John Robert Rudge was born on 21 October 1944 and is an English former football player and football manager who is working as football adviser and club president at EFL League One club Port Vale.
27 Facts About John Rudge
1.
2.
John Rudge's playing career began at Huddersfield Town in November 1961, but he made little impact at the club and was transferred to Carlisle United in December 1966.
3.
John Rudge scored a total of 78 goals in 267 league and cup appearances in a sixteen-year career in the English Football League.
4.
John Rudge managed Port Vale for a sixteen-year period between 1983 and 1999, easily the longest spell in the club's history.
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John Rudge found the net just twice in 14 appearances before the end of the campaign for Allan Brown's "Gulls".
6.
John Rudge escaped this fate as he left Plainmoor in February 1972, signing a contract with Bill Dodgin's Bristol Rovers.
7.
John Rudge played seven games for the "Cherries", and could not prevent them from being relegated into the Fourth Division at the end of the campaign.
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John Rudge's career was ended at age 32, owing to his Achilles tendon injury.
9.
John Rudge had scored a total of 78 goals in 267 appearances in all competitions.
10.
John Rudge was promoted to the position of assistant manager in December 1980.
11.
John Rudge was unable to prevent relegation that year, though the club did avoid picking up the wooden spoon.
12.
John Rudge achieved this aim, slashing the wage bill to offset the club's reduced income, the Vale finished 12th.
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John Rudge would become the club's top scorer for the next four seasons.
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John Rudge's team had proved however that they were too good to remain in the third tier for long.
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John Rudge had Port Vale playing some of the best football ever witnessed at Vale Park.
16.
John Rudge led Vale to the final of the Anglo-Italian Cup, where they lost out to Genoa.
17.
However John Rudge had already departed, Chairman Bill Bell gave him the sack on 18 January 1999.
18.
John Rudge had been at the helm for 843 Port Vale games.
19.
John Rudge was appointed as director of football at Stoke City in 1999, after turning down the same role at Port Vale.
20.
John Rudge had hoped to retire on his own terms at Vale and become a director of football at the club under a "with someone like Robbie Earle as manager".
21.
John Rudge was offered the management job at Stoke but turned it down.
22.
John Rudge maintains though, that Boskamp used the incident as a ploy, in an attempt to be paid off by Stoke as the Dutchman couldn't handle the pressure of the English game.
23.
John Rudge left Stoke in May 2013, ending a 14-year spell at the club.
24.
John Rudge was appointed as club president on 10 August 2019.
25.
John Rudge thoroughly researched opposition players and informed his players on weaknesses to exploit and strengths to watch out for.
26.
John Rudge was reluctant to use substitutions unless a player was injured as he believed in the first eleven he had selected could get the job done over the ninety minutes.
27.
John Rudge had the knack of spotting talented players, signing them cheaply, and then selling them on to bigger clubs for a large profit.