Ian Porterfield

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1973Blade

1973Blade

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Today would have been Ian Porterfield's 70th birthday. He is not considered to be one of our greatest managers, but I think I'm right in saying he is the only manager who left the club two divisions higher than when he arrived.
 

oldblade said:
Also during every season that he was here, the club finished in a higher league position than the preceding season. In other words he improved the club's league position in every single season that he was here.
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That's very true, Porterfields last season 85/86 was my first season going - didn't he sign a 10 year contract with us?

But Porterfield that season relied on 'experience' which ultimately cost him his job, Adkins also seems to be relying on 'experience '
 
LS26BLADE said:
That's very true, Porterfields last season 85/86 was my first season going - didn't he sign a 10 year contract with us?

But Porterfield that season relied on 'experience' which ultimately cost him his job, Adkins also seems to be relying on 'experience '
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From memory, I think Dooley's biography suggests that his contract was that long, but I think he seemed to feel that Porterfield started treating Brealey with a certain amount of contempt and this also played a part in his undoing.

Added to that our attendances were almost at a post war low (reached their lowest point in the season after he left) and the crowds were getting restless. At that time it seemed that the higher up the league we went, the lower our attendances went.
 
oldblade said:
From memory, I think Dooley's biography suggests that his contract was that long, but I think he seemed to feel that Porterfield started treating Brealey with a certain amount of contempt and this also played a part in his undoing.

Added to that our attendances were almost at a post war low (reached their lowest point in the season after he left) and the crowds were getting restless. At that time it seemed that the higher up the league we went, the lower our attendances went.
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Whereas today the lower down the league we are the higher our attendances. We must be sadomasochists!
 
oldblade said:
From memory, I think Dooley's biography suggests that his contract was that long, but I think he seemed to feel that Porterfield started treating Brealey with a certain amount of contempt and this also played a part in his undoing.

Added to that our attendances were almost at a post war low (reached their lowest point in the season after he left) and the crowds were getting restless. At that time it seemed that the higher up the league we went, the lower our attendances went.
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Think attendances were generally lower in the 80s due to hooliganism and unemployment - even when Bassett took us up 2 divisions 20000 was a pipe dream.
 
oldblade said:
From memory, I think Dooley's biography suggests that his contract was that long, but I think he seemed to feel that Porterfield started treating Brealey with a certain amount of contempt and this also played a part in his undoing.

Added to that our attendances were almost at a post war low (reached their lowest point in the season after he left) and the crowds were getting restless. At that time it seemed that the higher up the league we went, the lower our attendances went.
Click to expand...
Tony Pritchett didnt have a good relationship with Porterfield. TP got on well with Brealey who kept him updated with the going ons at Bramall Lane. I remember the "Porterfield out" campaign started in December 1982 when he was booed off during half time in the match at Saltergate (we were 2-0 down and lost 3-1 at the end). Even Shred wanted him out!
 
I remember when he was sacked. I couldn't believe it. Someone sprayed "re-instate Porterfield" on the wall outside John St.
 
The only manager to win a competitive trophy in my life time. But in later years he started using his full hyphenated name.
Porterfield Out.
 
Silent Blade said:
Tony Pritchett didnt have a good relationship with Porterfield. TP got on well with Brealey who kept him updated with the going ons at Bramall Lane. I remember the "Porterfield out" campaign started in December 1982 when he was booed off during half time in the match at Saltergate (we were 2-0 down and lost 3-1 at the end). Even Shred wanted him out!
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Danny Wilson scored in that game for Chesterfield, as did Calvin Plummer who later went to Forest.

We were crap.
 

I used to like the chant we had for Porterfield, was it to the tune of the British Airways advert?
 
BushBlade said:
Danny Wilson scored in that game for Chesterfield, as did Calvin Plummer who later went to Forest.

We were crap.
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Plummer (on loan from Forest) didnt score, he made the cross in the opening minutes for Martin Henderson to head in the opener (in front of Blades fans). Danny Wilson's goal was from a driven free kick. Henderson scored Chesterfield's third. I remember Chesterfield's keeper, Paul Gregory's nervous tics that was noticable to Blades fans in the 2nd half
 
Silent Blade said:
We finished 6th that season, not sure if we were in same place when Porterfield got the sack with 9 games left to play (we won 3, drew 3 and lost 3 in the remaining games)
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Didn't we give 'youth' a chance? I recall beating Leeds 3-2 and some of the youth team that won the league played.
 
1973Blade said:
Then we all went to the carpark after the Norwich game and demanded that he be sacked!
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The good old days when we could be bothered to protest/show our displeasure in the old fashioned manner rather than set here whacking a keyboard. ;)

These young uns dont have stomach for standing in the car park peering up to those lights near the neon Sheffield United sign waiting for someone to peer out....or someone to come out and announce 'he's gone!'

Last time was under Heath I went round more out of curosity. A policeman told us he had resigned. Not even sure it was true at that point but he wanted us out of the ground/car park so we shuffled off happy with our victory.

It is odd that the Bramall Lane car park has been the killing ground for so many managers over the years. As others have said no point protesting even though be nice for us too show a united feeling of our displeasure in some way. We cannot sack the board. We have sacked managers. The owners are not there. Better off in the pub.
 
As for Porterfield I vaguely remember the early days when he took us up from the third (too young for the fourth) and then we had quite a few years treading water in second division with Edwards, Morris and Stancliffe three regulars. He brought in lot of experienced (old) players but the football was quite poor to watch mostly and we never looked likely to go up (pre play off days so had to finish top 3 I think it was).

I felt like many fans had wanted him out for a while before he left (followed a 5-2 defeat to Norwich the leaders who tore us to pieces). In came Billy McEwan who tried to bring average age down but the football got even worse and as old timers moved on, the youngsters like Mendonca, Marsden, Philliskirk, Duffield were not quite good enough to halt the slide and I recall the abysmal 0-5 defeat to Oldham that was worse than any other individual game this season I have seen at the Lane. McEwan went. In came Bassett and the rest was history.
 
Deadbat said:
As for Porterfield I vaguely remember the early days when he took us up from the third (too young for the fourth) and then we had quite a few years treading water in second division with Edwards, Morris and Stancliffe three regulars. He brought in lot of experienced (old) players but the football was quite poor to watch mostly and we never looked likely to go up (pre play off days so had to finish top 3 I think it was).

I felt like many fans had wanted him out for a while before he left (followed a 5-2 defeat to Norwich the leaders who tore us to pieces). In came Billy McEwan who tried to bring average age down but the football got even worse and as old timers moved on, the youngsters like Mendonca, Marsden, Philliskirk, Duffield were not quite good enough to halt the slide and I recall the abysmal 0-5 defeat to Oldham that was worse than any other individual game this season I have seen at the Lane. McEwan went. In came Bassett and the rest was history.
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I think you're around a similar age to me. Between 85-88 we were woeful but as you say Bassett dragged us back up from the abyss, the worst thing about now is we can't see any light at the end of the tunnel whatsoever or Sharp apart have no one we can Laud, at least back in that era we always had a few Wilder, Stan, Pikey who would at least give their all.
 
1973Blade said:
I used to like the chant we had for Porterfield, was it to the tune of the British Airways advert?
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The "Porterfield Out" chant used to scare me. I was only a kid but it was sung / shouted with such hate and venom. Standing on my own I just didn't know where to look!!

I guess nothing changes..
 
LS26BLADE said:
I think you're around a similar age to me. Between 85-88 we were woeful but as you say Bassett dragged us back up from the abyss, the worst thing about now is we can't see any light at the end of the tunnel whatsoever or Sharp apart have no one we can Laud, at least back in that era we always had a few Wilder, Stan, Pikey who would at least give their all.
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In the mid 80s there seemed no hope as well, it is only with the benefit of hindsight that we think our rise was inevitable. Perhaps in another 30 years when we have risen to the Champions League and gone back down again we will recall how inevitable it seemed that we would rise again!
 
Russ said:
The "Porterfield Out" chant used to scare me. I was only a kid but it was sung / shouted with such hate and venom. Standing on my own I just didn't know where to look!!

I guess nothing changes..
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The only managers I don't think I ever heard us shout 'so and so Out' to are Kendall, Spackman, Thompson, Bruce, Speed, Adams and Clough. Quite a few I suppose, but some weren't there long enough for us to want them out!
 
You young whippersnappers...what you have to remember is that the team that got relegated to the 4th were dire, but in horrid parallels to today the individual players seemed better than the feeble performances they turned in (Conroy, Casey, Garner, Houston, Tibbott, Trusson, Matthews, Givens, Charles, Hatton, Ryan, Neville, I've got the Walsall program in front of me). There was more than a hint of Martin Peters doing a David Weir, but there we were, in the basement. Porterfield was the bright young up and coming at Rotherham, we promptly nicked him off them over the summer, when he bought Edwards, Morris and Stan the man. That next season was the best to be a Blade that I've ever had. Sure he lost the plot a bit after a few years but I have no idea what might have become of us without his brilliant handling of the situation. Big respect and RIP clubfoot.
 

LS26BLADE said:
Didn't we give 'youth' a chance? I recall beating Leeds 3-2 and some of the youth team that won the league played.
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Yes the team was Burridge, Thompson, Bolton, Arnott, Eckhardt, McNaught, Morris, Edwards, Philliskirk, Walshaw,, Frain. Scorers were Morris (pen), Frain and Walshaw
 
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