Vale ended a six-season stay in the Third Division with relegation at the end of the 1964–65 campaign.[23] In 1967, former Ballon d'Or winner Stanley Matthews succeeded Jackie Mudie as manager, though he resigned a year later after Vale were expelled from the Football League for allegedly making illegal payments to players in contravention of FA rules – this punishment was reduced on appeal to a re-election vote, which the club won.[24] Gordon Lee took the helm following this punishment, and steered the club to promotion at the end of the 1969–70 campaign.[25] However, the 1970s did not prove a successful period for the Valiants, as the club languished in the bottom half of the Third Division for much of the decade.