Andy Porter (footballer)

Andrew Michael Porter (born 17 September 1968) is an English former professional footballer turned coach and manager. His playing career spanned from 1986 to 2006 and for the majority of his career he played for Port Vale. His successes with the club include winning promotion out of the Third Division via the play-offs in 1989, lifting the Football League Trophy in 1993, and playing in the final of the Anglo-Italian Cup in 1996. He later played for Wigan Athletic, Mansfield Town, Chester City, Northwich Victoria, and Kidsgrove Athletic.

Andy Porter

Porter with York City in 2009
Personal information
Full name	Andrew Michael Porter[1]
Date of birth	(1968-09-17) 17 September 1968[1]
Place of birth	Holmes Chapel, England
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Playing position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
198?–1985	Manchester City
1985–1986	Port Vale
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1986–1998	Port Vale	357	(22)
1987	→ Hutt Valley United (loan)
1998–2000	Wigan Athletic	21	(1)
1999	→ Mansfield Town (loan)	5	(0)
2000	→ Chester City (loan)	16	(0)
2000–2002	Chester City	38	(4)
2002	→ Northwich Victoria (loan)	9	(0)
2002	→ Kidsgrove Athletic (loan)
2002–2003	Kidsgrove Athletic
2004–2006	Port Vale	4	(0)
2011	Alsager Town	1	(0)
Total		451	(27)
Teams managed
2001–2002	Chester City (caretaker)
2002–2003	Kidsgrove Athletic
2008	Port Vale (caretaker)
2010	York City (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He served Port Vale as co-caretaker manager alongside Dean Glover. He managed Kidsgrove Athletic in 2002–03, and has also spent short periods as caretaker manager at Chester City, Port Vale and York City. He worked as assistant manager to Martin Foyle at Hereford United from June 2012 to March 2014.

Playing career

Port Vale

Born in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire,[1] Porter joined Port Vale as a youngster after being released by Manchester City.[2] He made his Football League debut in December 1986, and played on loan in New Zealand with Hutt Valley United to gain first team experience.[3] He signed a professional contract with Vale on 29 June 1987.[1] He went on to have a long association with the Vale Park club, with fansite OneValeFan describing how he "gave passion, power and energy to a Vale side and as a result he was often moved around the midfield".[4] On 24 November 1992, he scored in a 3–1 win over Potteries derby rivals Stoke City in an FA Cup first round replay; he later said "that goal against Stoke meant a lot".[5]

His spell with Vale had been one of the most successful the club had enjoyed for many years, including appearances at Wembley Stadium, FA Cup giant killing acts and twice winning promotion to the second tier of English football. He captained the club in the 1996 Anglo-Italian Cup Final, as Vale lost 5–2 to Genoa.[6] He enjoyed a testimonial match against Derby County in 1996. On 26 December 1996, he performed a successful man-marking job on Manchester City's Georgi Kinkladze to keep the Georgian quiet and help Vale to record a 1–0 win.[7] His 432 appearances in all competitions means he has the sixth most appearances of any Vale player over all competitions. He was also known by his nickname of "Goober".[2]

Later career

Porter moved on to Wigan Athletic in July 1998 but struggled to establish himself at the club and spent time on loan with Mansfield Town in October 1999 before ending the season on loan with Chester City, but he was unable to help them avoid relegation to the Conference. In October 2000 he joined Chester on a permanent basis and helped the club win the Nationwide Variety Club Trophy at the end of the season. On 27 December 2001, Porter was named as Chester's joint caretaker manager alongside Dean Spink following the sacking of Steve Mungall, and their first and only match in charge was a 3–1 home win over Hayes on 29 December.[8][9][10] They remained in this position until Owen Brown and Alan Lewer took temporary charge on 4 January 2002.[10]

Despite Porter scoring a winning penalty against Barnet the following month, he was soon deemed surplus to requirements by manager Mark Wright and spent time on loan with Northwich Victoria. He joined Kidsgrove Athletic on loan in September 2002,[11] before later becoming a coach at the club.

Coaching and management career

Porter with York City in the 2009 FA Trophy Final

He was appointed as caretaker player-manager at Kidsgrove alongside Terry Hillman after they sacked Dave Nolan on 14 November 2002 and was offered the job permanently on 31 December 2002.[12][13] He resigned as manager on 28 March 2003, with Bernard Taylor being appointed as his successor.[14] Following his spell at Kidsgrove manager, Porter returned to Port Vale as a youth coach. In December 2004, Porter made a playing comeback when he replaced Levi Reid early in Vale's 3–1 win over Tranmere Rovers. Over the next two seasons he made three more Football League and two FA Cup appearances under manager Martin Foyle, his former teammate at Vale. A move to Nantwich Town in March 2006 was blocked by Foyle as the club were short-staffed.[15]

Following these brief cameos Porter settled down to his duties as youth coach and achieved a large amount of success with the youth team in 2007 and 2008. In the summer of 2007 the youth team entered the prestigious Irish youth tournament the Foyle Cup, beating Bournemouth 1–0 in the under-18s final to claim the trophy. Porter also steered the team to a club record quarter final appearance in the FA Youth Cup, beating Premier League academy sides Bolton Wanderers (3–2 at the Reebok Stadium) and Tottenham Hotspur (1–0 at Vale Park) along the way, before losing to eventual finalists Chelsea 5–2.

Porter's charges then won the Midland Youth Cup for the first time in decades, beating Lincoln City 6–5 on a penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw at Sincil Bank. He had also taken charge of the reserve side for the majority of the 2007–08 season, and managed to finish second in The Central League Midland Division in front of several higher-placed clubs and clubs with youth academy status.

Following Lee Sinnott's departure as manager, Porter and Dean Glover were appointed as caretaker managers on 23 September 2008.[16] He was in the running for the role on a permanent basis, but it was eventually handed to Glover on 6 October.[17] Porter departed as manager of the Port Vale youth team on 24 December.[18] He later cited his reasons for doing so as being rejected for the managerial position earlier in the season and also not being offered the role of assistant manager, despite his success with the youth team, coupled with a need to advance his career.[19]

He teamed up again with Martin Foyle after being appointed as York City's assistant manager on 30 December.[20] Glover was sacked as Vale manager in May 2009 and Porter applied for the vacant position once again.[21] However chairman Bill Bratt was determined to hire a manager of experience and so Porter was not considered for the role.[22] He took over as caretaker manager at York on 24 September 2010 following Foyle's resignation and his first game in charge was a 3–1 victory away at Tamworth the following day.[23][24] After two weeks in charge, on 6 October 2010, Porter also left the club.[25]

On 12 February 2011, Porter turned out for Alsager Town in their North West Counties Football League Premier Division 2–0 defeat to Glossop North End. The 42-year-old played for the full ninety minutes as a favour to the club, who put out a makeshift first eleven after a period of disarray.[26] Later in the year he was appointed as a youth coach at Stockport County.[27]

In June 2012, Foyle appointed Porter as his assistant when he took over his new role as manager of Hereford United.[28] He left the club when Foyle departed as manager in March 2014.[29] The following year he began helping Foyle in his dual roles at Port Vale and Northampton Town, coaching the under-11's at the Port Vale academy and doing regional scouting for Northampton.[30]

Career statistics

Playing statistics

Source:[31]

Club	Season	Division	League		FA Cup		Other^[A]		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Port Vale	1986–87	Third Division	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0
	1987–88	Third Division	6	0	1	0	2	0	9	0
	1988–89	Third Division	14	1	0	0	4	0	16	1
	1989–90	Second Division	36	1	3	0	5	0	44	1
	1990–91	Second Division	40	0	1	0	3	0	44	0
	1991–92	Second Division	32	1	1	0	6	0	39	1
	1992–93	Second Division	17	1	2	1	6	0	25	2
	1993–94	Second Division	37	0	5	1	3	0	45	1
	1994–95	First Division	44	3	2	0	4	0	50	3
	1995–96	First Division	45	10	6	1	10	1	61	12
	1996–97	First Division	44	4	1	0	6	0	51	4
	1997–98	First Division	41	1	2	0	1	0	44	1
	Total		357	22	24	3	51	1	427	26
Wigan Athletic	1998–99	Second Division	16	1	1	0	8	0	25	1
	1999–2000	Second Division	5	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
	Total		21	1	1	0	9	0	31	1
Mansfield Town (loan)	1999–2000	Third Division	5	0	1	0	0	0	6	0
Chester City (loan)	1999–2000	Third Division	16	0	0	0	0	0	16	0
Chester City	2000–01	Conference National	12	2	3	0	3	0	18	2
	2001–02	Conference National	36	2	0	0	1	0	37	2
	Total		48	4	3	0	4	0	55	4
Port Vale	2004–05	League One	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
	2005–06	League One	2	0	2	0	0	0	4	0
	Total		4	0	2	0	0	0	6	0
Career total			451	27	31	3	64	1	546	31

A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the League Cup, Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs and Full Members Cup.

Managerial statistics

As of 6 October 2010

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			P	W	D	L	Win %
Chester City (caretaker)	27 December 2001	4 January 2002	1	1	0	0	100.0	[8][9][10]
Port Vale (caretaker)	23 September 2008	6 October 2008	2	0	0	2	000.0	[16][17][32]
York City (caretaker)	24 September 2010	6 October 2010	4	1	1	2	025.0	[25][33]
Total			7	2	1	4	028.6	—

Honours

As a player

Port Vale

• Football League Third Division play-offs: 1988–89[34]
• Football League Trophy: 1992–93[35]

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2006). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006–07. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 328. ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4.
2. "Port Vale v Stoke City, 1992". onevalefan.co.uk. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
3. Kent, Jeff (1989). Port Vale Promotion Chronicle 1988–1989: Back to Where We Once Belonged!. Witan Books. p. 18. ISBN 0-9508981-3-9.
4. Fielding, Rob (17 July 2020). "Five of the best: Port Vale utility players". onevalefan.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
5. "Porter: My goal against Stoke meant a lot". onevalefan.co.uk. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
6. "Andy Porter player profile". onevalefan.co.uk. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
7. Baggaley, Michael (2 January 2020). "'We were always quietly confident' - Two classic Port Vale wins at Man City". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
8. "December 2001". Unofficial Chester FC website. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
9. "Results/matches: 2001/02". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
10. "Lewer in charge against old club". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 4 January 2002. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014.
11. "Kidsgrove hoping Porter can give them a boost". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 6 September 2002. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012.
12. "Nolan gets the boot again". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 14 November 2002. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
13. "Porter offered Kidsgrove job". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 31 December 2002. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
14. "Taylor back in business at Kidsgrove". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 28 March 2003. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
15. "Vale block Porter move". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 21 March 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
16. "Club statement". Port Vale F.C. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
17. "Glover named new Port Vale boss". BBC Sport. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
18. "Porter says goodbye to Port Vale". BBC Sport. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
19. Shaw, Steve (5 January 2009). "Porter: Why I had to quit Vale". The Sentinel. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
20. "Porter named as assistant at York". BBC Sport. 30 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
21. Shaw, Steve (8 May 2009). "Port Vale: Porter makes third bid for top job". The Sentinel. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
22. "Vale manager interviews to begin". BBC Sport. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
23. "Martin Foyle resigns as York City manager". BBC Sport. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
24. "Tamworth 1–3 York". BBC Sport. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
25. Carroll, Steve (6 October 2010). "Caretaker boss Andy Porter leaves York City". The Press. York. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
26. "Football: Makeshift Bullets misfire, despite starring role for Vale legend". The Sentinel. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
27. "CoE to open Development Centre". Stockport County F.C. 7 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012.
28. Rodgers, Paul (12 June 2012). "Andy Porter announced as new assistant manager at Hereford United". Hereford Times. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
29. "Martin Foyle: Hereford United manager and assistant leave club". BBC Sport. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
30. Baggaley, Mike (18 February 2015). "Valiants academy snap up Andy Porter". The Sentinel. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
31. Andy Porter at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
32. "Results/matches: 2008/09". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
33. "Managers: Andy Porter". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
34. Kent, Jeff (1989). Port Vale Promotion Chronicle 1988–1989: Back to Where We Once Belonged!. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-3-9.
35. Kent, Jeff (1993). The Port Vale Record 1879–1993. Witan Books. p. 236. ISBN 0-9508981-9-8.

External links

• Andy Porter at Soccerbase