Local Heroes

Not since the late Sir Stanley Matthews has the spirit of football in Stoke on Trent been epitomised by one man - John Rudge.

Not only had he a massive influence as manager of Port Vale for many years, but now he is the steadying hand on the tiller at Stoke City.

BBC Radio Stoke's Rob Adcock interviewed him for nearly an hour - in which John spoke about his lengthy career, and revealed much about what has gone behind the scenes at both Port Vale and Stoke City over the last thirty years...
Listen to the interview by clicking on the link below:-

Port Vale team of stars

Wolverhampton born Rudge steered Port Vale from the depths of the old Fourth Division to the First in his nineteen year reign at Vale Park, which saw him clock up 843 games and 3 Wembley visits.

During his illustrious managerial reign he spotted and developed the careers of many past and present Premiership aces - such as Mark Bright, Robbie Earle, Robin Van der Laan, Gareth Ainsworth, Ian Taylor, Steve Guppy, Jon McCarthy, Lee Mills, and most recently Anthony Gardner - then he sold them on for a cumulative value of just under ten million pounds over the seasons in order to balance the books.

Playing days cut short

However his playing days were admittedly less spectacular. Taken on by Wolverhampton schoolboys he soon developed a prowess for playing down the wing, and served Huddersfield, Carlisle, Torquay, and Bristol Rovers, before ending his career at Bournemouth after an Achilles injury.

He played 211 games and scored 70 goals.

His role as manager

At 32 Rudge was fortunate to be handed his first job in management as assistant at Torquay, before being offered a coaching role with John McGrath’s Valiants side.
Four years later Rudge had taken the hot seat and went on to become Vale's longest serving manager in the modern era.

In his own words

When I went along to his new stomping ground The Britannia Stadium I asked him about his fondest memories at Vale and the list became almost infinite.

“...Our three Wembley visits: the Playoffs against West Brom; Anglo Italian Cup against Genoa; and also the LDV Van (as it is now) Trophy victory. Although we lost against Genoa and the Baggies, they are still great days in the clubs history and we certainly made up for it in our win against Stockport.

Over nineteen years we had some fantastic FA cup runs; we beat Everton and Tottenham. Getting Port Vale into the (then) Second Division for the first time in 33 years was also a great achievement.”

Rudge gets the boot

Having written himself into Port Vale folklore, nineteen years after plucking Vale from obscurity, Rudge was sacked after poor league form; the board didn’t even express gratitude for his hard work in more than a two-paragraph memo.

True gent

If it wasn’t for John Rudge’s endless modesty and reluctance to be disloyal- by refusing to take Preston and Bradford up on previous offers - he may have gained more of the recognition he deserved, thus creating more of an uproar in the national press when he was savagely expelled from Vale Park, but it was not in John's gentlemanly nature to steal any such limelight.

He admitted: “I suppose my biggest regret in the game is not having the chance to test myself at the highest level. I did have opportunities to leave Port Vale, but it didn’t seem right.”

It is a rare occurrence nowadays to see a manager sacrifice his own aspirations for the good of the club. Who remembers Steve Cotterill?

Local reaction

Although the controversial dismissal didn’t evoke the mass hysteria nationwide that it warranted, the hugely underrated Rudge did speak of the local reaction.

“Nineteen years was a long time. I was sacked and asked to be director of football, but I thought it was the right time for me to leave, because I didn’t think my relationship then with the Board of Directors was as good as I would have liked it to have been.

It was always an awkward situation and I think the main reason I stayed as long as I did was down to the supporters, because they were fantastic to me.”

Flat caps as a tribute

“They organised a tremendous reception for me when I was sacked, followed by a march from the town centre all donning flat caps as a tribute to me. 750 people turned up to Trentham Gardens for my celebratory dinner, which is an experience I’ll never forget. There aren’t many who could last nineteen years: I just guess I was pretty good at dodging the bullets!”

“I wasn’t treated poorly by the supporters at all - I want that to be stressed. As regarding the board and Chairman, the way it was handled after such loyal and lengthy service and effort I just felt it could have been dealt with in a fairer manner, but they obviously thought it was time for me to leave.”

Move to Stoke City

From Vale, Rudge made the short trip across Stoke to the Britannia Stadium and took up the post, in 1999 as Director of Football for First Division Stoke City.

“They asked me to be the manager, which I declined on two or three occasions - I didn’t want to go from my sacking at Vale straight into the role at Stoke. I was flattered but it wasn’t to be.

The role I came into was something I had always intended to do at Vale with someone like Robbie Earle as Manager.”

“I didn’t intend any revenge on Vale by joining their local rivals. It was just the convenience of the area; my family and I are settled here, it was a quick opportunity to get back into football, and it was right for me at the time.

I didn’t want to move away from Stoke on Trent because the people here are the salt of the earth, I can relate to them, and I will always regard it as my home now after coming here in 1979.”

Back to management?

“I have had opportunities to get back into management since.

I wouldn’t say never - but now I’m getting to the stage now where I’m 59, and the role I do now at Stoke is still involved very heavily in the football side. I’m still involved in all aspects of the club, contracts, training, and attending matches, and I’m working with someone I get on really well with in Tony Pullis, and I hope that I can just help him by taking the strain off him because I know exactly what its like to be a manager, which is a hard role; and can be often too much for one person.

I’m here to lighten the load so he can focus on winning matches.”

Hard graft

“My job involves sixty to seventy hours a week, it’s very time consuming. I suppose it’s a drug for me, though its something I’ve been involved in since I was fifteen.
Now I’m over 60, and I’ve been very fortunate to be involved in something that I love.”

Fergie

True Gentlemen in the form of John Rudge are few and far between in the modern game, and it is impossible to profile the servant of Stoke without doing him the justice he deserves, so I leave the lasting words to another great manager Sir Alex Ferguson who once said “Every Port Vale supporter should get down on their knees and thank the Lord for John Rudge.”

AH

- - - - - - - -

What do you think about Staffordshire's heroes and heroines?

If you've got something to say about any local heroes, check out our message board by clicking on the link below.

John Rudge
Johnny Rudge or "Rudgie" as we called him, flying down the wing for Joey's (St Joseph's RC School. Wolverhampton). During our school days of either kicking the ball around in the school yard or playing cricket up against the wall, Johnny was always held in high regard by his fellow students and the teaching staff. During our school days I played in goal and had first hand experience of his early days. Johnny was an all round athlete, we both were team mates in Cricket, and Basketball. I played some work league football but my real love was Basketball from which I went on to get my England Cap. Johnny was also a good Basketball Player but he would probably not admit it. His size never hindered him at all, his attitude as with everything was get in there and do the best you can and make your mark on the game. Of course usually after you are out of school you loose contact. I have not met Johnny since 1960. I moved out of Wolverhampton to Wednesbury for a stint with the West Midlands Police Force and shortly afterwards emigrated to Canada.
John (Butch) Burden
nee Wolverhampton/Wednesbury now Abbotsford. BC. Canada

john rudge
i worked with John for 8or9 years. not many people know he used to be a street trader,in his early days, he uesd to give us a sample of his cry on the veg stand,when we was having a pre-match meal.
he used to have a saying about a nail and drawing pin,i seem to forgotten how that ended.
Stanley Nicholls
norto