IAN PORTERFIELD REMEMBERED
BBC Berkshire, UK
Features
last updated: 13/09/07
Porterfield coaching Armenia in 2006 Ian Porterfield remembered
Former Reading manager and Sunderland legend Ian Porterfield died
on Tuesday 11 September 2007, aged 61. Here is how Mick Gooding,
who played under Ian at Rotherham and Reading, remembers him.
It has come as a terrible shock to find out that Ian Porterfield has
died. I knew that he hadn’t been well over the last couple of months
but it still comes as a real shock. He was a terrific fella.
I played under Ian at Rotherham and Reading and, in my opinion,
he is the best manager I played under.
A terrific man, he showed great loyalty to his players. He knew
everything about any player that was playing anywhere, his knowledge
was fantastic.
"The first time he met me, he said: "I haven’t seen you play yet,
but I know you will do for me."" Mick Gooding on Ian PorterfieldHe
got a lot of fame from his FA Cup goal. He played for Sunderland for
quite a while and was a hero up there.
At Reading, unfortunately things didn’t work out for him. Some of
the players at the time where quite upset that he did get finished
at Reading. He was a terrific manager and terrific coach. That’s the
life of a manager unfortunately.
Respected After that he moved around so much I lost track at times. At
the first club he managed, Rotherham, I was a player there.
The first time I met him, he said: "Look, you will do for me, a North
Eastern lad, I spent great times up there. I haven’t seen you play yet,
but I know you will do for me."
He was terrific for us and we won the championship at his time
there. He left to go to Sheffield United. I think he won two
championships with Sheffield United, successive promotions.
Then he went off to Aberdeen, he did well there, and signed me for
Reading a year later when I was unhappy at Wolverhampton.
He made me his first signing at Reading, I was delighted to come and
play under him again. He was a terrific coach, he obviously managed
Chelsea, he moved abroad, he was in the Arab Emirates for a quite
some time, in Africa and I think the last job was in Armenia. He is
a well travelled man; he was well respected in football.
Taking the mickey When I was younger, playing for Rotherham, we
had gone away at the end of the season. The lads were letting their
hair down. Another lad who was playing for Rotherham, Gerry Forrest,
and I were coming back to the hotel about three o’clock in the morning.
We had had a good night out and he stopped us in the corridor and
absolutely slaughter us, giving us a right ticking off for being
out late.
We said, "With all due respect boss, it’s the end of the season, we
are just about to go on our end of season break, we have come here
to relax, and a bit of a break."
Porterfield scores in the 1973 FA Cup Final He absolutely tore our
heads off. It was only when we caught the assistant manager behind him,
taking the mickey out of him, that we realised he was just taking the
mickey out of us. He invited us into his room after that. We talked
about football for the rest of the night.
On the business end, he was very serious on the training ground but
he was absolutely spot on. He knew what he wanted his players to do,
on a week to week basis. The teams he played against, he would have
watched. He would say, "These do this, these do this, but we do this
much better. Let’s concentrate on what we do better."
It is very, very sad. I had a great affection for him.
61 is no age really.It’s such a shame.
MICK GOODING WAS TALKING TO JOEL HUFFORD