page_title: 2012–13 Port Vale F.C. season
section_title: Finances & ownership issues
hierarchical_section_title: 2012–13 Port Vale F.C. season / Overview / Finances & ownership issues
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo taken by myself of David Artell following the Tamworth Vs. Crewe Alexandra game on November 6 2010 at The Lamb Ground.
context_page_description: The 2012–13 season was Port Vale's 101st season of football in the English Football League, and fifth successive season in League Two. The club secured promotion into League One with a third-place finish. Administration scuppered the club's promotion chances in the previous campaign, and high-profile departures in the summer meant that manager Micky Adams had to rebuild his team from the ground up. His rebuilding efforts were severely hampered when Keith Ryder's expected takeover collapsed. The club was instead taken over by Paul Wildes on 20 November.
  There were no lengthy cup runs, as Vale exited the League Cup with an opening day defeat to Championship club Burnley, and were knocked out of the FA Cup at the Second Round with a loss away at League One side Sheffield United, before their progress in the Football League Trophy was halted by League Two rivals Bradford City. This allowed the "Valiants" to focus on gaining promotion, and their goal-scoring feats took them up to second place by 15 September, behind only defensive masters Gillingham.
context_section_description: The trauma of administration still afflicted Port Vale during the 2012–13 season, as Micky Adams was unable to sign any players until the club's new owner, Keith Ryder, was granted clearance from the Football League. The takeover deal was delayed for a number of weeks after Ryder faced difficulties in passing the league's 'fit and proper persons' test. The administrators lost patience in Ryder, and publicly stated that if Ryder did not pay the £1.3 million takeover sum before 1 August 2012 then his bid would be rejected, and 'plan B' would be implemented. The deadline passed without comment from either party. Confusion reigned as the administrators confirmed that they were open to negotiations with other parties, and that it was up to Ryder to complete his takeover, as he had the opportunity, the funds and – according to Ryder himself – the inclination to complete his takeover. Administrator Bob Young stated that "We initially gave him a deadline of the end of June, which was then extended to 6 July. If someone comes back to us with the funding first, then we will obviously take that forward." Ryder responded that "I wake up every morning believing this is the day we will complete the takeover. If the deal does not go through, and someone else buys the club, there will be no-one more disappointed than me."
  The time sensitive nature of the situation was emphasized when the club revealed that the two pre-season friendlies at Vale Park would be played behind closed doors "as the club has been unable to carry out usual maintenance work during the closed season owing to the prolonged period in administration." The 18 players who signed new contracts in the summer did so on the understanding that Ryder would be the club's owner, and so when told that they had to sign revised contracts that offered less security they sought the advice of the Professional Footballers' Association – they technically remained free agents, free to join another club, until either they agreed to the revised contracts or until Ryder completed his takeover. All but one of the players agreed to sign revised contracts, allowing the club to at least start the season with a full complement of senior players. Ryder disappeared from the scene completely, losing some £170,000 he had spent on a non-refundable deposit and some pre-seasons costs. The off-field problems even extended to the first team kit, as they spent the pre-season in only the grey away strip and played the League Cup First Round game in a pink strip. This was because of a problem supplying the black and white home kit. The new away black and gold kit was released in mid-September, and the new home kit was released the following month. Fans could purchase seasons tickets for between £272 and £356, and could purchase matchday tickets for between £20 and £21.
  At the end of September, Bob Young said that he was hopeful of selling the club by the end of October at the earliest, and that he would "be disappointed if we haven't sold the club by the end of the year". The new preferred bidder was revealed to be Wirral-based businessman Paul Wildes. On 17 November, the Roy Sproson status was revealed, as was new home shirt sponsor UK Windows Systems Ltd. Wildes completed his £1.25 million takeover of the club on 20 November.
  "I have a lot of experience of fixing broken businesses. It's what I'm good at for 30 years. And while this is very different to what I've done before, the model is no different. If you don't have any debt, which we won't have, and you don't have any excessive payrolls for people driven by ego, which we won't have, this business can only go one way and that's up. The only ego issue is ensuring I deliver what I believe this business needs. But everything we do here will be for the benefit of the club, and ultimately for the benefit of the team and the supporters. We'll try to get more people into the ground, increase our turnover, encourage people to spend more within the business and that will enable me to put money directly into the playing budget. There's nothing clever about it.
caption: The club lost the services of David Artell after Keith Ryder failed to produce the money to complete his takeover.
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