1999–2011: Valiant 2001 and two administrations Rudge was replaced by former player Brian Horton, who had been working at Brighton. Dwindling fortunes, both on the pitch and financially, put relegation on the cards. Horton made five transfer-deadline day signings costing £1,000,000, and Vale managed a second consecutive final-day escape after losing just two of their remaining eight games. Although Vale lost by a single goal at Bury, the Valiants stayed up (at Bury's expense) by virtue of having scored more goals (this was the last of three seasons where 'goal difference' replaced 'goals scored' as the Football League's separator for teams on equal points; Port Vale's goal difference was in fact substantially worse than that of Bury, but Bury had the lowest goals scored total in the entire Football League, consigning them to relegation). There was no escape in 1999–2000, however. It was Huddersfield who eventually sealed Vale's fate with a 2–1 win at Vale Park, with Vale ultimately going down thirteen points adrift. A worsening financial crisis put the club's future in jeopardy by the end of 2000. Vale were in the relegation zone of the Second Division, and after a FA Cup first-round defeat to Ryman Leaguers Canvey Island, the team seemed to be heading towards another relegation, with fans once again protesting against chairman Bill Bell. However, there was change in fortunes after the turn of the year, as Brian Horton's team transformed their league form to pull up to a top-half finish while also gaining silverware by beating Brentford in the final of the Football League Trophy. This included a post–war record of sixteen matches unbeaten in all competitions, with Vale eventually finishing eleventh. After the League Trophy-winning season, the Valiants lost the services of veterans Tony Naylor and Allen Tankard, but young prospects Steve Brooker, Marc Bridge-Wilkinson and new signings Stephen McPhee and Ian Armstrong were waiting in the wings. However, Vale suffered from inconsistency, and finished the 2001–02 campaign in fourteenth place. With further discontent at the running of the club, a supporters' trust under the banner "Valiant 2001" started moves towards attaining ownership of the club, including several offers that were rejected by chairman Bell. The next season, 2002–03, was to see Vale's financial problems come to a head. With first-round exits in both cup competitions and another mediocre season in the league on the cards, Bill Bell eventually called in the administrators