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

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

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

John Rudge spent almost 20 years at Vale Park (Wild Goose Architecture).

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."

The full planning application can be viewed here.

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