WHEN Joel Porter’s attempts to make a living in English football had been knocked back by Sam Allardyce, Paul Jewell and Mick McCarthy, the Australian was ready to return Down Under and turn his back on football.

Six years later, as he gears up for the biggest FA Cup match in Hartlepool United’s proud history, Porter has revealed the extent of his relief that his agent talked him round and ordered him to go for one last trial – at Victoria Park.

“I’d never even heard of the place before my agent told me about it,” said Porter. “I didn’t have a clue where it was but I don’t regret for one moment the journey that got me here.

“There have been lots of downs, with the rejections and knee injures, but I wouldn’t change a thing that I have experienced here.”

It was a major gamble for Porter to uproot from Adelaide and travel thousands of miles across the globe to try his luck at earning a contract with either a Premier League club or one in the Championship.

Hartlepool United was certainly not on his list.

But Allardyce had told him he wanted players with more top-flight experience.

It was a similar message from Jewell after Porter spent a month with Wigan, and he then had ten days with Mc- Carthy at Sunderland.

Having spent time playing in the Australian A-League with Melbourne Knights and Sydney Olympic, earning four caps for his country in the Oceania Cup, it was clear that he felt he could step up to a new level.

“I was tempted to quit when things fell through at Sunderland,”

said Porter, who was close to signing for Spanish side Rayo Vallecano, only for the deal to collapse shortly before he went to Pools.

“I spoke to my agent and said I’d had enough and he said just give Hartlepool one last chance. I got on a train and they were keen to sign me.

“The manager at the time, Neale Cooper, gave me the good news and that meant I could fulfil a boyhood dream, having watched English football back home.

“It would have been fantastic to play in the Premier League but that’s not to be. It’s never been easy but it’s been a great experience because everyone is so passionate about the game.”

In his first season in English football his seventh appearance for Hartlepool was in one of the club’s other current greatest FA Cup encounters, when 10,000 fans made the short trip to Wearside.

But with Premier League opposition in the shape of West Ham, managed by Italian legend Gianfranco Zola, due at Victoria Park today, Porter is hoping to go one better this time.

“It would be a dream come true to score the winner against West Ham,” said Porter, who is expected to return Down Under at the end of the season with Perth Glory, Wellington Phoenix and Gold Coast United all looking to sign him.

“As a kid I always thought ‘that’s where I want to play’ when I was watching Premier League highlights and this is probably the closest I will get to top-flight football.

“Things might not have worked out for me as well as I would have wanted, and things didn’t go my way with a few injuries, but I have knuckled down and waited for it to turn around and it has.

With 15 goals to his name this season and 57 from 193 appearances in a blue and white shirt, since making his debut in 2003, Porter admitted: “Who knows what the future holds for me? I’d like to keep playing till I’m 35.

“When I first came over here the plan was never to stay in England all my life. I always thought I’d go back home and put what I’ve learned here to good use and help the game evolve in Australia.”