Cliff Portwood

Clifford Portwood (17 October 1937 – 10 January 2012) was an English footballer and later singer and television personality.

A winger and inside forward, he scored 96 goals in 252 league games in a 14-year career in the Football League. He spent 1955 to 1959 at Preston North End, without making an appearance, before he was sold to Port Vale for £750. He was sold to Grimsby Town for £6,000 in July 1961 and helped the club to win promotion out of the Third Division in 1961–62. He moved on to Portsmouth for £4,000 in 1963, where he remained for the next six years before he left the professional game to move to South Africa. He later became a successful singer and television personality in Australia.

Playing career Portwood started his career with Manchester Athletic, playing youth football with the likes of Bobby Charlton, Eddie Colman and Albert Scanlon, before joining Preston North End in February 1955 after being spotted by Frank Hill. During his time at Deepdale he was Tom Finney's understudy.

He joined Third Division Port Vale in August 1959, when manager Norman Low paid out £750 to secure his services. He scored his first senior goal against Queens Park Rangers on 5 December 1959, in a 3–3 draw in the FA Cup. He finished the 1959–60 campaign with 12 goals to his name, bagging braces in wins over Grimsby Town and Bury. He was the club's top scorer for the 1960–61 season with 26 goals, netting twice in clashes with Chelmsford City, Watford, Bristol City and Grimsby Town, and hitting a hat-trick in a 5–0 boxing day win over Tranmere Rovers in front of over 14,000 spectators at Vale Park. He was sold to Grimsby Town for £6,000 in July 1961, as the club were looking to raise £10,000 to re-sign Stan Steele from West Bromwich Albion. He had scored 38 goals in 74 games for Port Vale in league and cup competitions.

Under Tim Ward's stewardship, the "Mariners" won promotion out of the Third Division as runners-up in 1961–62, finishing three points ahead of third-placed Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. They retained their Second Division status by a four-point margin in 1962–63, after which new manager Tom Johnston moved Portwood on to George Smith's Portsmouth for a £4,000 fee, also in the second tier. He had scored 35 goals in 92 league games for Grimsby in two years.

Legendary striker Ron Saunders left the club in 1964 after scoring 33 goals in 1963–64. This left Portsmouth short of goals, and Portwood was the club's top scorer in the 1964–65 season with 12 goals, helping them to avoid relegation by just one point. Portwood scored a total of 30 goals in 106 league and cup games at Portsmouth. After leaving "Pompey" in 1969 he went to South Africa, playing and coaching with Durban United. Whilst in Durban, he entered a singing competition on the radio and won a recording contract in Australia.

Style of play In his later life, Portwood compared his style to that of Cristiano Ronaldo – "on the ball, twinkly-toed, turn on a sixpence, turn in the box, sharp." The song was done in conjunction with his producer friend, Mike Brady, who wrote the original song "Up There Cazaly", a number one in Australia. The licensing issue was eventually resolved in time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Career statistics

Honours Grimsby Town Football League Third Division second-place promotion: 1961–62