ROBBIE WILLIAMS, the rock star, remembered his humble beginnings in Stoke-on-Trent yesterday by becoming a “significant” shareholder in Port Vale, the team he has supported all his life.

The 32-year-old singer, who is based in Los Angeles, is thought to have bought all the remaining shares in the Coca-Cola League One club that had been available since a fans’ group took over in May 2003. These shares were worth about £260,000.

Neither Port Vale nor Williams’s representatives would reveal his exact investment, which comes at a crucial time for the mid-table club, who have suffered their share of financial misfortune.

“We have agreed not to discuss the figures, but Robbie has certainly put in enough for us to buy a new player,” Bill Bratt, the club’s chairman, said. “Robbie has supported Port Vale since he was a lad and we are delighted with (the) announcement. He has bought the remaining shares in the club and while we will not go into detail about his investment, he has become a significant shareholder.”

The club have courted Williams, who is worth an estimated £85 million, as a potential investor since they fell into administration in December 2002 with debts of more than £2 million. With the club losing about £500,000 a month, fans feared that without a cash injection, Vale might have to merge with Stoke City, their neighbours and rivals.

Those fears were scotched when Valiant 2001, a supporter-based consortium, was chosen to take over the club, but money was still tight. The new board reached out to Williams through a friend, Jonathan Wilkes, whose father has close ties to the club, but the singer declined to be involved.

Why Williams has changed his mind is not clear, although it may have something to do with the barbed criticism he received after his recent attendances at Stamford Bridge, suggesting that he was not a real Port Vale supporter but a glory hunter. His investment in his home-town club, which was founded in 1876, should silence the critics.

“Although I can’t be at the Vale often enough, my investment is just to say that my heart is still there and I’m a huge supporter,” Williams said yesterday. “I’m really excited about what we may be able to do with the club in the future.”

Whether the former Take That star has a direct involvement in the running of the club has yet to become apparent. As he begins a sell-out world tour in South Africa in April to promote his latest album, Intensive Care, that seems unlikely. However, he has said that he would like to be a director of the club one day.

“My heartstrings have definitely been pulled hearing about Port Vale’s problems,” he said in one interview. “I’ve been a Port Vale fan all my life. When I was younger I was in the Railway Paddock and I used to dream about sitting in the chairman’s box.”

His backing is a boon to the club’s board, which had not expected to sell all the remaining shares at once. Now the directors will be free to issue more shares to raise more money on the back of a club now valued at £4.5 million, compared with £1.6 million when they took over.

“I’m extremely pleased and excited that Robbie has invested in the club. It clearly shows that he cares about Port Vale and its future. It’s now up to the board and all at Port Vale to ensure his investment is used wisely in helping to secure the future of the club,” Bratt said.

Port Vale, who reached the FA Cup fourth round this season before losing to Aston Villa, have never played top-flight football. Their highest league position was in 1931, when they finished fifth in the old second division. The team are eleventh in League One.