Port Vale have announced that ground breaking work has begun as construction of the John Rudge statue at the Vale Park stadium gets underway.
The statue is set to be unveiled on the 21st October and will be situated in the Hamil Road fanzone. It has been possible due to the fund raising efforts of the Port Vale Supporters Club who have raised £100,000 for the statue.
The work currently taking place is to construct the brick-based plinth and will be undertaken by Stoke-based Lench Building Contractors, ready for the statue to be placed in the coming weeks.
Reaction to the news
“It is an honour for supporters to have raised this amount of money for a statue. I’m overwhelmed by the generosity of supporters.”
John Rudge
“Today is a proud day – it’s the start of the plinth building where the John Rudge Statue will stand, and it feels like a huge achievement to have got as far as this. Port Vale supporters look back on John’s time as manager with such joy and this is a fitting tribute to a great man.”
Supporters Club chair Mark Porter
“It has been a pleasure to work with John over the last year during the preparation and sculpting of this statue. Today’s groundbreaking is a momentous day, as it takes us one step further to erecting the statue and towards the
unveiling in October.”
Statue sculptor Michael Talbot
“This feels like the start of something special. Rudgey is synonymous with Port Vale, with Stoke-on-Trent as a city and with the football world as a whole. Anywhere you go, John gets spoken about; he’s such a humble, kind and
normal man. If anyone deserves a statue, it’s John.”
Port Vale CEO Matt Hancock
John is the best thing that’s happened to port vale in the history of the club and without him vale would not be here today so a big thank you john
We could only honour John Rudge one way and it is finally happening. The guy is a legend and.it is about time he became Sir John . Vale are indebted to him bigstyle .
He deserves this statue for wot he has done for the club (there only one jhon rudge) love him never be forgotten
Pleasing news, long overdue, and an excellent location choice. To have a statue built is a huge honor, but thoroughly deserved for Rudge’s magnificent contribution to the club’s football reputation.
“The MASTER”. what else can you say.
The gentleman was a genius !!