The club were relegated for the first time at the end of the 1928–29 season, going from the Second Division to the Third Division North.[18] They came up as champions the following season and in the 1930–31 season were placed fifth in the second tier of English football, their highest ever league finish.[19] Vale went to beat Chesterfield by a club record 9–1 margin on 24 September 1932.[20] However, after these achievements the club were once again relegated in the 1935–36 season and remained in the third tier until World War II.[21]