Cliff Portwood
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Clifford Portwood | ||
| Date of birth | 17 October 1937 | ||
| Place of birth | Salford, Greater Manchester, England | ||
| Date of death | 10 January 2012 (aged 74) | ||
| Place of death | Basingstoke, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) | ||
| Playing position | Winger / Inside-forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Manchester Athletic | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1955–1959 | Preston North End | 0 | (0) |
| 1959–1961 | Port Vale | 61 | (33) |
| 1961–1963 | Grimsby Town | 92 | (35) |
| 1963–1969 | Portsmouth | 98 | (28) |
| Durban United | |||
| Total | 251+ | (96+) | |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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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 fourteen-year career in the Football League. He spent 1955 to 1959 at Preston North End, without making an appearance, before he was sold on to Port Vale for £750. He was sold on 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.
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. However, he did not make his league debut at Preston, as new manager Cliff Britton did not see Portwood as being up to First Division standard once he returned from his national service with the Royal Air Force.
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