John Robertson Porteous (5 December 1921 – 13 August 2007) was a Scottish

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

wing half A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He began his career as a footballer with

Motherwell F.C. Motherwell Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in Motherwell, North Lanarkshire, which plays in the Scottish Premiership. Motherwell have not dropped out of the top-flight of Scottish football since 1985, and have l ...

, but did not make a league appearance before joining

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

in 1948. A year later, he moved to England to play for

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, under the management of fellow countryman

Jimmy Rae James Clarkson Rae (22 November 1907 – 4 July 1958) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager who most famously played for and then became manager of English Football League club Plymouth Argyle. He was a full back and also repres ...

. A versatile player, Porteous was instrumental in the team that won the

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

championship in the 1951–52 season, and remained a regular name in the side until 1955. After making 221 appearances in all competitions, scoring 13 goals, he joined

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

in 1956,"Johnny Porteous"
. Plymouth Argyle. Retrieved 23 June 2010. before finishing his career in

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

with Truro City.

Honours

;

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

: 1951–52

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Porteous, Johnny 1921 births Footballers from Motherwell Scottish men's footballers Motherwell F.C. players Alloa Athletic F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Truro City F.C. players Scottish Football League players English Football League players 2007 deaths Men's association football wing halves