Dale Anthony Rudge (born 9 September 1963) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

. Playing as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, he represented his hometown club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

in the 1980s before moving on to Preston North End, Norwegian club Djerv 1919, and

Hednesford Town Hednesford Town Football Club is a football club based in Hednesford, Staffordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Keys Park. History The club was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites and Hill Top.

. Rudge, a

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly un ...

apprentice, made his league debut on 18 December 1982 in a 4–0 win over

QPR Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football, football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home ...

. He went on to feature 8 times during the 1982/83 season as Wolves won promotion from the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

at the first attempt. He made a further 19 appearances during the club's top flight campaign that ended in relegation, before moving to Preston North End. In total, he represented the Midlanders 29 times in all competitions. The midfielder remained in English league football for two further seasons, making 47 league appearances for Preston in the bottom two divisions, scoring twice. Both goals came in the 1984–85 season against

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team compete in the National League, at the fifth tier of the English football league sys ...

at home and

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

away. He was released in the summer of 1986 and he joined Norwegian club Djerv 1919. He later returned to England with

non-league Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

, where he helped the club to the 1992

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the mos ...

final. A Preston North End fanzine, '

Deepdale Deepdale is a football stadium in the Deepdale area of Preston, England, the home of Preston North End. Deepdale is "widely recognised as being the oldest 'continuously used' football stadium in the world, though this is contested". History ...

Rudge' is named after him. He still makes the odd appearance for the 'old Wolves' side in charity matches and appears alongside the likes of

Mel Eves Melvyn James Eves (born 10 September 1956) is an English former professional footballer who had a long career playing as a striker and left sided attacker, mostly known for his time with Wolverhampton Wanderers. Career Eves, born in the Miners ...

, Dean Edwards, Andy Thompson and Phil Parkes. He currently coaches at the

Old Swinford Hospital Old Swinford Hospital is a secondary boarding school in Oldswinford, Stourbridge, West Midlands, England that has been in continuous operation since the 17th century. It is one of 36 state boarding schools in England, meaning school fees are ...

school, and has also coached at Kidderminster Harriers' academy.Academy squad is taking shape
This is Worcestershire, 16 September 2004

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rudge, Dale 1963 births Living people Footballers from Wolverhampton English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players SK Djerv 1919 players Hednesford Town F.C. players English Football League players Expatriate men's footballers in Norway English expatriate sportspeople in Norway