John Ian Porterfield (11 February 1946 – 11 September 2007) was a Scottish 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 ...

, 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 The Armenia national football team ( hy, Հայաստանի ֆուտբոլի ազգային հավաքական, ''Hayastani futboli azgayin havak'akan'') represents Armenia in association football and is controlled by the Football Federation o ...

. As a player, Porterfield scored the only goal of the

1973 FA Cup Final The 1973 FA Cup Final was the 92nd final of the FA Cup. It took place on 5 May 1973 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Leeds United, the previous season's winners and one of the dominant teams in English football at the time, and Sund ...

as Sunderland memorably overcame the odds to beat

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

. He was the first manager to be sacked in the FA Premier League era, when he was fired by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. He had earlier succeeded Alex Ferguson as manager of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

in 1986.

Playing career

At the age of 15, the Dunfermline-born Porterfield had a trial for

but returned, homesick, to Scotland where he joined

Raith Rovers Raith Rovers Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the town of Kirkcaldy, Fife. The club was founded in 1883 and currently competes in the Scottish Championship as a member of the Scottish Professional Football Leagu ...

. 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 Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

in the 1973 FA Cup final, giving them a shock victory over Leeds United, who were among the finest club sides in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

at that time. He stayed at Sunderland for ten years, with a brief loan spell at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling ...

in 1976, before moving on to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

in July 1977, first as a player and then as player-coach. He was inducted in to the

Hall of Fame in 2018.

Coaching and management career

Upon retirement as a player he went on to manage

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

winning the Third Division Championship before joining

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

on 6 June 1981. He was given the task of getting the Blades, newly relegated to the Fourth Division back into the First Division in five seasons with a long-term contract exceeding that particular time-frame. Given funds by new Chairman, Reg Brealey, Porterfield strengthened the team and achieved the first step of his mission at the first time of asking, winning the Fourth Division championship in his first season. Despite huge financial losses, Brearley continued to provide transfer funds for United's march toward the top division. However, United were never in the hunt for promotion, finishing 11th. The following season, the playing staff was cut and promotion was achieved, but only due to

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving from Boothferry Park in 2002. The club's t ...

only beating

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

2–0. A third goal would have seen the

Humberside Humberside () was a Non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England from 1 April 1974 until 1 April 1996. It was composed of land from either side of the Humber Estuary, create ...

club promoted instead. However, ground improvement required by promotion to the Second Division meant there was no further funds for new players. Porterfield was unable to complete the final step into the First Division and finally paid the price being replaced by Billy McEwan on 27 March 1986. In November 1986, he was appointed as manager of

in the

Scottish Premier Division The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...

following the departure of Alex Ferguson to Manchester United. In his 2 years at

Pittodrie Pittodrie Stadium, commonly referred to as Pittodrie, is an all-seater stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland. Used primarily for football, it has been the home ground of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) club Aberdeen F.C. since they wer ...

, Aberdeen reached the Scottish League Cup Final, and qualified for Europe twice. After resigning in 1988, he made a quick comeback to football as assistant manager to Bobby Campbell at

and oversaw their promotion back to the First Division and Second Division champions in 1988–89. In October 1989, Porterfield was named manager of Third Division side

but was sacked 18 months later, having failed to mount a promotion challenge. Porterfield returned to Chelsea as manager for the 1991–92 season, following Bobby Campbell's decision to resign as manager and become personal assistant to owner

Ken Bates Kenneth William Bates (born 4 December 1931) is a British businessman, football executive and hotelier. He was involved in the development of Wembley Stadium and is the former owner and chairman of football clubs Chelsea and Leeds United. Bate ...

. 1991–92 was an uneventful season, but

1992–93 Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since t ...

began with Chelsea looking like surprise contenders for the first

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

title. However, the good form had gone by

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

and Porterfield was dismissed on 15 February 1993 after 12 games without a win, gaining the distinction of being the first manager to be sacked by a Premier League club. Porterfield was named manager of the

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

in the summer of 1993 and later managed

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

and

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and ...

, all very much developing countries on the football map. He was given the task of rebuilding the Zambian team following a tragic air crash in 1993 that claimed the lives of many of the nation's most gifted players. With the Zambia national team, he finished second at the 1994 African Nations Cup. In January 1996, he returned to British football to become the assistant manager of struggling

team Bolton Wanderers. The club had been rooted to the bottom of the table for the most part of the season and Bolton's new manager

Colin Todd Colin Todd (born 12 December 1948) is an English football manager and former player. He was most recently the manager of Esbjerg fB. As a player, he made more than 600 appearances in the Football League, playing for Sunderland, Derby County, ...

was looking to his former Sunderland teammate Porterfield to assist an unlikely escape from relegation, but survival was not achieved. A

drink-driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

charge in May 1996 prompted his hasty resignation from Bolton and he returned abroad to manage both the

Oman Oman ( ; ar, عُمَان ' ), officially the Sultanate of Oman ( ar, سلْطنةُ عُمان ), is an Arabian country located in southwestern Asia. It is situated on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, and spans the mouth of ...

and

Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of Gr ...

national teams. He led the latter to the

Caribbean Cup The Caribbean Cup was the championship tournament for national association football teams that are members of the Caribbean Football Union. The first competition, established by Shell and run by former England Cricket fast bowler Fred Rumsey, wa ...

in 2001 before leaving in June 2001. In 2003, he was appointed as the manager of Korean club side

Busan I'Park Busan IPark ( ko, 부산 아이파크) is a South Korean professional football club based in Busan that competes in K League 2, the second tier of the South Korean football pyramid. Its current home ground is Busan Gudeok Stadium. The club was o ...

and he led them to a

Korean FA Cup The Korean FA Cup is a national football cup knockout competition of South Korea, held annually by the Korea Football Association (KFA). Before the FA Cup was established in 1996, two predecessor competitions named All Joseon Football Tournament ...

victory in 2004. The team went on to claim the

K-League K League (Hangul: K리그) is South Korea's professional football league. It includes first division K League 1 and second division K League 2. History Until the 1970s, South Korean football operated two major football leagues, the National ...

first stage title, as it simultaneously continued its unbeaten run through the group stage of the AFC Champions League. Porterfield left

on 4 April 2006. He signed a contract to coach the

in August 2006.

Death

He died, aged 61, on 11 September 2007, as a result of colon cancer, which had been diagnosed earlier that year. A minute's silence was held before Sunderland's next home game, by coincidence against another of his former clubs, Reading. A pub named The Porterfield is named in his honour in Sunderland.

Honours

As a player

Sunderland *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

: 1972–73

As a manager

Rotherham United *

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following th ...

: 1980–81 Sheffield United * Football League Third Division third-place promotion: 1983–84 * Football League Fourth Division: 1981–82 Trinidad & Tobago *

: 2001 Busan I'Park *

: 2004

As an individual

Hall of Fame

References

External links

* *
Obituary
from ''The Times''

from ''The Daily Telegraph''
BBC Wear – Pictures: Ian Porterfield memorial at Sunderland Minster1973 Sunderland FA Cup hero: Tributes and on-line book of condolences
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porterfield, Ian 1946 births 2007 deaths Deaths from colorectal cancer Footballers from Dunfermline Scottish footballers Association football forwards Raith Rovers F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Reading F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish football managers Rotherham United F.C. managers Sheffield United F.C. managers Aberdeen F.C. managers Chelsea F.C. managers Reading F.C. managers Busan IPark managers Bolton Wanderers F.C. non-playing staff Premier League managers Trinidad and Tobago national football team managers Armenia national football team managers Oman national football team managers Deaths from cancer in England Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Ghana Expatriate football managers in Ghana Zambia national football team managers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in South Korea Expatriate football managers in South Korea Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Trinidad and Tobago Expatriate football managers in Trinidad and Tobago Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Zambia Expatriate football managers in Zambia Scottish Football League managers Scottish expatriate football managers Zimbabwe national football team managers Cowdenbeath F.C. players Expatriate football managers in Armenia 1994 African Cup of Nations managers FA Cup Final players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Oman Expatriate football managers in Oman Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Zimbabwe Expatriate football managers in Zimbabwe Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Armenia