John Robert Rudge was born on 21 October 1944 and is an English former professional football player and manager who is the president of EFL League Two club Port Vale.
38 Facts About John Rudge
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John Rudge coached at Torquay United and Port Vale before being appointed Port Vale's manager in December 1983.
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John Rudge remained in the role for the next 16 years, easily the longest management spell in the club's history.
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At statue of John Rudge was unveiled at Vale Park in October 2024.
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John Robert Rudge was born in Wolverhampton on 21 October 1944 to Marie and Frank Harold Rudge.
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John Rudge attended St Joseph's secondary modern school and supported Wolverhampton Wanderers.
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John Rudge represented Wolverhampton Schoolboys but was declined an apprenticeship at Wolves in 1959.
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John Rudge was a right-footed forward who had pace and good heading ability, though was prone to injury.
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However, John Rudge had great difficulty establishing himself in the first team due to the prominent strike partnership of Les Massie and Len White.
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John Rudge went on to form a good partnership with Hughie McIlmoyle, who later had a statue built in his honour outside Brunton Park.
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John Rudge scored twice in 14 appearances before the end of the campaign for Allan Brown's "Gulls".
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John Rudge escaped this fate as he left the club in February 1972, signing a contract with Bill Dodgin's Bristol Rovers.
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John Rudge had been part of a swap deal that saw Robin Stubbs return from Rovers to Torquay.
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John Rudge's career ended at age 32 due to his Achilles injury.
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John Rudge operated a fruit and vegetable stall on Christchurch Market to supplement his income.
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John Rudge enjoyed the role but began to look for opportunities elsewhere after being moved away from the first-team and placed in charge of the School of Excellence.
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John Rudge interviewed at Kettering Town and Crewe Alexandra, though was rejected by Kettering.
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John Rudge felt that Crewe did not have much potential.
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John Rudge quickly became a "cushioning buffer" between the players and McGrath, who was "quite dictatorial with a cutting tongue".
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John Rudge was promoted to the position of assistant manager in December 1980.
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John Rudge achieved this aim, slashing the wage bill to offset the club's reduced income, guiding the Vale to a 12th-place finish.
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John Rudge would become the club's top scorer for the next four seasons.
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John Rudge gave a first-team debut to youth academy product Andy Porter, who would make over 400 appearances over the next 12 years; John Rudge was so enamoured with Porter that he said "he was the only professional footballer I would have allowed a daughter of mine to marry".
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John Rudge was approached to manage Stoke City but declined chairman Peter Coates's offer.
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Bell and John Rudge frequently clashed over the club's spending priorities, with the chairman wanting to improve further the stadium and the manager demanding funds to improve the playing squad.
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John Rudge had to take the club to an employment tribunal as Bell refused to pay the amount stipulated in his contract.
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John Rudge was appointed as director of football at Stoke City in 1999, working alongside manager Gary Megson, after turning down the same role at Port Vale.
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John Rudge was offered the post of manager at former club Bristol Rovers in February 2001, but declined.
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John Rudge maintained, though, that Boskamp used the incident as a ploy in an attempt to be paid off by Stoke as the Dutchman could not handle the pressure of the English game, revealing that he had talked Boskamp out of quitting during the pre-season.
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John Rudge was reinstated in his role following Boskamp's departure and the return of former chairman Peter Coates and former manager Tony Pulis.
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However, John Rudge found himself having to act as a buffer between manager Tony Pulis and chief executive Tony Scholes.
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John Rudge was appointed as club president on 10 August 2019.
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John Rudge was inducted into the Stoke-on-Trent Sporting Hall of Fame.
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At statue of John Rudge was unveiled at Vale Park for his 80th birthday in October 2024.
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John Rudge thoroughly researched opposition players and informed his players on weaknesses to exploit and strengths to watch out for.
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John Rudge was reluctant to use substitutions unless a player was injured as he believed the first XI he had selected could get the job done over the ninety minutes.
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John Rudge had the knack of spotting talented players, signing them cheaply, and then selling them to bigger clubs for a large profit.
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John Rudge spent most of his free time scouting players, saying that "I would pride myself in knowing almost every player in the Football League down to the colour of his eyes".