Chris Porter

Christopher John "Chris" Porter (born 12 December 1983 in Wigan, England) is an English footballer, playing for Derby County.

Career

Early career

Porter attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn, where he was a member of the school's ISFA winning side in 2001.^[1]

Porter started his career at Bury, where his form alerted Oldham Athletic who signed him for a fee of £150,000 after going to a tribunal in 2005. The move proved a successful one and he finished the 2006-07 season with 22 League One goals, taking Oldham into the playoffs. However, with Porter's contract was expiring his exploits earned attention from Scotland and there was controversy surrounding Porter when, in June 2007, Dundee United offered Porter a contract. This angered Oldham, who argued that, as under FIFA directives, they would be entitled to a transfer fee as the player was not moving abroad, as the player is under 24 years old. However, a transfer to Scotland was regarded as a "cross-border transfer" by FIFA and they decreed that no fee would be payable, with Dundee United chairman Eddie Thompson pointing out that his club has breached no rules in doing this, and were acting in a proper manner. Despite all this, on 27 June 2007, Dundee United announced they would not be signing Porter as he had turned down the move.

Motherwell

Porter instead opted to join Motherwell on 3 July 2007^[2] and his debut season with them proved to be a huge success. Porter scored 15 league goals, finishing as the club's top goalscorer and joint third highest in the league, helping Motherwell finish third, seven points clear of fourth placed Aberdeen and qualify for the 2008/09 Uefa Cup. Porter had a successful start to the 2008/09 season, hitting 9 goals in the first half of the season, but Motherwell's disappointing league form saw him linked with a move back to England in the 2009 January transfer window, including to club's such as Sheffield United, Nottingham Forest and Cardiff City. Motherwell manager Mark McGhee then went on to claim that he would not keep Porter at the club if he wished to continue his career elsewhere. On 29 January it was revealed that Porter was on the verge of a £425,000 move to Football League Championship side Cardiff City,^[3] but the move was hijacked by Derby County, who signed the player for an undisclosed fee (believed to be around £400,000) on January 31, 2009.^[4] During his time at Motherwell, Porter scored 27 goals in 65 games in all competitions.

Derby County

Porter became Derby manager Nigel Clough's first signing as Rams boss and signed a contract with the club until summer 2011. He made his debut as a 69th minute substitute against Plymouth Argyle on February 7, 2009. His first goals for Derby came on his full home debut, and his 200th career league appearance, as he grabbed a double in a 2-2 draw with Swansea City.^[5] He then quickly grabbed a third goal for the club in the first minute of the game against Bristol City in March 2009.^[6] before a hip injury ruled him out for the season. Despite playng a part in the Rams preseason, which included scoring in a 1-0 win at Burton Albion, Porter aggravated the injury and was ruled out until November 2009^[7] eventually making his first full Derby appearance for 9 months when coming on as a 71st minute substitute in a 0-0 draw away to Preston North End on 8 December 2009. On his 26th birthday, Derby County won their first away game of the season at Watford on 12 December 2009, after Porter came on as a substitute and scored the only goal from a header.

Notes

External links

• Chris Porter career stats at Soccerbase