Moorlands Radio honoured to play a part in the unveiling of the John Rudge statue

Moorlands Radio were honoured to be part of the unveiling of the John Rudge statue at Port Vale FC.

The statue, which has been placed outside the Hamil Road stand at their Vale Park home, celebrates the achievements of the legendary Port Vale manager John Rudge was unveiled on his 80th birthday.

Rudge was the manager of the Valiants between 1983 and 1999 taking them from the old Fourth Division up to what is now known as the Championship. His Vale team won the Third Division playoffs in 1989 and finished Division Two runners up in the 1993/94 season.

However, what was probably his best achievement was taking Vale to Wembley as they won the 1992/93 Football League Trophy. They defeated Stockport County 2-1 at the National Stadium thanks to goals from Paul Kerr and Bernie Slaven.

Following his departure from Vale Park he moved across the Potteries to Stoke City where he would become Director of Football of the Potters for 13 years as he saw them win promotion to the Premier League, reach the FA Cup final and head into Europe thanks to the Europa League.

His heart was always in Port Vale however, and in October 2017 he returned to Vale Park, first in an advisory role to former defender Neil Aspin before being appointed as the club’s president in August 2019.

The statue is a fitting tribute to a man who has given his life to local football in North Staffordshire and, Rudge did the honours in unveiling the statue in front of over 1,000 people which included supporters, the current Port Vale first team, the great and the good of English football including Tony Mowbray, Tony Pulis, Don Goodman, Debbie Hewitt from the FA and many of his former players including Gareth Ainsworth, Ian Taylor, Mark and Neville Chamberlian and Robin Van Deer Laan, Martin Foyle, Kevin Kent, Peter Swann, Jimmy Greenhoff and Mark Bright.

Credit must also go to Mark Porter, chairman of the Port Vale Supporter’s Club as well as the statue committee team of David Thorley, Paul Dixon, Phil Potts, Matt Jackson and Kirsty Rollings for raising funds for the statue, As well as to Simon Lowe the author of To Cap It All, the biography of John Rudge.

Keep your eye on our social media channels over the next few days as we bring you various interviews from those connected with the big event.

Richard Scott
Richard Scott
Sports Reporter

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