Thomas Stoddart Porteous (October 1865 – 23 February 1919) was an English

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

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

and also one appearance for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Career

Club

Although born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, Porteous grew up in

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: �t̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...

and

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

in Scotland, and started his football career north of the border with Hearts before joining

in 1884. In 1889 Porteous arrived at

after gaining a high reputation in Scotland, and joining what was to become known as the Team of All the Talents, filled almost entirely with players recruited from Scotland. He made his debut on 18 January 1890 in a

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

match against

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club, based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second tier of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. T ...

, but had to wait until 13 September before making his League debut. He soon became a fixture in the side, appearing in all 22 league matches in 1890–91. This was Sunderland's first season in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

at the end of which they finished in seventh place. The following season Sunderland dominated the league, taking the title by a margin of five points, with Porteous missing only one match. Porteous was again an ever-present figure in the 1892–93 season when Sunderland took

title for the second consecutive season, this time by a substantial 11-point margin. Although he started the 1893–94 season, after two matches he lost his place to Peter Meehan, a Scottish international who had recently been signed from

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

. Porteous left Sunderland at the end of the season, moving to Rotherham Town where he spent two seasons, also spending a few months with

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

International

Porteous' England call-up came in the 1890–91 season against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, when England won 4–1 at

Newcastle Road Newcastle Road was a football ground in the Monkwearmouth area of Sunderland, England, and was the home ground of Sunderland A.F.C for twelve years, between 1886 and 1898. It was the sixth ground at which the club had played. Also called ''As ...

in the

1891 British Home Championship Events January–March * January 1 ** Paying of old age pensions begins in Germany. ** A strike of 500 Hungarian steel workers occurs; 3,000 men are out of work as a consequence. **Germany takes formal possession of its new Africa ...

. The Wales game was his only game for England, which was also the first international fixture played in Sunderland.

Honours

Sunderland *

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

champions: 1891–92, 1892–93

References

External links

*
Full details of Sunderland career
{{DEFAULTSORT:Porteous, Thomas 1865 births Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne 1919 deaths English men's footballers England men's international footballers English Football League players Heart of Midlothian F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Rotherham Town F.C. (1878) players Manchester City F.C. players Men's association football defenders Anglo-Scots English people of Scottish descent Footballers from Kilmarnock