On 4 October 2017, Aspin was appointed as manager of former club Port Vale, who were 22nd in League Two after a poor start to the 2017–18 season; his former manager John Rudge also returned to the club in an advisory role. Aspin said that his new squad was too big with 33 senior professionals at the club, and added that he would try to find a formation to suit the players at his disposal and that he wanted the team to push further forward to support target-man striker Tom Pope. He picked up his first win as Vale manager on 14 October, with Pope scoring a brace in a 3–1 home win over Cheltenham Town. Seven days later, Aspin was named as manager of the week after his side won 1–0 away at Exeter City. He went on to be nominated for the League Two Manager of the Month award after three wins in five games and five goals in the month of October. He signed a new two-and-a-half year contract with the club in December 2017. He was also nominated for that month's Manager of the Month award after collecting 13 points from Vale's five matches, including a 4–0 victory over league leaders Luton Town and a 1–0 win over promotion chasing Coventry City; however the award instead went to Danny Cowley at Lincoln City.
