Port Vale manager statue unveiled on 80th birthday

The statue was unveiled at Vale Park's Hamil Road fan zone

A 17ft (5.3m) bronze statue celebrating a football club's former manager has been unveiled.

John Rudge led Port Vale Football Club, based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, from 1983 to 1999 and is now its president.

The unveiling coincided with Mr Rudge's 80th birthday.

Fans raised £100,000 towards the cost of the statue, and Port Vale Supporters Club chair Mark Porter said: “I just thought that probably the greatest manager the football club’s ever had deserved to be recognised and honoured.”

Mr Porter said it was about providing a lasting legacy for Mr Rudge, adding that it would be there for generations to come.

“With statues, you honour lots of people after they’ve passed and they never really see them, so I thought it would be great to honour him while he’s here so he can see it for himself,” he said.

The statue of John Rudge was unveiled on his 80th birthday

The statue depicts Mr Rudge wearing his trademark flat cap, pointing from the touch line out to the field.

It has been placed on a Staffordshire blue brick plinth at Vale Park's Hamil Road fan zone, set within a new semi-circular area of feature paving, with blue brick walls adjacent to it.

Mr Rudge is credited with taking the club to the highest league position in its history, beating the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Everton, and neighbouring rivals Stoke-on-Trent.

Chief executive Matt Hancock said: “Rudgey is synonymous with Port Vale, with Stoke-on-Trent as a city and with the football world as a whole.

“Anywhere you go, John gets spoken about. He’s such a humble, kind and normal man.

"If anyone deserves a statue, it’s John."