Report, view and photos – an historic day as John Rudge statue is unveiled

OVF editor Rob Fielding was privileged to be at the John Rudge statue unveiling event. In this special feature, we report on the day, a personal view of the day from the OVF editor and a selection of photos.

Report

John Rudge was honoured by Port Vale FC on his 80th birthday as a statue was unveiled outside the Hamil Road stand. Rudge joins playing legend Roy Sproson in having a statue outside the Vale Park stadium. In both cases, funds for the statues were raised by fans with the Port Vale Supporters club instrumental in raising the £100,000 for the Rudge statue.

On an emotional day, players past and present plus fans of many generations gathered to pay tribute to the humble man, regarded as the club’s greatest manager. Jonathan Wilkes acted as compere for an event held in the Valiants suite where sculptor Michael Talbot, co-owner Carol Shanahan, Supporters club chair Mark Porter, committee member Dave Thorley and Rudge himself spoke to a packed audience.

Then it  was outside to an even bigger, expectant crowd of Vale fans and for the big reveal. It was a memorable day from all concerned.

Viewpoint – Rob Fielding

It was certainly an emotional day and one which will live long in the memory. I was honoured to have been invited to attend the event in the Robbie Williams suite by invitation of the Rudge family and in recognition of OVF’ features on John Rudge over the years. It was an invitation I couldn’t possibly turn down and one I thoroughly enjoyed.

It was great to catch up with some many Vale faces from over the years and also to have a couple of chats with the star man – Mr John Rudge. Chatting with Mike Baggaley from the (excellent) Valiant newsletter, we started noting down the faces we could see coming into the Robbie Williams suite – former Stoke City manager Lou Macari, former West Brom manager Tony Mowbray, former striker Don Goodman, the Chamberlain brothers and Russell Bromage. Plus a host of Rudge signings – I spotted Ray Walker, Martin Foyle, Andy Porter, Ian Taylor, Gareth Ainsworth, Peter Swan, Kevin Kent, Michael Walsh all in attendance. On a personal note, there was also a chance for a chat and a photo with my personal Vale idol – Andy Jones.

It was then time to go down to the Valiants suite for the speeches and presentations. The room was packed and the event was brilliant. Compere Jonathan Wilkes seemed genuinely moved by some of the words about Rudge while in addition to the speeches on the stage there were video contributions from Harry Redknapp, Robbie Williams and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Arguably the highlight of the event was a superb video by Josh Green which I felt moved a lot of the audience to tears. With an evocative narration, it documented the Rudge years beautifully and was one of the best Port Vale videos I have ever seen.

It was then time to move down to the Hamil End and the massed ranks of Vale fans for the statue to be unveiled. From now on, Vale Park will always have John Rudge looking on – a fitting tribute to a living legend.

Thanks to the fans, the Supporters Club committee, the club and of course the great man himself for making it all possible.

Up the Vale!

Photo Gallery

Selected photos from the day