Pope Hall of Fame

[CambridgeDon]

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

 

It's not a coincidence - if we'd had Popey in the season we got relegated we might just have scraped by. How many goals were we short of winning a few games? Quite a few, I'd suggest, without looking it up. We had no one to put it in the net - but now we do and look at the difference. Vive Le Pontiff!

[aspin for england]

Tom Pope has been worth every penny to this club , his goals got us promotion and now his goals have saved us from oblivion. If he had of been kept at the club , instead of been told we couldnt afford him , who knows maybe we could have been up there with Shrewsbury or Scunny. Strange how we could afford a barrowful of 5hite players who had to be paid to p*** off.

[ELDERBEZZA]

Tom Pope has been worth every penny to this club , his goals got us promotion and now his goals have saved us from oblivion. If he had of been kept at the club , instead of been told we couldnt afford him , who knows maybe we could have been up there with Shrewsbury or Scunny. Strange how we could afford a barrowful of 5hite players who had to be paid to p*** off.

And look how much money would have been generated by staying in L1 or possibly promoted. Unfortunately one person had other ideas and messed up the whole football club.

[George]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Pope is the ONLY club legend since the Rudge era.

 

If he wasn’t on that pitch he’d be in the stands with us.

 

Bloody love that bloke.

[jeff1966]

Pompey the legend up there with aspin and porter

However his bulldog is better looking 😉

[Smugsy]

In the past I felt that Pope occasionally was above criticism because he was a Vale fan but the man is an absolute legend. I don't care that he's a Vale fan. I love him because no matter the game, no matter the score he gives 100% every time he pulls on that shirt. It was an immense physical battle with Pearce yesterday but he didn't hide, he kept going and was rewarded with that glorious moment one minute from time. If we had 11 players with Pope's attitude, we'd be looking down at the rest of the league.

[Paul6754]

Popey is a fantastic player at this level, most probably the best player of his type in Lge 2. His skill on the ground, hold up play, lay offs, heading ability, awarness are all excellent, his physicality and commitment are unquestionable. Yep he may lack a tad of pace but he has the nouse and athleticism to make up for it (eg yesterday's goal).

 

The best striker in the Potteries at the moment and if he'd been around in the 60/70's, when most teams played with a big guy up front, would have played in the 1st or 2nd divisions.

[old sage]

I must say Paul it is lovely to hear someone outline Tom's many excellent qualities. Yes he isn't the quickist but with his heading ability and hold up play he will be good if he avoids serious injuries for several years yet.

LONG LIVE THE POPE

[Beza]

Tom Pope one word. LEGEND. Thank You.

[Paul6754]

I must say Paul it is lovely to hear someone outline Tom's many excellent qualities. Yes he isn't the quickist but with his heading ability and hold up play he will be good if he avoids serious injuries for several years yet.

LONG LIVE THE POPE

 

I agree Old Sage, he's got a few years in him yet, hope and trust they're with the Vale.

 

I share and have supported your opinions on Tom Pope particularly at the beginning of this season. If Tom Pope had been with Vale last season we wouldn't have got relegated and heaven knows where we'd be now if he wasn't in the team. I wish for the day when Popey has an Alex Jones type to play off him and/or a Chris Eagles skill level player to put the ball on his head.

 

Yesterday epitomised Tom Pope for me, he had to contend with huge center backs/defenders and the ref didn't give him anything 'til the last 5 or so minutes but he still kept going and got his just reward.

[Thevalefan]

Without Tom Pope no promotion season.

Without Tom Pope no football league status, and just maybe - No more Port Vale as we know it.

 

As a fan born in the early 90's - without a doubt the most influential player at the club in my lifetime.

 

Tom Pope is the epitome of quality lower-league footballers. He could and should be playing league one football but he's sacrificed that at the end of his career to play for the club he loves.

 

Hope he's involved with PVFC for the rest of his life, that man is PVFC.

[Howjy04]

Popey is a fantastic player at this level, most probably the best player of his type in Lge 2. His skill on the ground, hold up play, lay offs, heading ability, awarness are all excellent, his physicality and commitment are unquestionable. Yep he may lack a tad of pace but he has the nouse and athleticism to make up for it (eg yesterday's goal).

 

The best striker in the Potteries at the moment and if he'd been around in the 60/70's, when most teams played with a big guy up front, would have played in the 1st or 2nd divisions.

Law,Greaves,McDonald,Hunt,Keegan,St.John,Clarke etc never had a look in.Too small.

[TheSage]

There's little point repeating the many admirable posts about Pope above but it still makes me laugh when I recall many on here lambasting his return and writing page after page claiming he was hopeless, couldn't run, on the drink every night, wouldn't score more than 6-8 goals, a busted flush and - amazingly - that we ought to drop him from the team!

If we play to his strengths and supply him with the ball in key areas he'll score goals at this level and I hazard a guess that every other team in the division would like to have him in their squad. Opposition managers wax lyrical about him and that says it all.

Hopefully we can get him some support next year and much better service. He could well become our top league scorer and thoroughly deserves the acclaim he receives. Goals apart, even when he isn't playing well, he always puts in a shift and is surely the type of player who is admired and respected by his fellow peers as well as his beloved Bycars Enders.

Long live the Pope!

[elav trop 1876]

He has had a great season and nice to see the recognition, would be great for him to get his 20th goal of the season today-

 

Pope he is one of our own & a connected to us makes him more valuable to us than any overpaid premier league mercenary.

[NellyTheValiant]

There's little point repeating the many admirable posts about Pope above but it still makes me laugh when I recall many on here lambasting his return and writing page after page claiming he was hopeless, couldn't run, on the drink every night, wouldn't score more than 6-8 goals, a busted flush and - amazingly - that we ought to drop him from the team!

If we play to his strengths and supply him with the ball in key areas he'll score goals at this level and I hazard a guess that every other team in the division would like to have him in their squad. Opposition managers wax lyrical about him and that says it all.

Hopefully we can get him some support next year and much better service. He could well become our top league scorer and thoroughly deserves the acclaim he receives. Goals apart, even when he isn't playing well, he always puts in a shift and is surely the type of player who is admired and respected by his fellow peers as well as his beloved Bycars Enders.

Long live the Pope!

 

Looking at a lot of opposition forums they often say the he was the difference between the two teams and if only they had a Tom Pope. It's pretty consistent. Either that or he a fouling, dirty so and so, which in itself is usually a compliment especially after he's scored against them.