Plans for a brand-new statue of former manager, John Rudge, at Port Vale Football Club, have been approved by the local council.

Port Vale FC applied for the "installation of a new statue including base, associated feature walls and hard landscaping" at their home on Hamil Road, Burslem, last month.

The statue will be made out of bronze and be situated in the car park, taking over five parking spaces.

These plans were approved by Stoke-on-Trent City Council today (16 August) and an Officer's Report says: "The statue and wider scheme is well designed, it respects the existing character of its setting and pays respect to a part of the social heritage of the City, promoting distinctive identity and civic pride. In this regard the proposals are considered to wholly accord with all of the relevant policies."



John Rudge spent almost twenty years at Vale Park (Image via planning application).

This comes after a fundraiser was launched in April 2022 to raise money to build the statue and Reading fans donated around £10,000 to the fund as an apology for the abandonment of a game in January 2024. 

The fundraiser says: "The Port Vale Supporters Club have created this page to raise funds to build a statue of former Port Vale manager John Rudge. John spent almost twenty years at Vale Park, with sixteen of those being spent as manager, during which time he took the club from the bottom level of English league Football to within touching distance of the Premier League in what is now the Championship. 

"He oversaw two promotions, three Wembley appearances and created countless memories for thousands of Port Vale fans.

"That is why we, the fans, want to build this statue. We want to thank John for his years of service to Port Vale Football Club, show our gratitude for the memories he gave us, and immortalise our greatest ever manager for years to come."

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