The 2012–13 season was Port Vale's 101st season of football in the 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. With the new owners in place, Adams could afford to sign experienced players in the January transfer window, and the team pushed on to establish themselves as the division's leaders. However the wheels then fell off as Vale struggled to score as they showed relegation form heading on from mid-February. After just one win in eight games, Vale rediscovered their previous form by mid-March and went on to beat fourth-placed Burton Albion 7–1 in front of 10,978 supporters on 5 April. Promotion was secured 15 days later with a 2–2 draw with Northampton Town before a home crowd of 12,496. After promotion was secured Paul Wildes resigned as chairman and Norman Smurthwaite took full control of the club.

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