1993 Football League Trophy final

Port Vale received a bye for the first round and so did not take part in the group stages. In the second round they had a home tie with Fulham on 12 January; the visitors were difficult opponents, having held the Vale to a 0–0 draw at Vale Park on the opening day of the 1992–93 league season. The match went into extra time and Fulham then scored to hold a 3–2 lead, however a brace from Dean Glover turned the tie around and gave Vale a 4–3 victory.[5] They then faced struggling Third Division side Northampton Town in the quarter-finals, also at home. Vale recorded a 4–2 win over the "Cobblers", with Peter Swan, Mark Smith, Paul Kerr and Ray Walker scoring a goal each.

In the area semi-finals they had to overcome Potteries derby rivals Stoke City – who would go on to be crowned Second Division champions – in front of a crowd of 22,267 at the Victoria Ground on 3 March.[6] Stoke had won the league encounter at the Victoria Ground back in October by two goals to one, with the return fixture due to the played at the end of March. The two clubs had also met in the first round of the FA Cup in November, drawing 0–0 at the Victoria Ground, before Vale won the replay 3–1 thanks for a brace from Martin Foyle; the game was best remembered for a patch of mud however, which stopped a certain goal from Dave Regis from levelling the score at 2–2.[7][6] The Football League Trophy tie was therefore the fourth of five meeting between the two sides that season; Mark Stein missed a first-half penalty for the "Potters", Robin van der Laan scored the only goal of the game in the second half and later said "the goal has to go down as one of my most important strikes".[6]

They then needed to get past Exeter City over two legs to reach the tournament final, a team they had drawn 2–2 with back in September at Burslem. The home leg took place first on 16 March, where a penalty from Kerr on 16 minutes was cancelled out by a long-range strike from Danny Bailey 21 minutes later; Steve Moran missed a chance to give Exeter the lead in the second half, before Ian Taylor headed in a Kevin Kent cross on 74 minutes to give Vale a 2–1 lead to defend at St James Park.[8] Opposition manager Alan Ball said that: "Port Vale played all the football so I am absolutely delighted that we go into the next game only one down".[8] The away leg was over a month later on 21 April, and seemed to be heading for extra-time when Exeter took the lead on the hour mark, only for new signing Bernie Slaven to level the match at 1–1 on 73 minutes.[8] After the game Port Vale manager John Rudge said that: "On a night like this, all you are looking for is the result and the lads have managed to do that – and I am proud of them."[8] Port Vale advanced into the final with a 3–2 aggregate victory.[8]

Stockport County were placed in group six of the northern section, along with Chesterfield and Chester City. County picked up a 3–0 win over Third Division Chesterfield at Saltergate and a 2–0 win at home to Chester, who would go on to finish bottom of the Second Division.[9][10] Stockport therefore went into the next round as group winners, with Chesterfield also qualifying after they beat Chester 1–0 to claim second-place. On 12 January, Stockport recorded a 1–0 home victory over Second Division club Hartlepool United.[11] They faced a challenging fixture for the area quarter-finals in Second Division play-off chasers Bradford City at Valley Parade, but progressed with a 4–3 victory.[12] County faced Chesterfield again in the semi-finals, and won 2–1 to this time eliminate them from the competition.[13]

In the area finals they drew Wigan Athletic, who would end the season relegated out of the Second Division. The first leg was at Springfield Park on 16 March, and Wigan won 2–1.[14] Stockport needed to turn the tie around the following month at Edgeley Park and succeeded with a 2–0 win to advance into the tournament final with a 3–2 aggregate victory.[15]

Stockport had the first chance, only to have Chris Beaumont denied by a well timed tackle from Swan.[16] Kerr then struck the opening goal of the game in the 4th minute; Slaven started the movement as he collected a loose ball in the centre of the park and hit a through ball past Dave Miller and Lee Todd for Kerr to sprint on and slot home his fourteenth of the season.[16] Van der Laan continued the Valiants spell of pressure, hitting a shot just wide of the goal not long after.[4] In the 37th minute, Vale doubled their lead when Glover put in a cross, which Foyle turned into the path of Slaven, who burst past three defenders before he directed it to the left of the helpless Neil Edwards.[4] Before the half-time whistle came, Jim Gannon earned the first yellow card of the game.[4]

Vale nearly had the game wrapped up before Stockport got back into the game; four minutes after the restart Kerr set Andy Porter free, Porter beat Edwards but Mick Wallace saved the day at the expense of a corner.[16] Substitute Andy Preece was effective right from his introduction, allowing 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) Kevin Francis more room up front. Francis forced the ball from Vale keeper Musselwhite's hands and forced him into a double save.[16] The mounting pressure from County paid dividends in the 66th minute; on-loan player Peter Duffield guided a ball into the box, which Francis directed it over Musselwhite's head and into the net.[16] Sensing a chance of an equaliser, Stockport stepped up the pace, frustrating their opposition. Kerr was booked for a trip on Peter Ward and in the six minutes of injury-time Swan and Francis went into the book for pushing, after Francis fouled Musselwhite.[16][18]

Port Vale manager John Rudge said that: "In the last 20 minutes I was sitting on the edge of my seat because our legs seemed to go. I thought we were in control until then but when they scored they put us under a lot of pressure and we had to hang on."[18] The team stayed overnight in Watford and then returned to have an open top bus for a tour of the north of Stoke-on-Trent, which was attended by thousands of supporters.[18] Joan Walley, MP for Stoke-on-Trent North, tabled a motion in Parliament to congratulate Port Vale on their win and applaud Stockport County for their efforts.[20] Swan and Slaven both claimed to have been named man of the match in their respective autobiographies, with Slaven specifically recalling that Sky TV's match summariser Lennie Lawrence had selected him for the honour; ironically the players would also come to blows during a training session later in 1993.[1][2]

Port Vale were estimated to have made more than £200,000 from the cup run.[18] The following week Vale were defeated 3–0 at Wembley and so both clubs remained in the Second Division, though 1993–94 saw Vale promoted as runners-up.[21][22] Stockport finished fourth in the league, up from their sixth-place finish in 1992–93, they beat York City by the odd goal in the play-off semi-finals, but tasted defeat at Wembley once again as Burnley won the final 2–1.[23] County finally joined Vale in the First Division with automatic promotion in the 1996–97 season.[24] In 2001 Vale lifted the Football League Trophy for a second time.[25]

For John Rudge it was to be his first and last cup trophy in his sixteen years in charge at Vale, though he continued to bring the club success in the league, taking them to eighth in the second tier in 1996–97, their highest post-war position.[24] Rudge was dismissed in controversial fashion in January 1999.[26] Danny Bergara stepped down as County manager after one more season at the helm; he held a number of management positions before his death in July 2007.[27] Vale's Paul Kerr and Bernie Slaven were nearing the end of their careers. Kerr had brief spells with Leicester City and Wycombe Wanderers and Slaven joined Darlington before both men left the professional game in 1995.[28][29] Stockport's slightly more youthful Kevin Francis enjoyed a longer career in the game, leaving the club in January 1995 he spent time with numerous clubs as well as earning two caps for Saint Kitts and Nevis in 1998.[30] County's Jim Gannon would find great success as Stockport manager, before taking the reins at Port Vale in 2011 for a controversial stint as manager which ended in his sacking after just 74 days, the shortest appointment in the club's history.[31]