Port Vale fan Josh Green’s tribute video to John Rudge has been rapturously received by Vale fans. The video celebrates Rudge’s memorable long reign at the club and features many of the club’s greatest moments. Narrated by BBC Radio Stoke’s Phil Bowers it reduced many Vale fans to tears when it was shown.
We grabbed a word with the creator to find out a little bit more about what has been described as the “perfect” Port Vale video.
Our interview with Josh
How long did the video take to create?
At the start of September, Kirsty Rollings, a member of the statute committee, approached me to see if I was interested in putting together a short video that captured John’s time at Port Vale. From that moment onwards my mind was racing with ideas, but there was some initial dread that the amount of footage needed wouldn’t exist. Thankfully, we managed to source old VHS tapes from John’s collection, from fellow Valiants, and also from charity shops. These, alongside the OVF archive, gave me hours and hours of footage that I needed to record and then sift through, highlighting key moments.
In total, I’d estimate the project took over 150 hours to complete. Many late nights and weekends were devoted to squeezing the work in, alongside my day job. I’m a perfectionist, I have no doubt I would have invested even more time if the deadline had allowed it.
Where did the voice-over script come from?
Initially, the plan was to use landmark text over the video to tell John’s story, but I felt this approach wasn’t grand enough for the occasion. So, I decided to write a short script that could either be read on camera or narrated over the video. After trying a few different approaches, I settled on a poetic format and gradually added to it over a number of days. In the end, I was thrilled with the result, as it added so much more depth to the video. The only thing left was to find a narrator and Phil Bowers didn’t hesitate when I asked him to get involved. Hearing the current voice of Port Vale alongside George Andrews, the voice of Rudgie’s era, was the icing on the cake.
Have you been pleased with the reaction?
The reaction has been nothing short of incredible! I’m a lifelong Vale fan, and I’ve always had a desire to be creative. My content began as small passion projects, driven by a need to fill a gap that I felt was missing in past media teams. I just wanted to create content that I wanted to see. Over the years, a small following grew on Twitter who were always eager for more, and this project felt like the culmination of all that work. Being trusted to play a small part, in such a significant celebration was truly an honour.
What did John Rudge and his family think of it?
John, Del, and the entire Rudge family couldn’t have been more grateful. Lisa, John’s daughter, had been involved from the start, raiding her dad’s VHS collection and contacting TV channels on my behalf. Yet, she hadn’t seen a single second of the video until the premiere on Monday. The tears of joy on their faces afterward said everything! I shared a few words with John, and it was wonderful to hear how it brought back so many great memories for him. Hopefully, it becomes a family classic they’ll treasure for years to come.
Where can Vale fans see more of your videos and creations (chance for a plug)
Mainly you can find my work on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Josh_pvfc), but I also have a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@byjoshgreen) where I upload more of my long-format videos. Twitter can be hard to navigate for older stuff so here are a few links to some of my most popular work.
Swindon – https://x.com/Josh_pvfc/status/1528694621718687745
Derby – https://x.com/Josh_pvfc/status/1579457799066882048
Oxford – https://x.com/Josh_pvfc/status/1698657343267803386
Drawing with James Plant – https://x.com/Josh_pvfc/status/1689230114947530755
Some of the fan comments about the video
Moved me to tears. Wonderful.
An absolutely fabulous video. Beautifully put together.
Just watched the video again. Just cried again. Josh’s material really is something else.
I teared up! Wonderful video.
I can’t watch it again, it’s moved me to tears every time I put it on. I was at all of those games on the video and it’s like my life is flashing before my eyes.
It’s brilliant, so many fantastic memories and a wonderful tribute to Mr Rudge, Josh has done him, the club and the supporters proud there. Couldn’t help shedding a tear.
Tear jerking video from Josh Green of all the stunning memories the great man gave us.
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