Andrew Michael Porter (born 17 September 1968) is an English former professional footballer turned coach and manager who is a first-team coach at Northern Premier League Division One West club Nantwich Town. His playing career spanned from 1986 to 2006; for most 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.
 Porter with York City in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Andrew Michael Porter[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 September 1968[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Holmes Chapel, England[2] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1] | ||
| 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) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2001–2002 | Chester City (caretaker) | ||
| 2002–2003 | Kidsgrove Athletic | ||
| 2008 | Port Vale (caretaker) | ||
| 2010 | York City (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
He served Port Vale as co-caretaker manager alongside Dean Glover. He managed Kidsgrove Athletic from 2002 to 2003 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
editPort Vale
editBorn in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire,[1] Porter joined Port Vale as a youngster after being released by Manchester City.[3] 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.[4] He signed a professional contract with Vale on 29 June 1987.[1] He was named the club's Young Player of the Year in both the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons.[5] 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".[6] 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".[7] He played in the 1993 Football League Trophy final, a 2–1 victory over Stockport County at Wembley Stadium.[8]
His spell with Vale had been one of the most successful the club had enjoyed for many years, including 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.[9] 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.[10] His 431 appearances in all competitions means he has the fifth most appearances of any Vale player over all competitions. He was also known by his nickname of "Goober".[3]
Later career
editPorter moved on to Wigan Athletic in July 1998 but struggled to establish himself at the club, with the manager who had signed him – John Deehan – leaving the club in pre-season.[8] Porter spent time on loan with Mansfield Town in October 1999 before ending the season on loan with Chester City. Still, he could not help them avoid relegation to the Conference. In October 2000, he joined Chester permanently 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.[11][12][13] They remained in this position until Owen Brown and Alan Lewer took temporary charge on 4 January 2002.[13]
Despite Porter scoring a winning penalty against Barnet the following month, he was soon deemed surplus to requirements by manager Mark Wright. He spent time on loan with Northwich Victoria. He joined Kidsgrove Athletic on loan in September 2002,[14] before later becoming a coach at the club.
Coaching and managerial career
edit
He was appointed 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.[15][16] He resigned as manager on 28 March 2003, with Bernard Taylor being appointed as his successor.[17] 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.[18]
Following these brief cameos, Porter settled down to his duties as a youth coach and achieved great 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 AFC 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 shoot-out after a 1–1 draw at Sincil Bank. He had also taken charge of the reserve team 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.[19] He was in the running for the role permanently, but it was eventually handed to Glover on 6 October.[20] Porter departed as manager of the Port Vale youth team on 24 December.[21] 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.[22]
He teamed up again with Martin Foyle after being appointed as York City's assistant manager on 30 December.[23] Glover was sacked as Vale manager in May 2009, and Porter applied for the vacant position once again.[24] However, chairman Bill Bratt was determined to hire a manager of experience and so Porter was not considered for the role.[25] 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.[26][27] After two weeks in charge, on 6 October 2010, Porter also left the club.[28]
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 XI after a period of disarray.[29] Later in the year he was appointed as a youth coach at Stockport County.[30]
In June 2012, Foyle appointed Porter as his assistant when he took over his new role as manager of Hereford United.[31] He left the club when Foyle departed as manager in March 2014.[32] 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.[33] He was appointed onto the coaching staff at Nantwich Town in January 2022.[34]
Personal life
editHis son, Lewis Porter, signed with Stafford Rangers in 2023.[35]
Career statistics
edit| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other[a] | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | 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 | ||
Managerial statistics
edit| 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 | [11][12][13] |
| Port Vale (caretaker) | 23 September 2008 | 6 October 2008 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | [19][20][37] |
| York City (caretaker) | 24 September 2010 | 6 October 2010 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 25.0 | [28][38] |
| Total | 7 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 28.6 | |||
Honours
editAs a player
editPort Vale
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2006). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006–07. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 328. ISBN 978-1-84596-111-4.
- ^ Andy Porter at Soccerbase
- ^ a b "Port Vale v Stoke City, 1992". onevalefan.co.uk. 31 January 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- ^ Kent, Jeff (1989). Port Vale Promotion Chronicle 1988–1989: Back to Where We Once Belonged!. Witan Books. p. 18. ISBN 0-9508981-3-9.
- ^ "The Darren Beckford Interview (Part 2)". The Vale Park Beano. 46.
- ^ Fielding, Rob (17 July 2020). "Five of the best: Port Vale utility players". onevalefan.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
- ^ "Porter: My goal against Stoke meant a lot". onevalefan.co.uk. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
- ^ a b "The Andy Porter Interview". The Vale Park Beano. 31.
- ^ "Andy Porter player profile". onevalefan.co.uk. 8 April 2015. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- ^ Baggaley, Michael (2 January 2020). "'We were always quietly confident' - Two classic Port Vale wins at Man City". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
- ^ a b "December 2001". Unofficial Chester FC website. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ^ a b "Results/matches: 2001/02". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ a b c "Lewer in charge against old club". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 4 January 2002. Archived from the original on 29 March 2014.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Kidsgrove hoping Porter can give them a boost". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 6 September 2002. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "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.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Porter offered Kidsgrove job". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 31 December 2002. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "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.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ "Vale block Porter move". Non-League Daily. Baltic Publications. 21 March 2006. Archived from the original on 21 August 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b "Club statement". Port Vale F.C. 23 September 2008. Archived from the original on 25 May 2011. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
- ^ a b "Glover named new Port Vale boss". BBC Sport. 6 October 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ^ "Porter says goodbye to Port Vale". BBC Sport. 24 December 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2008.
- ^ Shaw, Steve (5 January 2009). "Porter: Why I had to quit Vale". The Sentinel. Retrieved 5 January 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Porter named as assistant at York". BBC Sport. 30 December 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
- ^ Shaw, Steve (8 May 2009). "Port Vale: Porter makes third bid for top job". The Sentinel. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
- ^ "Vale manager interviews to begin". BBC Sport. 11 May 2009. Retrieved 11 May 2009.
- ^ "Martin Foyle resigns as York City manager". BBC Sport. 24 September 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
- ^ "Tamworth 1–3 York". BBC Sport. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ a b Carroll, Steve (6 October 2010). "Caretaker boss Andy Porter leaves York City". The Press. York. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ^ "Football: Makeshift Bullets misfire, despite starring role for Vale legend". The Sentinel. 14 February 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
- ^ "CoE to open Development Centre". Stockport County F.C. 7 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 August 2012.
- ^ Rodgers, Paul (12 June 2012). "Andy Porter announced as new assistant manager at Hereford United". Hereford Times. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
- ^ "Martin Foyle: Hereford United manager and assistant leave club". BBC Sport. 19 March 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
- ^ Baggaley, Mike (18 February 2015). "Valiants academy snap up Andy Porter". The Sentinel. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ^ Baggaley, Michael (31 January 2022). "Port Vale hero Andy Porter joins Nantwich Town". StokeonTrentLive. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
- ^ Baggaley, Mike (17 December 2023). "Chislett puts Vale back on track in Wigan thriller". Valiant's Substack. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
- ^ Andy Porter at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
- ^ "Results/matches: 2008/09". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 February 2014.
- ^ "Managers: Andy Porter". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ^ Kent, Jeff (1989). Port Vale Promotion Chronicle 1988–1989: Back to Where We Once Belonged!. Witan Books. ISBN 0-9508981-3-9.
- ^ Kent, Jeff (1993). The Port Vale Record 1879–1993. Witan Books. p. 236. ISBN 0-9508981-9-8.
