October 2002	Cheltenham Town	A	1–0	3,852	Bridge-Wilkinson (pen)
2 November 2002	Queens Park Rangers	H	0–0	4,394
9 November 2002	Luton Town	A	0–0	6,112
23 November 2002	Northampton Town	A	0–3	4,357
30 November 2002	Mansfield Town	H	4–2	3,880	Cummins (2), Armstrong, Paynter
14 December 2002	Wycombe Wanderers	A	1–3	5,229	Armstrong
21 December 2002	Plymouth Argyle	H	1–2	4,892	Brooker
26 December 2002	Wigan Athletic	H	0–1	6,395
28 December 2002	Barnsley	A	1–2	9,291	Bridge-Wilkinson
1 January 2003	Stockport County	A	1–1	4,390	Brooker
18 January 2003	Peterborough United	A	2–1	4,770	Brooker, Bridge-Wilkinson
25 January 2003	Barnsley	H	0–0	4,033
1 February 2003	Tranmere Rovers	A	0–1	7,461
8 February 2003	Luton Town	H	1–2	4,714	Boyd
11 February 2003	Chesterfield	H	5–2	3,039	Boyd (2), McPhee, Armstrong, Brooker
15 February 2003	Queens Park Rangers	A	0–4	13,703
22 February 2003	Swindon Town	H	1–1	4,085	Armstrong
25 February 2003	Cardiff City	H	0–2	3,831
1 March 2003	Colchester United	A	1–4	3,581	Bridge-Wilkinson
4 March 2003	Notts County	A	0–1	6,302
8 March 2003	Blackpool	H	1–0	4,394	Bridge-Wilkinson (pen)
15 March 2003	Crewe Alexandra	A	1–1	8,146	Brisco
18 March 2003	Brentford	H	1–0	3,241	Collins
22 March 2003	Cheltenham Town	H	1–2	4,800	McPhee
29 March 2003	Oldham Athletic	A	1–1	7,209	Cummins
5 April 2003	Mansfield Town	A	1–0	4,538	Durnin
12 April 2003	Northampton Town	H	3–2	4,209	Walsh, Clarke, Littlejohn
19 April 2003	Plymouth Argyle	A	0–3	12,587
21 April 2003	Wycombe Wanderers	H	1–1	3,590	Littlejohn
26 April 2003	Huddersfield Town	H	5–1	5,925	Armstrong (2), Littlejohn, Collins, Charnock
3 May 2003	Bristol City	A	0–2	12,410

FA Cup

Main article: 2002–03 FA Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	16 November 2002	Crewe Alexandra	H	0–1	5,507

League Cup

Main article: 2002–03 Football League Cup

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	10 September 2002	Crewe Alexandra	H	0–2	3,765

Football League Trophy

Main article: 2002–03 Football League Trophy

Round	Date	Opponent	Venue	Result	Attendance	Goalscorers
R1	22 October 2002	Hull City	H	3–1	2,621	Angell (2), Carragher
R2	12 November 2002	Chesterfield	H	(4)1–1(3)	2,222	Armstrong
SQF	10 December 2002	Shrewsbury Town	A	1–2	2,597	Boyd

Player statistics

Appearances and goals

Key to positions: GK – Goalkeeper; DF – Defender; MF – Midfielder; FW – Forward

Pos.	#	Name	Football League		FA Cup		League Cup		Football League Trophy		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
GK	1	Mark Goodlad	37	0	1	0	1	0	3	0	42	0
DF	2	Matt Carragher	35	0	1	0	1	0	3	1	40	1
DF	3	Rae Ingram	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
MF	4	Sean McClare	17	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	20	0
DF	5	Michael Walsh	17	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	18	1
DF	6	Sam Collins	44	5	1	0	1	0	3	0	49	5
MF	7	Neil Brisco	24	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	24	1
MF	8	Micky Cummins	30	4	1	0	1	0	3	0	35	4
FW	9	Steve Brooker	26	5	1	0	1	0	2	0	30	5
FW	10	Stephen McPhee	40	3	1	0	1	0	3	0	45	3
MF	11	Marc Bridge-Wilkinson	31	9	0	0	1	0	1	0	33	9
GK	12	Dean Delany	10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10	0
MF	13	Levi Reid	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
MF	14	Mark Boyd	20	3	1	0	1	0	2	1	24	4
MF	15	Ian Armstrong	29	7	1	0	1	0	3	1	34	8
DF	16	Steve Rowland	25	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	27	0
DF	17	Paul Byrne	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
FW	18	Billy Paynter	31	5	1	0	0	0	2	0	34	5
MF	19	Phil Charnock	18	1	1	0	0	0	3	0	22	1
MF	20	John Durnin	28	1	1	0	0	0	2	0	31	1
DF	21	Liam Burns	16	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	19	0
DF	22	Ryan Brown	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
DF	23	Ian Brightwell	35	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	38	0
MF	25	Chris Birchall	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
FW	26	Simon Eldershaw	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
MF	27	Adrian Littlejohn	13	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	3
Players that left the club mid-season:
FW	22	Brett Angell	15	5	0	0	1	0	1	2	17	7
MF	24	Jon McCarthy	8	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	9	0
FW	24	Lee Ashcroft	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	0
DF	24	Peter Clarke	13	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	1

Top scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Number	Name	Second Division	FA Cup	League Cup	Football League Trophy	Total
1	MF	England	11	Marc Bridge-Wilkinson	9	0	0	0	9
2	MF	England	15	Ian Armstrong	7	1	0	0	8
3	FW	England	22	Brett Angell	5	2	0	0	7
4	DF	England	6	Sam Collins	5	0	0	0	5
–	FW	England	18	Billy Paynter	5	0	0	0	5
–	FW	England	9	Steve Brooker	5	0	0	0	5
7	MF	Ireland	8	Micky Cummins	4	0	0	0	4
–	MF	England	14	Mark Boyd	3	1	0	0	4
9	FW	England	10	Stephen McPhee	3	0	0	0	3
–	MF	England	27	Adrian Littlejohn	3	0	0	0	3
11	DF	England	5	Michael Walsh	1	0	0	0	1
–	DF	England	24	Peter Clarke	1	0	0	0	1
–	MF	England	7	Neil Brisco	1	0	0	0	1
–	MF	England	20	John Durnin	1	0	0	0	1
–	MF	England	19	Phil Charnock	1	0	0	0	1
–	DF	England	2	Matt Carragher	0	1	0	0	1
				TOTALS	54	5	0	0	59

Transfers

Transfers in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
May 2002	MF		Mark Boyd	Newcastle United	Free transfer	[44]
June 2002	DF		Sam Collins	Bury	Free transfer	[44]
August 2002	FW		Brett Angell	Rushden & Diamonds	Free transfer	[44]
August 2002	DF		Ian Brightwell	Stoke City	Free transfer	[44]
August 2002	MF		Phil Charnock	Crewe Alexandra	Free transfer	[44]
August 2002	MF		Jon McCarthy	Birmingham City	Free transfer	[44]
February 2003	MF		Adrian Littlejohn	Sheffield United	Free transfer	[44]

Transfers out

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
October 2002	MF		Jon McCarthy	Doncaster Rovers	Released	[44]
November 2002	FW		Brett Angell	Queens Park Rangers	Free transfer	[44]
May 2003	DF		Matt Carragher	Stafford Rangers	Released	[44]
May 2003	MF		John Durnin	Accrington Stanley	Released	[44]
May 2003	DF		Rae Ingram	Bangor City	Released	[44]
May 2003	MF		Sean McClare	Rochdale	Released	[44]
July 2003	MF		Paul Byrne	Barry Town	Free transfer	[44]
August 2003	MF		Phil Charnock	Bury	Free transfer	[44]

Loans in

Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date to	Ref.
11 October 2002	FW		Lee Ashcroft	Wigan Athletic	27 October 2002	[44]
20 February 2003	DF		Peter Clarke	Everton	4 May 2003	[44]