1981–82 season | |||
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Chairman | Don Ratcliffe | ||
Manager | John McGrath | ||
Stadium | Vale Park | ||
Football League Fourth Division | 7th (70 Points) | ||
FA Cup | Third Round | ||
League Cup | Second Round | ||
Player of the Year | Ernie Moss | ||
Top goalscorer |
League: Ernie Moss (13) All: Ernie Moss (17) |
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Highest home attendance | 8,773 vs. Wigan Athletic (8 February 1982) | ||
Lowest home attendance | 1,924 vs. York City (1 May 1982) | ||
Average home league attendance | 3,639 | ||
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The 1981–82 season was Port Vale's 70th season of football in the Football League, and their fourth successive season (tenth overall) in the Fourth Division.John McGrath led his team to a seventh-place finish, a big improvement on the previous two seasons. Top-scorer Ernie Moss and midfielder Mark Chamberlain proved to be the stars of the season. The season was notable for Vale Park's lowest ever Football League attendance.
The pre-season saw John McGrath make four new signings: defender Ray Deakin (Everton); midfielder Geoff Hunter (from Crewe Alexandra for £12,000); and forwards Ernie Moss (from Chesterfield for £12,000) and Jimmy Greenhoff (Toronto Blizzard). Attempts to re-sign Brian Horton failed. On 1 August, a heavy metal concert was held at Vale Park, headlined by local lad Lemmy's Motörhead. Some twenty thousand metal fans paid £7.50 admission each to boost club coffers. However Vale failed to win any of their pre-season friendlies, and in fact were embarrassed to lose 6–1 at home to local rivals Stoke City.