Statue given go-ahead as Valiants bank Trophy points

THERE was plenty of activity on and off the pitch to be excited about at Port Vale. CLIVE YOULTON continues his review of the Valiants’ season...

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A BRONZE statue for former Port Vale manager John Rudge received planning permission and the man whose idea it was expressed his delight.

Supporters’ club chairman Mark Porter conceived the idea and had helped oversee the project.

Close to £100,000 had been raised over a two-year spell for the fivemetre tall carving to be located in the Hamil Road car park.

Sculptor Michael Talbot was busy getting it ready for Rudge’s birthday celebrations in October when the great man turned 80.

It was to sit on a Staffordshire blue brick base/plinth and Porter praised the “massive effort” by all involved and said: “We've got planning permission now which is great news. We want to get it up for John’s 80th birthday.

“We are a few grand short but we have an opportunity for supporters to get involved with a raffle. The first prize is a 15-inch bronze maquette of the John Rudge Statue worth £5000. There's only 10 of them and there are a couple of artist’s copies. That's it, they won’t be done again. They are only going to go up in value. There will be a certificate of authenticity with them and it’s a chance to win a slice of Port Vale history.”

On the pitch, Port Vale made it two wins in the space of 10 days in Greater Manchester as they beat Salford City 2-0 in the Football League Trophy Northern Group B.