1978–79 Port Vale F.C. season

The pre-season saw new manager Dennis Butler sign big striker Bernie Wright from Bradford City for £9,000 and right-back Neil Wilkinson on a free transfer from Blackburn Rovers.[1] Butler also took the team on a three match tour of Scotland.[1] Just before the start of the season Ken Todd was signed for a club-record £37,000, despite Todd having only made a handful of appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers.[1] In the summer former Valiant Tommy McLaren committed suicide, friend and teammate Ray Williams said 'leaving the club shattered him'.[1] On 2 October a Memorial Fund match was played, raising £3,000.[1]

The season opened with just two victories in eleven league games, as both Todd and keeper John Connaughton were sidelined with injuries.[1] The two wins came away from home, 5–1 over rivals Crewe Alexandra at Gresty Road (Wright scoring a hat-trick) and 3–1 at Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium.[1] Butler then threw himself into the transfer market, selling John Froggatt to Northampton Town for £8,000, and then Mick Moore and Terry Bailey to Wigan Athletic and Northwich Victoria respectively, both for £2,000.[1] Another 'shrewd piece of business' came when star forward Ken Beamish was sold to Bury for £35,000, whilst Gerry Keenan moved the other way for £15,000.[1] In October, Felix Healy was signed from Finn Harps for £8,000, and Neil Wilkinson and £3,000 were traded to Crewe in exchange for outside-right Kevin Tully.[1] Winning five games in a sequence of eight, Todd was still a disappointment to fans, who began getting 'on his back'.[1] Butler's signings did not stop however, and instead he sold John Ridley to Leicester City for a club-record £55,000.[1] He then signed Andy Proudlove from Buxton for £1,000 – despite interest from Stafford Rangers.[1] Then in came midfielder Peter Farrell from Bury for a new club-record £40,000.[1] They ended their club-record streaks of 42 away games without keeping a clean sheet on 30 September, and of twelve home games without a win on 21 October.

Going into December four games unbeaten, Butler then splashed out £30,000 on Chester's Bob Delgado.[1] Despite this, Vale were thumped 6–2 by Barnsley in front of 10,532 at Oakwell.[1] In January, legendary England goalkeeper Gordon Banks was appointed as coach, and results began to pick up as Vale were lifted into eighth spot.[1] Healy left the club in February, only to return two weeks later.[1] Behind the scenes there was trouble when Arthur McPherson ruled that club shares could only be transferable to a male relation, in order 'to safeguard plans by the current directors'.[1] More defeats came, and the big money signings were targeted by fans for abuse.[1] Butler reacted by calling the fans 'a bunch of yobs'.[1] From mid-March, Vale went seven games with only one victory and one goal scored.[1] On 21 March violence returned to Vale Park, when Portsmouth keeper Peter Mellor saved a penalty, floored Peter Farrell and made an 'assortment of gestures' to the Bycars End – he found himself attacked by a Vale fan on the pitch for his efforts.[1] On 13 April, Vale surrendered a three-goal lead at Springfield Park to lose 5–3 to Wigan Athletic.[1] Danger of ending up in the re-election zone was ended with a late four game unbeaten spell, despite heavy defeats from Reading and York City.[1]

They finished in sixteenth place with 42 points, with an awful defensive record of seventy goals conceded.[1] Despite this their scoring tally away from Burslem was the highest in the Football League, and they were given £2,125 as a reward.[1] Player of the Year Bernie Wright secured fifteen goals in what was a poor season for the club.[1]

On the financial side, a record £52,000 loss was made despite a remarkable £225,000 income from the club's commercial department.[1] Butler's transfer dealings had lost the club £36,000, whilst wages more than doubled from £113,000 to £259,000.[1] The club's liabilities stood at £187,000.[1] Despite all of this the club made 'surprisingly sparing use of the pruning knife', letting go just four players, most significantly David Harris (Halifax Town) and Andy Proudlove (Stafford Rangers).[1] Behind the scenes, long-time club servant and president Mark Singer was fired, though chairman Arthur McPherson made no comment to the press.[1]

In the FA Cup, a weeks preparation in Blackpool failed to prevent Vale exiting at the first stage with a 1–0 defeat to Bradford City at Valley Parade.[1]

In the League Cup, Third Division Chester knocked the Vale out 4–1 on aggregate.