IAN PORTERFIELD spent ten years at Sunderland, with his finest moment coming as he scored the only goal in their remarkable victory over Leeds in the 1973 FA Cup Final.

Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, Porterfield joined Sunderland from Raith Rovers in 1967 for the then significant fee of £45,000.

The Northern Echo:
Ian Porterfield

He went on to appear 266 times for the club, scoring 19 goals, the most important of which came from 12 yards out at Wembley.

Porterfield played in every minute of Sunderland’s 1973 Cup run as they beat the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal to reach the final and defeat a Leeds side that had won the cup the previous year.

The win made Sunderland the first Second Division side to lift the trophy since West Brom in 1931, and it remains one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup Final history.

In 1974, Porterfield was in a car crash that left him fighting for his life with a fractured skull.

However, he recovered and after a short loan at Reading, left Sunderland in 1977, moving to Sheffield Wednesday, where he would become player- coach and make 130 appearances.

On his retirement from playing football in 1979, Porterfield turned his attention to management.

His first job was to lead Rotherham United out of the then Third Division in 1981 before he moved to Sheffield United, where he remained for five years and guided them to promotion from the Fourth and Third Divisions.

After stints with Aberdeen and Reading, Porterfield returned to Chelsea in 1991, where he had previously worked as assistant to Bobby Campbell.

Despite a promising start to the 1992-93 season, Chelsea’s form dropped and in early 1993, Porterfield was given the unfortunate title of the first Premier League manager to be sacked.

After leaving Chelsea, Porterfield switched his focus to international football, taking charge of the likes of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Trinidad and Tobago.

In 2003, he moved to Korea and took charge of Busan I’Park, who he led to victory in the Korean FA Cup.

The Northern Echo:
Porterfield, right, with manager Bob Stokoe and Dennis Tueart

At the time of his death in September 2007, Porterfield was the manger of the Armenian national team.

He died as a result of cancer, aged 61.