Who Are The League Two Managers? No.19: Neil Aspin (Port Vale)

“I got within two miles but it then took me two hours to find the ground. I thought Port Vale was a place.” Neil Aspin on signing for Port Vale in 1989.

Despite making over 700 appearances as a player and having over 500 games to his name in management, Neil Aspin had to wait until his fifty-third year to finally become a Football League manager. With three promotions and three unsuccessful play-off campaigns during his managerial career, it is surprising he had to wait that long before the opportunity arose. Furthermore, there cannot be many footballers who can say that Robbie Williams played in his testimonial match.

Starting his playing career with Leeds in 1982, uncompromising defender Aspin became the second-youngest debutant in the club’s history (after Peter Lorimer) when he appeared against Ipswich at Elland Road in a First Division game at the age of sixteen. Allan Clarke’s Leeds lost 2-0 that day and were relegated to the Second Division at the end of that season. The game against Ipswich remains his only experience of the top-flight either as a player or manager.

Aspin found a regular place in the side from 1983-84 and went on to spend seven years at the club, winning the Player of the Season award in 1985 at the age of twenty. The closest Leeds came to regaining top-flight status during those years was in 1986-87 under Billy Bremner when they finished fourth and qualified for the first ever Football League playoffs. Having disposed of Oldham in the semi-finals, they went down 2-1 to Charlton in a final replay. In those days, the side finishing nineteenth in the First Division was involved in the playoffs, a system that was abandoned after two years. 1986-87 was also notable for Leeds reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup where they were beaten 3-2 after extra time by eventual winners Coventry. Aspin hit the headlines, postponing his wedding to play in that game.

Leeds were destined not to challenge for promotion again during Aspin’s time there, and after 244 appearances, he was sold to Port Vale for £150,000 in July 1989. Ironically, Leeds won promotion the following season, and the last ever First Division championship in 1992.

When Aspin eventually found Vale Park after getting lost in the summer of 1989, Vale had just won promotion to the Second Division after a 2-1 aggregate play-off final win over Bristol Rovers. If seven years at Leeds showed great loyalty, he was to stay with Port Vale for ten. In his first season he was named Player of the Season and was named captain for his second. After two mid-table seasons, Vale finished bottom of the Second Division and were relegated to…the Second Division – the divisions were renamed in the summer of 1992. The first season after relegation was to prove very successful, with the side winning the Football League Trophy at Wembley with a 2-1 win over Stockport. A third-place finish ensured an appearance in the playoffs, and a 2-1 aggregate win over Stockport (again) took them to Wembley. Unfortunately they came up against a good West Brom side and went down to three late goals in front of 53,471.

Vale went one better the following season, returning to the second tier in second place after winning eight of their last nine games. Aspin was named Player of the Season for the second time and also appeared in the PFA Team of the Season for the Second Division. Vale finished in mid-table comfort in their first two seasons back in the First Division, and in 1996 reached the final of the last ever Anglo-Italian Cup where they lost 5-2 to Genoa at Wembley. They also reached the fifth round of the FA Cup, beating Crystal Palace and holders Everton in replays before losing 2-1 at home to Aspin’s former club Leeds – in another replay. Vale achieved their highest Football League placing since 1931 when they finished eighth in 1996-97, missing a playoff spot by just four points.

The following season saw Vale struggle badly; only a 4-0 win at Huddersfield on the final day after three successive defeats ensured First Division survival by a single point. The 1998-99 season was even closer, with Vale surviving only on goal difference from Bury. Aspin was rewarded with a testimonial season and a final game against Leicester in May 1989 for which Robbie Williams flew in specially from America. Williams played on the wing and scored, but a notable omission was Paul Gascoigne. Despite attending the same Gateshead school as Aspin, he failed to turn up despite having agreed to play. At the end of that season Aspin departed for Third Division Darlington after making 410 appearances for the club.

Although 34 years of age by this time, Aspin helped Darlington to finish fourth in his first season and to a place in the Third Division playoffs. A 3-0 aggregate win over neighbours Hartlepool in the semi-final took Darlington to Wembley, although a 1-0 defeat to Peterborough gave Aspin his third play-off final defeat. Darlington struggled in 2000-01 and Aspin left for Hartlepool in January 2001. He helped Hartlepool to finish fourth, but this time the play-off campaign ended with a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Blackpool in the semi-finals. At the end of that season Aspin called time on his professional playing career and joined Harrogate Town of the Northern Premier League First Division as player-coach in July 2001. Harrogate won promotion as champions in his first season by a ten-point margin from Ossett Town, and at the end of 2003-04 the club was invited to join the newly-formed Conference North after finishing fifth. At the end of that season he left to join former club Darlington as a coach, but the move fell through. He was not away for long, and was appointed manager back at Harrogate on 18 January 2005.

At the end of his first full season of 2005-06, Harrogate reached the Conference North play-offs where they were beaten 2-1 by Stafford in the semi-finals. Harrogate missed the playoffs by one place in both of the next two seasons (by one point and two points respectively). A ninth-place finish followed in 2008-09 at which point he decided he had taken the club as far as he could on the budget available, and left the club by mutual consent.

He was immediately appointed manager of phoenix club FC Halifax Town, at that point playing in the Northern Premier League Division One North after their first season since formation. Aspin led Halifax to three promotions in four years including back-to-back championships in his first two seasons. They were beaten in the Conference North play-offs in the other season. In August 2011 he sold striker Jamie Vardy to Fleetwood Town in a deal that would eventually realise £500,000; he had signed Vardy from Stocksbridge for £16,000 a year earlier. Having reached the Conference Premier in 2013, Halifax immediately mounted a challenge for promotion to the Football League. A superb end of season run of nine wins and a draw from ten games gave them a fifth-place finish. It meant yet another play-off campaign for Aspin, although this one was to end in a 2-1 aggregate defeat to eventual winners Cambridge.

Halifax started the 2014-15 season on fire and sat top of the table after winning their opening five games. Aspin was named Conference Manager of the Month for August and was linked with the vacant manager’s job at former club Port Vale in September. Halifax sat in the top six as late as February, but form fell away badly towards the end of the season. Twelve points and one win from their last fifteen games saw Halifax slip to ninth, well off the pace at the top. After only one win from the opening ten games of 2015-16, and two wins in twenty-five league games, Aspin was sacked on 17 September 2015.

Two months later he was back in the game, appointed manager of his home town club Gateshead on 30 November 2015. Gateshead had finished level on points with Halifax the season before, and were sitting six points off the playoffs. A 3-2 win over Aldershot at the end of February took Gateshead into the top five, but another end of season collapse saw them slip to ninth after winning just three of their last thirteen games – an almost identical scenario to the previous season at Halifax. Despite that disappointment, he signed a new two-year deal in August 2016. A run of seven wins and two draws from nine games carried Gateshead into the top five in March 2017, but five defeats from their last six games – including a famous defeat to Lincoln – saw them miss out yet again. After a poor start to the 2017-18 season left Gateshead fifteenth, Aspin departed for former club Port Vale on 4 October 2017. After thirteen years as a manager, he had finally arrived in the Football League.

Recently relegated from League One after a disastrous season, Port Vale had plummeted straight to the foot of League Two and had just five points from their first eleven games. Things picked up immediately under Aspin, with three wins from his first four games. However, there was a lot more to do including sorting out a huge multi-national squad assembled under previous managers Bruno Ribeiro and Michael Brown. A 4-0 win over league leaders Luton in the final game of 2017 took Port Vale eleven points clear of the drop zone, but form dipped alarmingly into 2018. Fourteen games without a win combined with improved form from the teams below them meant that safety was only confirmed with a 1-0 win over Lincoln in April. Vale eventually retained their Football League status by a single point, and everyone could breathe again.

Neil Aspin has as much experience as a player and manager as anyone else in League Two but is about to begin his first full season managing a Football League club. That is an unusual state of affairs, and it is impossible to say how Vale will fare this season. Aspin has started to build his own squad, and now has two transfer windows behind him. However, the mess at Port Vale was substantial and may take longer to resolve before the club can rise again.

P = Promoted; R = Relegated; SF = Lost in play-off semi-final; F = Lost in play-off final; PO = Won play-off final; D = Demoted.

Figures are league games only; cup matches and playoffs are not included.

League position shown is either the position at the end of the season or the position at the time of departure.

Writer: Scotimp