John Potter (born 15 December 1979) is a Scottish football player and coach, who is currently the manager of Kelty Hearts. Potter played as a defender for Celtic,

Dunfermline Athletic Dunfermline Athletic Football Club is a Scottish football club based in the city of Dunfermline, Fife. Founded in 1885, the club currently play in Scottish League One after being relegated from the 2021–22 Scottish Championship. Dunfermline ...

(two spells),

Clyde Clyde may refer to: People * Clyde (given name) * Clyde (surname) Places For townships see also Clyde Township Australia * Clyde, New South Wales * Clyde, Victoria * Clyde River, New South Wales Canada * Clyde, Alberta * Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...

, St Mirren and Queen of the South. During his second spell with Dunfermline, Potter took on coaching responsibilities and later had a short spell as manager. He left Dunfermline in 2016 and then worked as a coach for Jack Ross at St Mirren, Sunderland and Hibernian. Potter returned to management in June 2022 with Kelty Hearts. Potter was brought up in High Valleyfield; a small mining village which has produced numerous talents in the past including: Hugh Kelly, George Connelly and

John Fraser John Fraser may refer to: Politics *John Simon Frederick Fraser (1765–1803), commanded the Fraser Fencibles in Ireland and was (M.P.) for Inverness-shire *John James Fraser (1829–1896), 5th Premier of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, 18 ...

. He is the cousin of Craig Potter and the younger brother of former Raith Rovers goalkeeper, and current Hamilton goalkeeping coach, Brian Potter.

Playing career

Potter began his career at Celtic, but failed to make a senior appearance for them. Potter was highly rated at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

and captained the reserve side, most notably on 16 February 1999, when

Mark Viduka Mark Antony Viduka ( ; born 9 October 1975) is an Australian retired football player who played as a centre forward. He captained the Australia national team to the Round of 16 at the 2006 FIFA World Cup which remains their best ever performance ...

made his first appearance in a Celtic shirt in a 4–2 victory against Motherwell. Potter travelled to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

with the first team squad and was an unused substitute in

Wim Jansen Wilhelmus Marinus Antonius Jansen (; 28 October 1946 – 25 January 2022) was a Dutch professional football player and manager. As a midfielder or defender, he spent most of his career at Feyenoord, winning honours including the European C ...

's final game in charge against

Sporting Lisbon Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, but a change in management from Jansen to Josef Venglos signalled the end of Potter's career at the club. After leaving Celtic, Potter joined hometown team

and spent three years at

East End Park East End Park, currently named KDM Group East End Park for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium situated in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland with a seating capacity of . The stadium plays host to the home matches of Scottish Championship ...

. In 2002, he joined

. He made his debut on the same day he joined Clyde, in an evening fixture against Partick Thistle. At the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Potter was appointed captain of Clyde, and started every single game for the Bully Wee that season. He joined St Mirren in July 2005 and won promotion to the Scottish Premier League in his first season. He also played as St Mirren won the 2005 Scottish Challenge Cup Final against

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scotti ...

. At the beginning of the 2008–09 campaign, Saint's manager

Gus MacPherson Angus Ian MacPherson (born 11 October 1968) is a Scottish football former player and coach. MacPherson's playing career saw spells at Rangers, Exeter City, Kilmarnock, Dunfermline Athletic and St Mirren. His management career began at his ...

named Potter as captain, a position he held for three seasons. However, towards the end of the 2010–11 season, Potter - along with 9 other players at St Mirren - was told that his contract would not be renewed and he would be allowed to leave the club on a free transfer. After seeing out his contract at St Mirren, Potter joined his former St Mirren teammate

Paul Gallacher Paul James Gallacher (born 16 August 1979) is a Scottish former professional footballer who currently is the goalkeeping coach for Heart of Midlothian. Gallacher made eight appearances for the Scottish national team between 2002 and 2004. He ...

at Dunfermline Athletic, beginning his second spell at the club. He became U20s player/coach assisted by Craig Dargo in 2012.

Coaching career

Potter took control of the

first team in December 2014, after Jim Jefferies left the club. It was announced at the end of the season that, after failing to secure promotion or a play off position, Potter would step down as manager and return to his position as head coach. Although having not played since May 2014, Potter was registered as a player for the Pars during the 2015–16 season, and was an unused substitute in a number of first-team matches. Potter continued as under 20s manager for Dunfermline into the 2016–17 season, and played for the side in a one-all draw against Inverness under 20s in April 2017. Potter was also linked with becoming assistant manager of St Mirren in October 2016, after former teammate Jack Ross was appointed manager of the Paisley club. Potter did eventually team up with Ross in June 2018, joining Sunderland as first team coach. He then moved to Hibernian in November 2019, as assistant to Ross. Potter and Ross both left Hibernian in December 2021. Potter resumed his coaching career in June 2022, becoming the manager of Kelty Hearts.

Career statistics

Managerial record

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, John 1979 births Living people Footballers from Dunfermline Scottish footballers Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Celtic F.C. players Dunfermline Athletic F.C. players Clyde F.C. players St Mirren F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Association football midfielders Scottish football managers Dunfermline Athletic F.C. managers Scottish Professional Football League managers Dunfermline Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Sunderland A.F.C. non-playing staff Hibernian F.C. non-playing staff Kelty Hearts F.C. managers