Along with new First Team Manager Neil Aspin, former Vale boss John Rudge also returned to the club on Wednesday morning in the role of Football Advisor.
With vast experience of being in the dugout at Vale Park combined with other roles on his CV, Rudge is a vastly experienced figure who will assist the club moving forward.
Most recently a scout at Hul lCity, Rudge comes back to Burslem with a wealth of knowledge and he will begin working in his new position immediately.
On the welcome return, Rudge said: “This place has been a massive part of my career and a huge part of my life.
“Neil [Aspin] asked me if I could come to help him, to try and get the club up and running again. I’d been here for 20 years and then I went to Stoke for 14, but recently I have been helping Hull City.
“But then I found myself in a situation where I wasn’t involved with a club at the beginning of the season, so this gets me out of the house and back doing something I love.
“If I can do something to help Port Vale, it would certainly be a thing I would cherish and enjoy.”
With the Valiants sitting at the wrong end of the Sky Bet League Two table at the moment, Rudge knows that it won’t be easy to turn fortunes around, but he is relishing the opportunity.
He said: “It’s going to be a massive challenge for Neil. All I can do is try to guide him a little bit and if I can do that, it would be a great achievement for me.
“My role involves everything to do with football; looking at the players, the team and all aspects of the club regarding the playing side of things.
“It’s something I’m really looking forward to doing and hopefully we can get that little bit of success.”
Rudge was also quick to praise the supporters from when he was previously at the club and he is hoping that they will back the new regime.
“When I was here before, the supporters were fantastic with me,” he said.
“They were on our side and they really were that extra man - if you’ve got that supporting you and driving you on, that creates a great incentive for the players.”
On the upcoming clash with Grimsby Town, he added: “Saturday’s game is going to be a difficult one. I’m looking forward to every aspect of my job, but when games come around it’s a big factor.
“I was at the game against Newcastle United in midweek where we got a result, now hopefully we can get another one and start an upward trend.”