Vale fans honour their greatest manager

A celebration of John Rudge as a statue is unveiled in his honour on his 80th birthday

John Rudge and the statue in his honour. Pic by Pete Stonier

The greatest. ‘Jonny Rudge’s Black and White Army’ rang out at Vale Park as a statue to the legendary manager was unveiled this afternoon.

Hundreds turned out for the ceremony on John’s 80^th birthday as three years of hard work from supporters came to fruition.

The statue honours the manager who spent 19 years at the club, 15 as manager, and led the team to three promotions, three Wembley appearances and nearly a decade in what is now the Championship.

But the man himself was typically humble. He said: “I am so honoured. Vale supporters were always so good to me, to raise £100,000 is absolutely incredible and I want to thank everyone who has donated towards it.

“It is a great day for me, after being here for 19 years. We had some great times and I was very fortunate to have such tremendous supporters.”

John also thanked the Supporters’ Club committee who came up with the idea in 2021 and were determined to see it to fruition.

That committee included Dave Thorley who said: “We did it! John takes legend to a different level. When you say we are raising money for the statue for John Rudge, then people will donate. He is the factor that has made the difference.

Crowds gathered at the John Rudge statue on the Hamil side of Vale Park. Pic by Pete Stonier

“We have all worked really hard and were determined to do this for John’s 80^th birthday. But we have only been able to do it because it is John Rudge and everyone out there is more than willing to support this for him. So ‘we’ isn’t just us. It is all you and together we made this happen.”

The unveiling was attended by a host of players who wore the Vale shirt when John was manager or assistant. They included Ian Taylor, Mark Bright, Kevin Kent, Andy Porter, Martin Foyle, Mark and Neville Chamberlain, Russell Bromage, Ray Walker, Gareth Ainsworth, Peter Swan, Andy Jones, Gareth Griffiths, Robin van der Laan, Jimmy Greenhoff, Eric Mountford and Gerry Keenan.

Vale owner Carol Shanahan said: “People have worked to do something for someone they love who has been so important to them. I have watched the committee over the last couple of years raise the money for this and it has been commitment like you have never known.”

Current manager Darren Moore, his staff and his first team squad also attended the ceremony as they took time out of their preparations for tomorrow’s league game at Harrogate.   

Fellow former managers present included Lou Macari, Tony Pulis and Tony Mowbray while there were video tributes from Sir Alex Ferguson, Robbie Williams and Harry Redknapp.

Sir Alex said: “What a great occasion and it is fully deserved for your career at Port Vale. How many times did we phone each other about players! Well done John, you deserve it.”    

Please read on for more about John Rudge’s incredible impact on the Vale plus more news about the club on and off the pitch…