ATHLONE Town boss Brendan Place is one former player who can testify to the frugal nature of Port Vale legend John Rudge, writes Steve Shaw.

The 45-year-old Dubliner retains fond memories of Rudge after Vale's most successful manager invited him to Burslem for a week-long trial in 1989.

Place, who was playing at centre-half for Athlone at the time, was recommended to Rudge by former Northern Ireland international Billy Hamilton.

And the centre-half got his chance to impress, playing alongside loan forward Colin West in a 1-0 reserve-team defeat by Bradford City on April 26, 1989.

"John put me up with a local landlady in Burslem and I was treated very well," said Place.

"He wanted to sign me, but the two clubs couldn't agree a fee.

"If John had dug a bit deeper in his pockets I think I would have signed for the Vale.

"Sometimes when Irish players came over to English clubs they thought they could get them on the cheap.

"I think John offered about £10,000, but Athlone wouldn't accept it. But in just one week I saw enough to realise that Vale are a good family club with a great fan base."

But having missed out on a move to Vale, Place joined Gillingham two months later – and came face-to-face with future Stoke City boss Tony Pulis.

"Tony was a senior pro at Gillingham, and even then you could see he had a great reading of the game," recalled Place.

"he had all the right credentials to be a manager because all the players in the dressing room looked up to him and listened to what he had to say.

"I think that was a good start on the road to management in that he was obviously a leader."

Place had played little more than a handful of games for the Gills, who were then in the equivalent of League Two, when he suffered a serious neck injury.

It took him seven years to fully recover when he returned to the League of Ireland to play for teams including Home Farm Everton.