Bio:
John Ian Porterfield (11 February 1946 – 11 September 2007) was a Scottish professional footballer, and an experienced football coach who worked at both club and international level for almost 30 years. At the time of his death, he was the coach of the Armenia national football team.
As a player, Porterfield scored the only goal of the 1973 FA Cup Final as Sunderland memorably overcame the odds to beat Leeds United. He was the first manager to be sacked in the FA Premier League era, when he was fired by Chelsea. He had earlier succeeded Alex Ferguson as manager of Aberdeen in 1986.
The 1973 FA Cup match ball with the Golden Boot awarded to Ian Porterfield, Sunderland AFC
At the age of 15, the Dunfermline-born Porterfield had a trial for Leeds United but returned, homesick, to Scotland where he joined Raith Rovers.
Moving south of the border in 1967 he signed for Sunderland where he experienced his finest moment as a player when he scored the winner at Wembley in the 1973 FA Cup final, giving them a shock victory over Leeds United, who were among the finest club sides in Europe at that time.
He stayed at Sunderland for ten years, with a brief loan spell at Reading in 1976, before moving on to Sheffield Wednesday in July 1977, first as a player and then as player-coach.
He later became a well respected coach and manager, among them, Rotherham, Chelsea and Aberdeen as well as the national teams of Zimbabwe, Oman and Armenia.
Factfile:
- Full Name: John Ian Porterfield
- Position: Midfield
- Date of Birth: 11.02.1946
- Birthplace: Dunfirmline
- Nation: Scotland
- Caps: –
- Goals: –
- Club Career: Sunderland
- Period: 1967-1977
- League Games, 230
- League Goals, 17
- Previous Club: Raith Rovers
- Transfer Fee: £45.000
- Collection
- More Facts
- Photo Gallery
- Category
- Video
Leave a Reply