Former Valiant Portwood passes away
Former Port Vale player Cliff Portwood has sadly passed away after a long battle against illness, the official Port Vale website reports.
Portwood joined Vale for £750 from Preston in August 1959. and was the club’s top scorer for the 1960–61 season with 26 goals. He scored a total of 33 goals in 61 games for the Valiants.
Portwood was sold to Grimsby Town for £6,000 in July 1961, later playing for Portsmouth where he was the club’s top scorer in the 1964–65 season with 12 goals.
Portwood also had a notable second career as a singer. In the early 1970’s, he became a successful recording artist and TV personality in Australia, earning several gold records and appearing on prime time TV most weekends. On his return to England in 1982, he recorded a World Cup song with members of the 1966 World Cup squad. But “Up there, oh England” was pulled due to a licensing issue on the B-side.
OVF would like to pass on our sympathies and best wishes to the Portwood family and friends.