I had the absolute privilege to go to Stoke on Monday to see the unveiling of the statue for John Rudge on his 80th Birthday. It was a fantastic occasion, and John was treated like a hero from everyone. The day started with drinks in “Robbie’s Bar” – the fantastic bar dedicated to one of their most famous fans, and Club President Robbie Williams. This was a lively event with John Rudge personally greeting everyone invited. Lots of ex-players that had worked with John were there and we were busy spotting who we recognised! We spotted amongst others Don Goodman, Mark Bright, Darren Moore, Tony Pulis, Tony Mowbray. We then had a lovely lunch (complete with Staffordshire delights!). After that we were all invited to listen to some speeches. The host of the event was Jonathan Wilkes, another lifelong Port Vale fan. Our friend Mark Porter, who is Chair of the Supporters Trust, did a lovely speech thanking everyone for all their efforts to raise the money, including thanking us Reading fans for our help. The owner Carol Shanahan gave a lovely speech and again thanked Reading Fans (to be honest I was getting a little embarrassed at this point with the continual praise!). Then we heard from the man himself – a very nice man who gave a lovely heart-warming address. We saw video messages from Harry Redknapp, Robbie Williams and Sir Alex Ferguson. The warmth and love in the room for John was incredible – they then showed a film all about John which was very moving.
We all then moved outside to watch the big moment and the unveiling. About 300 fans had joined outside and numerous TV cameras and crews. John donned his flap cap and viewed his statue with his family. And what a likeness it is!
All day people came up to me to thank us Reading fans, they honestly are incredibly grateful for all the support. I had a lovely hug from Carol Shanahan and she asked all about the ownership situation. If we could ever find an owner like Carol, we would be very blessed. I have been lucky enough to have some great experiences being Chair of the Supporters Trust – but this one will stay with me as one of the best days.
On top of it being a great day out, I managed to be sat with Trevor Birch from the EFL and Debbie Hewitt from the FA, so they could enjoy an hour of me asking for help and telling them what is going on. Trevor is well aware of our situation and told me that he is really keeping a close eye on the situation.
We also managed a chat with Darren Moore – who when he saw we were Reading fans wanted to talk about Lewis Wing’s goal from last week. Lewis had worked under Darren at Wednesday and he was full of praise.
SARAH TURNER
STAR Chair