The 1925–26 season was Port Vale's seventh consecutive season of football (20th overall) in the Football League. They improved on their previous season's success by two points. They finished in a higher league position than rivals Stoke City for only the second time in their history, and with Stoke relegated in 21st place, they guaranteed playing in a higher league than Stoke for the first time in their history. With seven games left to play, April 1926 would be arguably the club's best ever chance at reaching the top flight, however they tallied just two points from their remaining games to finish in eighth place. Despite all of this, the Vale board proposed a merger with Stoke City, and were forced to resign en-masse when the scheme failed.

A tale of two teams, their home record was the fourth strongest in the division; however away from home they recorded just four victories. The key performer was Wilf Kirkham by quite some distance, who racked up a club record 35 Football League goal tally that only he himself would better.

The pre-season was quiet, with all the club satisfied with the staff and players of the previous campaign. The game itself was changed by the offside rule being modified so that two defenders, rather than three, had to be between the attackers and the goal in order to spring the offside trap – this would have significant beneficial consequences for young forward Wilf Kirkham.

The season started with two wins, the second being a 3–0 home win over cross-town rivals Stoke. This was followed by a demolition job by Chelsea, who adapted to the new offside rule with a new 'W formation' – to devastating effects. The "Valiants" recovered quickly with another 3–0 win over Stoke – Kirkham scoring five of the six derby goals over the two matches. Following a poor display against Hull City, the Vale changed their defensive formation to better combat the new tactics used to exploit the new offside rule. They also dropped their short-passing attacking game in favour of a long ball system that utilized the wings, this resulted in a 6–1 rout of Darlington. Offers came in for a number of Vale's talent, all of which were rejected.

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