After an unpromising start to the 1972-73 season, Vale travelled to Edinburgh to face Civil Service Strollers in the Second Round of the Scottish Qualifying Cup. The result was a 2-2 draw, but Vale won the replay 4-1. In the Third Round a home tie with Edinburgh University ended 0-0, but Vale triumphed in the replay 4-1. The semi final brought Ferrranti Thistle to Victoria Park. Ferranti, who within a couple of years would join the Scottish League, change their name to Meadowbank Thistle and eventually become Livingston F.C., were strongly fancied to win the game, but Vale won in fine style 5-0. Duns were the opponents in the final and in the first leg at Innerleithen, goals from Brown, Stanage and Harris gave Vale a 3-0 lead, and a goal from Forrest in the second leg gave Vale a 1-0 victory and the Scottish Qualifying Cup (South) Trophy. The team that did it for Vale was; J McMenemy, J Riddell, I Roberts, R Thomson, F Pajak, J Gray, N Brown, B Stanage, B Harris, P J Maloney and A Forrest. Substitutes were J Gillie and M McLeod. This set up Vale for another Scottish Cup adventure, with Montrose the visitors to Victoria Park. Half time saw the score at 0-0, but Montrose finished up winning 3-0, in front of a crowd of 300.

Season 1974-75 was not a good one at all, for various reasons. The league record was dismal, with only four games won out of 23, although Vale did reach the semi-final of the Qualifying Cup, where we were beaten 2-0 by Selkirk. Support was dwindling and the '200 Club' was set up to boost finance.

Then in the early hours of the morning of 3rd August 1974, the pavilion at the east end of the ground was completely destroyed by fire. Everything in the pavilion was lost - football gear, goal nets, etc. - but the biggest loss was the club records and minute books, impossible to replace. The cause of the fire was never properly determined, but it was commonly thought to have been started deliberately by youngsters. Pipe Major Robert Euman of the British Legion Pipe Band offered Vale the use of their band hut in the public park for dressing rooms until a new pavilion could be built, an offer which was gladly accepted, despite the hut having no hot water supply.

In the Scottish Cup Vale were handed another home tie against Montrose, but with Victoria Park having no facilities, the tie was switched to Links Park, Montrose. It was in this game that Vale suffered their heaviest defeat, 0-12.

Season 1975-76 saw the dawn of a new era for Vale of Leithen when the club appointed Finlay Watson as it's first ever manager. Watson brought many players in from the Lothian region, with results improving and the final of the King Cup was reached with Vale going down 5-4 against Selkirk after a great game.

Season 1976-77 saw Vale capture the Scottish Qualifying Cup (South) for the third time. After a bye in the First Round, Vale beat Newtown Stewart 5-1 away, Dalbeattie Star 4-1 at home, and a semi-final visit to Selkirk was won 2-1. The opponents in the final were Girvan Amateurs, and although the first leg at Girvan ended 2-0 to the hosts, the return at Victoria Park saw Vale winning 4-1, to triumph 4-3 on aggregate. The successful team was; Hodge, Crawford, Sievewright, O'Donnell, Miller, Johnston, Pringle, McGovern, Williamson, Hall and Burns. Substitutes were Crookston and Wright.

On October 13th 1976, an East of Scotland League game against Eyemouth United ended 16-0 to Vale - the biggest win in their history. Scorers that day were J Burns 5, W Crookston 3, I Haggarty 3, P McGovern 3, Miller and Sievewright.

In season 1977-78 Vale reached the semi-final of the Scottish Qualifying Cup, losing 4-3 at home to Selkirk, but had once again qualified for the Scottish Cup. The draw saw Forfar Athletic visiting Victoria Park on the 7th January 1978. Played in front of 746 spectators, the game was fast and furious but goalless at half-time. Early in the second half, a through ball saw Vale outside-right Bernie Callaghan speed throught the Forfar defence to shoot home the opening goal. Alan Notman added a second and subsitute Harry Reid bagged a third. Forfar were stung into action and some intense pressure led to them pulling one back, but another Vale goal, again from Reid, and it was game over, for what is possibly the finest result of Vale's history. The result can be put into context with the fact that just a few weeks later Forfar played Rangers in the semi-final of the league cup at Hampden and were leading 2-1 with 8 minutes remaining, before Rangers equalised and went on to win in extra time.

The Third Round saw Queen's Park visit on the 4th of February. Snow had to be cleared from the pitch before the game could take place in front of a crowd of 1185. Sadly there was no giant-killing act this time, with Queen's Park winning by a solitary goal, but it was a fine performance by Vale, with even the Queen's coach admitting afterwards that they had stolen the game.

Fine performances weren't just restricted to the cup though and by the end of the season, Vale had won the East of Scotland League for the first time, with a record of Played 26, Won 18, Drawn 5, Lost 4, scoring 70 goals and conceding 25.

Season 1978-79 saw Vale retain the league title and win the East of Scotland Qualifying Cup, beating Civil Service Strollers 2-1 at a final played at Tynecastle Park, Edinburgh. Vale also reached the final of the Scottish Qualifying Cup but lost 3-2 on aggregate to Gala Fairydean. In a strange twist, the Scottish Cup draw saw Forfar Athletic visiting Victoria Park again. It was another fine game, with the final score again 4-1, but this time in favour of Forfar.

In October a benefit game was played for goalkeeper Robert Hodge whose career had been ended by a very bad arm injury. Celtic provided the opposition and their team contained the future Republic of Ireland goalkeeper Pat Bonner. The game ended 2-1 to Vale and a healthy crowd of 1,500 ensured a tidy sum went to the injured keeper.