The 1950–51 season was Port Vale's 39th season of football in the Football League, and their sixth full season in the Third Division South. It was the first season to be played at Vale Park, and Roy Sproson also made his debut for the club. In the FA Cup there was excitement as the Vale took rivals Stoke City to a replay in the Fourth Round, only to lose 1–0. It was the last season in the reign of Gordon Hodgson, who died in the summer after long suffering from cancer.

The pre-season saw expansion for the league, and so the addition of two new teams to the division, nevertheless only one promotion place was available for the 24 teams. For Vale, two attacking players were added to the squad; Syd Peppitt arrived from Stoke City for £4,000, and Roland Lewis was signed from Congleton Town.

The season opened with a 2–0 defeat at Carrow Road, though the real excitement came five days later on 24 August, when Vale Park hosted its first league game; 30,196 turned up to see Newport County beaten 1–0 with a Walter Aveyard goal. The stadium had cost £50,000 and held 40,000 spectators, though work was still needed to complete the covers. Three straight losses followed, and as a result four players were transfer listed. As the weather turned bleak the attendances suffered, as less than a fortnight after its opening the stadium hosted 15,884 fans for the win over Ipswich Town (a reduction of almost 50%). The lack of cover did nothing to encourage fans to show up. Nevertheless the team won six of their opening seven home games, whilst they lost six of their first seven away games. On 28 October they travelled to The Den, where they fought to earn a 2–2 draw with high-flying Millwall, Tommy Cheadle playing on despite breaking three teeth in a hefty collision. On 11 November they drew 1–1 with Gillingham at the Priestfield Stadium, a game which saw the first of Roy Sproson's 842 club appearances.

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