John Robert Rudge (born 21 October 1944) is an English former professional football player and manager who is the president of EFL League Two 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.

[2] 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.

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.

[1][14] 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.

[15] 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.

[1][18] 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.

[27] 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.

[28] 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.

[29] 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.

[33] 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.

[37] 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.

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.

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.

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.

[52] In summer 1985, Rudge bought experienced centre-half John Williams from Tranmere Rovers for £12,000, whilst young striker Andy Jones was purchased for £3,000 from Rhyl.

[54] An 18-game unbeaten run from January to April helped to secure Vale the fourth promotion place at the end of the 1985–86 season, leaving them seven points clear of fifth-place Leyton Orient.

[55] Major signings for the start of the 1986–87 season were goalkeeper Mark Grew and central midfielder Ray Walker, both of whom featured heavily for the club in the coming years, as well as winger Paul Smith.

Rudge signed a new two-year contract after Port Vale beat Bristol Rovers in the play-off final following a third-place finish in the league and victory over former boss John MGrath's Preston North End in the semi-finals.

[72] The next month he added Liverpool winger John Jeffers to the squad for £35,000, using the money he received from selling Steve Harper to Preston North End.

Non-scoring striker Ronnie Jepson was sold to Preston North End for £80,000, which was reinvested in bringing Dutch midfielder Robin van der Laan to the club; over the next five years the Dutchman become a key player.

Vale had gone 18 games without a win in the campaign's second half after Ray Walker was sidelined for five months with ligament damage, Nico Jalink proving to be an inadequate replacement.

[87] Rudge was though very unhappy with Bell for refusing to pay him a promotion bonus that had been verbally agreed, and strongly considered accepting Bradford City chairman Geoffrey Richmond's offer to manage his club with a 25% salary increase until a gathering of hundreds of Vale fans outside the stadium convinced him to stay put.

The money from Taylor's sale was reinvested into the playing squad, with £225,000 going to Newcastle United for Steve Guppy, and a £150,000 fee was paid to bring striker Tony Naylor in from nearby Crewe Alexandra.

[96] Stoke City chairman Peter Coates again offered the vacant manager's position to Rudge, who accepted and signed a contract, only to change his mind and stay at Vale Park.

[99] Mills was also sold to Bradford City for £1 million, with the player unable to leave for free as he had signed a contract extension with the Vale only hours before the bosman ruling came into law.

[100] As well as an increased number of big money sales, key players such as Naylor, Foyle, Aspin, Glover and Walker were coming towards the end of their careers, with the latter having already departed for the local non-League scene.

[99] This caused outrage amongst Port Vale fans, who held a "flat cap protest" (Rudge's headwear of choice) to display their disgust at Bell's decision.

Rudge was appointed as director of football at Stoke City in 1999, working alongside manager Gary Megson, after turning down the same role at Port Vale.

[111] Rudge retained his position after the club were taken over by Gunnar Gíslason's Icelandic consortium because newly appointed manager Guðjón Þórðarson wanted him and coach Nigel Pearson to provide knowledge of the English leagues.