Friday evening saw a wonderful occasion at Vale Park as a packed Valiant Suite celebrated the career of Port Vale legend John Rudge.
John was joined by numerous former Vale star players to talk about his time not only as Vale Manager but also how his career in professional football started, as a striker playing for a number of League clubs including Huddersfield, Carlisle, Bristol Rovers and Torquay.
Phil Bowers from Radio Stoke compered the evening which included highlights of key games played during the Rudge era as well as video tributes from Gareth Ainsworth and Sir Alex Ferguson.
Supporter’s Club Chairman Mark Porter presented John with a framed certificate as he was enrolled as a lifetime member of the Supporter’s Club and to honour his recent appointment as Club President, John was also presented with an original Paine Proffitt artwork.
Fund raising during the evening included a prize draw and memorabilia auction to generate funds for the Supporter’s Club and the Super Vale Abroad community initiative which works with the Vale Foundation to pay for carefully selected families and children to attend home games at Vale Park.
Mark Porter said, “It was a great evening which allowed us to celebrate the career of a true Vale Legend who was responsible for one of the most memorable and successful periods in the history of the Club.
“The response from the supporters was fantastic, the event was a complete sell out and I’m sure everyone had a really good time.”
John Rudge was delighted with how the evening went and added: “The supporters at this club have always been great with me and tonight was no exception.
“It was great to re-live the wonderful times that we had when I was manager and meet up with some of the terrific players that we had during those times.
“It was the players who achieved the success that we had and, of course, many of them went on to have careers with top flight clubs. “I was proud to be a part of that and this Club will always be very special to me.”
Lots of positive feedback has been received from those lucky enough to get tickets for the evening and similar events are now being planned for the future. Announcements will be made here on the Club website as soon as details are confirmed.