John Rudge
John Robert Rudge is an English former professional football player and manager who is the president of club Port Vale.
Rudge began his playing career at Huddersfield Town in November 1961, but made little impact at the club and was transferred to Carlisle United in December 1966. In January 1969, he joined Torquay United and twice finished as the club's top scorer before he moved on to Bristol Rovers in February 1972. He helped the club to win promotion out of the Third Division in 1973–74 before departing for AFC Bournemouth in March 1975. Injury disrupted his time on the coast, and he retired in 1977. A forward, he scored a total of 78 goals in 267 league and cup appearances in a 16-year career in the English Football League.
He coached at Torquay United and Port Vale before being appointed Port Vale's manager in December 1983. He remained in the role for the next 16 years, easily the longest management spell in the club's history. He masterminded some of the club's most successful campaigns, leading them to promotion in 1985–86, 1989 and 1993–94; he also led them to the Anglo-Italian Cup final in 1996, and victory in the Football League Trophy final in 1993. However, he was sacked in January 1999 and was subsequently appointed director of football at their rivals, Stoke City, a position he held until May 2013. After working as a scout at Hull City, he returned to Port Vale in an advisory role in October 2017. At statue of Rudge was unveiled at Vale Park in October 2024.
Early and personal life
John Robert Rudge was born in Wolverhampton on 21 October 1944 to Marie and Frank Harold Rudge. Marie ran a fruit and vegetable stall at Wolverhampton Market, whilst Jack was a capstan operator at a factory works. Rudge attended St Joseph's secondary modern school and supported Wolverhampton Wanderers. His elder sister, Pat, dated and later married Peter Clark, who was Eddie Clamp's understudy at Wolves. In April 1967, Rudge married Dellice, whom he had met whilst he was serving his apprenticeship. They had two daughters, Lisa and Deb. Rudge released his autobiography, To Cap It All, in 2023, with all profits from the book going to the Port Vale Supporters' Club's fundraising efforts for a £100,000 statue in his honour.Playing career
Huddersfield Town
Rudge represented Wolverhampton Schoolboys but was declined an apprenticeship at Wolves in 1959. He instead was offered a £7-a-week apprenticeship at Huddersfield Town, having been scouted by Lawrie Kelly, and placed in the boarding house room Denis Law had stayed in until the Scotsman had been sold on to Manchester City. Rudge was a right-footed forward who had pace and good heading ability, though was prone to injury. He turned professional at Huddersfield in November 1961. He made his Second Division debut under manager Eddie Boot in the 1962–63 campaign. He made his debut alongside Allan Gilliver in a 4–1 victory over Swansea Town on 6 May 1963. However, Rudge had great difficulty establishing himself in the first team due to the prominent strike partnership of Les Massie and Len White. He did not feature in the 1963–64 season, appeared just twice in 1964–65, and did not get a game in 1965–66. He played two games at the start of the 1966–67 season before manager Tom Johnston allowed him a £4,000 move to Second Division rivals Carlisle United in December 1966, promoting youth team player Frank Worthington in his stead.Carlisle United
Working alongside Dick Young, Carlisle manager Alan Ashman built an attacking pass and move side with a one-and-two touch style of play, bargain-hunting for players who could fit into that method. This management philosophy became highly influential for Rudge later in his career. In the meantime, Rudge found regular first-team football at Carlisle and scored seven goals in 14 appearances, including a hat-trick in a 6–1 win over Bolton Wanderers, as the "Cumbrians" finished third in 1966–67, six points short of promotion. One of the goals in the hat-trick was a shot from that finished off a dribbling move he made to move past two Bolton players.He went on to form a good partnership with Hughie McIlmoyle, who later had a statue built in his honour outside Brunton Park. Over the course of the 1967–68 campaign he scored nine goals in 29 league and cup games, as Carlisle posted a tenth-place finish under the stewardship of new manager Tim Ward. Carlisle also defeated Newcastle United in the third round of the FA Cup at St James' Park, in what was the first meeting between the two clubs, and Rudge's first experience of a major upset in the competition. He made just four goalless appearances in the first half of the 1968–69 season, being judged as surplus to requirements by new manager Bob Stokoe. During this time Rudge worked on his coaching badges, becoming fully qualified at the age of 25. Stokoe listed Rudge for sale in January 1969 and accepted a bid of £8,000 from Torquay United of the Third Division.
Torquay United
Rudge scored twice in 14 appearances before the end of the campaign for Allan Brown's "Gulls". He then discovered his form in 1969–70, finishing as the club's top scorer with 16 goals in 35 league and cup matches. He continued to regularly find the net in 1970–71, hitting 21 goals in 43 appearances, as Torquay finished tenth. Torquay also knocked Aston Villa out of the FA Cup in the first round, winning 3–1 at Plainmoor. However, he scored just twice in 12 games in 1971–72, as the club suffered relegation under Jack Edwards. Rudge escaped this fate as he left the club in February 1972, signing a contract with Bill Dodgin's Bristol Rovers. He had been part of a swap deal that saw Robin Stubbs return from Rovers to Torquay.Bristol Rovers
Manager Don Megson dubbed Rudge "a second Andy Lochhead", who was the Third Division's top scorer. After three goals in eight games towards the end of the campaign, Rudge hit 12 goals in 29 appearances in the 1972–73 campaign. Rovers also reached the final of the Watney Cup, where they would defeat Sheffield United in a penalty shoot-out at Eastville. However, Rudge missed the final due to injury. He featured as a midfielder in the club's League Cup giant-killing over Manchester United, scoring a header in a 2–1 win at Old Trafford.Rovers were promoted as runners-up of the Third Division in 1973–74, finishing one point behind champions Oldham Athletic despite having been at the top of the table from 22 September to 27 April; However, Rudge made only 13 starts and six substitute appearances in the league, scoring four goals. By this time, he was mainly utilised in midfield, with Bruce Bannister and Alan Warboys forming a dominant 'Smash and Grab' partnership up front, scoring 40 of the club's 65 goals between them. His injury record also worsened to the extent that Bristol Post reporter Robin Perry wrote that he was the only player to pull on a muscle whilst putting on his tracksuit. He was restricted to just three league starts in the 1974–75 campaign, as well as ten substitute appearances, and moved on to John Benson's AFC Bournemouth in March 1975 for a £7,000 fee.
AFC Bournemouth
Rudge played seven games for Bournemouth and could not prevent them from being relegated to the Fourth Division at the end of the 1974–75 campaign. He missed most of the 1975–76 season with a ruptured Achilles tendon, scoring twice in 14 appearances. His career ended at age 32 due to his Achilles injury. He operated a fruit and vegetable stall on Christchurch Market to supplement his income.Coaching career
Following his retirement as a player, Rudge was made a coach at former club Torquay United by Mike Green – a former teammate at both Carlisle and Bristol Rovers. In taking the position he rejected player-manager offers at non-League clubs Weymouth and Atherstone. He 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. He interviewed at Kettering Town and Crewe Alexandra, though was rejected by Kettering. He felt that Crewe did not have much potential.In January 1980, Rudge was appointed as a coach at Port Vale, after he was recommended to new manager John McGrath. Vale had long been a struggling lower league club, though McGrath had grand ambitions and wanted to bring in someone with coaching experience who possessed a deep knowledge of the Third and Fourth Divisions. He quickly became a "cushioning buffer" between the players and McGrath, who was "quite dictatorial with a cutting tongue". He would back McGrath in front of the squad whilst addressing the player's concerns to him in private. McGrath could also be an inspirational leader, giving Rudge insights into that aspect of man-management, as well as public relations and headline-grabbing stunts.
Rudge was promoted to the position of assistant manager in December 1980. Vale were promoted out of the Fourth Division at the end of the 1982–83 season and had four players named on the PFA Team of the Year. Rudge and Jimmy Greenhoff took temporary charge of the team for fix games just after Christmas 1982 whilst McGrath was ill with a virus; the team won five of the six games, sustaining Vale's promotion push. Greenhoff was appointed as Rochdale manager in March 1983 and offered Rudge a role at Spotland, which he declined.
Manager of Port Vale
Appointment and becoming established (1983–85)
Following the sacking of McGrath in December 1983, Rudge was made caretaker manager at Port Vale. Under McGrath, the club had lost 13 of their opening 17 league games. The club had the third highest budget in the division, a weekly wage bill of three times that of the home gate receipts and were rooted to the foot of the table, nine points from their nearest competitors. Rudge stated that "we cannot change things overnight." However, player Tommy Gore noted "the players are in a more determined mood." Rudge signed left-sided midfielder Kevin Young on loan, and switched Eamonn O'Keefe from midfield to the attack. Rudge lost his first two games in charge, but the team went on to win 21 points from 15 games, and he was given the job permanently on 9 March with a salary of £11,000-a-year. He was unable to prevent relegation at the end of the 1983–84 season, though the club did avoid finishing in last place. Though Mark Bright and Robbie Earle were signed to Vale before Rudge's appointment, he helped to bed them into the first team, making use of the many hours he had previously spent providing them with extra training sessions as a coach. Bright, though, refused to sign a new contract with the club and joined Leicester City for a tribunal set figure of £66,666.The 1984–85 campaign aimed to arrest the decline and consolidate in mid-table. Rudge achieved this aim, slashing the wage bill to offset the club's reduced income, guiding the Vale to a 12th-place finish. He had sold big striker Jim Steel for £10,000 in January 1984 and received a £17,500 fee for Eamonn O'Keefe in March 1985, which gave him money to invest in the playing squad. His first transfer signing was Oshor Williams for £7,000 from Stockport County, who would become a key player after recovering from a cracked kneecap sustained early at the club. Two stand-out free transfer signings were full-back Alan Webb and attacker Alistair Brown; Webb went on to win the Port Vale Player of the Year award in 1985, whilst the veteran Brown proved to be an excellent midfield partner to young Earle.