Heanor Town lent Vale the necessary £5 expenses for the trip to Heanor and the home side subsequently romped to a 7–1 victory. Just as the club seemed to be heading for oblivion, a new committee of "all the football worthies in the town" was formed to take the club forward in a meeting at Burslem town hall that was "packed to suffocation"; Edward Oliver was voted as the new chairman, with Sam Gleaves as the new secretary. In January, a public company was floated with £2,000 capital in £1 shares. On 2 January, Vale recorded their first away win of the campaign, beaten second-bottom Grantham Rovers 1–0. The turn around in form was confirmed with a 2–1 win over champions Kettering. Now in a position to strengthen the team, Vale signed left-sided attacker James Peake from Crewe Alexandra. A 7–2 defeat at Barnsley St Peter's proved to be the one blip in a run of nine unbeaten in the league, with the team grumbling about foul play from the hosts and "incompetence" from the referee. On 20 February, Vale managed to humiliate Grantham Rovers 8–0. Supporters returned to the Athletic Ground and a crowd of 1,500 witnessed a 3–1 victory over Long Eaton Rangers on 6 March. Two away victories saw the club rise to fourth in the league, including a 1–0 win at Rushden in which Fred Belfield was "advised to leave the field" by the referee as the home crowd were threatening to rush the pitch in response to Belfield's repeated kicking of defender Minney. More crowd trouble also occurred in the 1–0 win at Doncaster Rovers, as Dick Evans was grabbed by the throat and Teddy Morse was "hurled under the waggonette". Morse was sent off in the following game, a 1–0 home defeat by Ilkeston Town, after Willett claimed he had bitten his nose. Vale went on to win their final two home fixtures, ending the campaign in seventh-place with 31 points from 28 matches, just one point away from third-place. Dick Evans finished as the club's top-scorer, claiming 12 league goals – though some of these might actually have been scored by namesake Ted Evans. The team's form in 1897 saw the club given a vote on whether they should be readmitted into the Football League at the league's annual meeting; however their 11 votes were two fewer than successful applicants Luton Town.