Pope Hall of Fame

[WalterJ]

Pope must go into Vale hall of fame, without him we would have been non-league for sure. We need to find more players with heart, tenacity and guts for next year. Has to be player of the year. Good kudos to Smith, Worrall and Hannant too. Montano for finding a position that suits him and Gibbons for finding his form again. Need a younger workaholic midfielder for next year, a goalie to support and push Hornby to greater efforts. Let’s see if Dion can be the one and maybe give Turner another chance too. Thanks Aspin you saved our club from disaster, let’s hope the Smurthwaite gives you real support in the new season a few inspired signings can make a difference. The fight starts now!

[old sage]

I'm chuffed to bits for our Tom the kingpin in our fight to beat the drop with not only his 19 lovely goals but also his over all work rate. He has proved his critics so wrong in their opinions that he was over weight and washed up.

 

I will make another prediction that if he stays injury free he will be our top goalscorer again next term and lets all hope that he is part of a promotion winning team in 2019.

 

For me Popey will become a legend long after he hangs up his boots and it couldn't happen to a more genuine bloke.:notworthy:

[valiant steve]

Feed him!

[mbycars]

The guy is a Vale legend and his plays heart and soul for the team. With better support up front in the early games and given his time playing with an injury and his subsequent lay off I reckon he could have been nearer 30 goals. Fantastic effort again though and should be easily player of the year.

[Class personified]

Pope is already a Vale legend. Outside of the Rudge era there’s not many if any who can have that tag. He’s a Vale fan and he plays as though he is. There are 2 or 3 years left in him because he’s never had pace to lose. What he’s got is a heart, a footballing brain, 100% work rate and is the best header in the football league. Thanks Tom.

[CambridgeDon]

Should certainly be in line for player of the season with 19 goals in 44 games and still a couple to go. In total, he's scored 88 goals in 240, better than one in three. A fantastic servant for the Vale - we always seem to bring out the best in him. Absolute legend.

[blackdog]

I'm chuffed to bits for our Tom the kingpin in our fight to beat the drop with not only his 19 lovely goals but also his over all work rate. He has proved his critics so wrong in their opinions that he was over weight and washed up.

 

I will make another prediction that if he stays injury free he will be our top goalscorer again next term and lets all hope that he is part of a promotion winning team in 2019.

 

For me Popey will become a legend long after he hangs up his boots and it couldn't happen to a more genuine bloke.:notworthy:

 

You above all others have championed Tom Pope and your support has proved correct, there were quite a few who said he was past it and derided you, however you have proved them wrong Tom Pope not only got us promotion, he saved us from Non league obscurity,and as you pointed out we wouldnt have been relegated with him in the side.

[old sage]

You above all others have championed Tom Pope and your support has proved correct, there were quite a few who said he was past it and derided you, however you have proved them wrong Tom Pope not only got us promotion, he saved us from Non league obscurity,and as you pointed out we wouldnt have been relegated with him in the side.

 

Thanks Blackdog, I must admit I was very disappointed by the attitude of many fans towards Tom before even a ball had been kicked. The majority seemed to have forgotten what a great servant the guy had been in his previous spell wearing the 'Black & White' I think many were blinded by the owner who somehow made Tom appear to be a footballing mercenary. I'm still convinced that if Smurthwaite had treated him with a little more respect that Popey would never have left us in the first place.

 

Thanks Tom lad you are a legend in my eyes and I dread to think where we would be tonight without you and a small number of other team mates, Aspo,wily old Rudgey and his backroom staff. Now Mr Smurhwaite give them some decent support.

[Hagrid]

Been a idiotic vocal critic at times, including early doors this season.

 

Unquestionably a Vale legend, and quite possibly the most 'legendary' player we've had post Rudge (with little competition). If you include impact (a promotion and a survival, both basically single-handedly), workrate, and the cliched 'passhun', not many players come close to him in the 21st century.

 

I am often proven to be a bit of a fool on here, but Tom's virtually single handed efforts to keep this club in existence takes the biscuit.

 

Never been more pleased to have been proven wrong. Hope he continues to do so for a few more seasons, and gets us back into League 1.

[toyahw]

19 Goals in that team, mostly ploughing a lonely furrow up front mostly in a team that creates very little? No surprise the Pope knockers have gone very quiet. Player of the season by a margin. And as has been said, he was instrumental in taking us up a few years ago and he's been even more instrumental in keeping us up this.

 

The bloke has his limitations, as I'm sure he knows as he gets on a bit. But always puts in the proverbial shift, wins his personal battles, and knows where the net is - thankfully.

 

Let us hope Mr Smurthwaite does not try to cash in again closed season (are Bury still paying a large part of his wages next season?) and look for a replacement in Poundland.

[Yukon]

Legend? Absolutely. He’s an absolutely wonderful servant to the club

[SourceOfTheTrent]

"Pope must go into Vale hall of fame" (Walter J).

He's already in it mate!

[SourceOfTheTrent]

Been a idiotic vocal critic at times, including early doors this season.

 

Unquestionably a Vale legend, and quite possibly the most 'legendary' player we've had post Rudge (with little competition). If you include impact (a promotion and a survival, both basically single-handedly), workrate, and the cliched 'passhun', not many players come close to him in the 21st century.

 

I am often proven to be a bit of a fool on here, but Tom's virtually single handed efforts to keep this club in existence takes the biscuit.

 

Never been more pleased to have been proven wrong. Hope he continues to do so for a few more seasons, and gets us back into League 1.

Takes bottle to come on this forum and admit you're mistaken, never mind downright wrong!

I respect you, sir, and may you always be blessed with objective and logical thinking. No doubt the Pontiff will absolve thee.

[elav trop 1876]

He cares ,he's one of us ,but he can surely play -never blessed with pace so not a lot to lose which is why support and play to his strengths was always key plus in defence he does more than a job, chases all over leaves nowt on the pitch,

 

really hope he can get his 20 as he has had a remarkable season and got to be player of the year-- interesting we were relegated without him from div 1 now bury without him maybe just a coincidence but he is worth a minimum good amount of points at the beginning of the season

 

thanks Tom you are one of our own

[PV1973]

He’s had an excellent season. Especially considering the start we had where Brown left him high n dry which makes it even more remarkable that he’s nearly hit 20 goals. He’s an absolute workhorse putting his body on the line and running himself into the ground. Playing one up front is a thankless job and even more so when you factor in Popes lack of real mobility.

 

Amazing that it finally took the clowns Morgan and Kelly to see briefly what Brown didn’t and tried to play a system that got people higher up around Pope and get crosses in to the box. Even though we’ve started most games with 1 up top under Aspin he at least still saw the obvious giving him support and balls in the box. Sometimes it didn’t work but in the end he’s reaped the rewards and rescued a dying season for us.