Christopher John Porter (born 12 December 1983) is an English former professional footballer who most recently played as a forward for Oldham Athletic
Porter began his career at Third Division side Bury, where he scored 20 goals in 78 appearances between 2003 and 2005. This prompted a move to League One club Oldham Athletic. He moved to the Scottish Premier League with Motherwell in 2007, before returning to England with Championship club Derby County. He dropped down a division in 2011, joining Sheffield United. With the Blades, he made over 100 appearances in 3½ years, scoring 23 goals. He had two short loan spells away from the club, playing for Shrewsbury Town and Chesterfield. He then joined Colchester United in January 2015, where he scored 30 goals in 95 appearances over 2½ seasons. In May 2017, he signed for Crewe Alexandra, scoring 54 goals in 189 appearances over five seasons at the Cheshire club before returning to Oldham in the summer of 2022.
Career
Bury Born in Wigan, Porter attended Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Blackburn, where he was a member of the school's Independent Schools Football Association Cup winning side in 2001. Having previously featured in the British Universities team, Porter had unsuccessful trials with Wigan Athletic and Blackpool before joining Bury on trial. He featured for the reserve team during the 2002–03 season in a 3–2 defeat to their Walsall counterparts. He scored Bury's two goals in the game, assisted on each occasion by Bury manager Andy Preece. Following the game, Preece said that "Chris still needs to get some more aggression into his game" and that he "looks a really good prospect". He then signed a short-term contract with the club.
2002–03 season Porter made the bench for Bury's Third Division 0–0 draw with Hartlepool United at Victoria Park on 7 March 2003, but was an unused substitute. He made his professional debut on 15 March when Bury travelled to Macclesfield Town. He came on to replace Terry Dunfield after 73 minutes of the 0–0 draw. He made his second and final appearance of the season on 3 May in Bury's 3–0 home defeat by Wrexham, when he replaced Paul O'Shaughnessy after 69 minutes.
2003–04 season During Bury's 2003–04 pre-season campaign, Porter scored the third in their 3–0 win over Leigh RMI, before scoring a hat-trick against a young Oldham Athletic side to stake a claim for a starting position in Bury's opening game of the season. His pre-season form paid dividends, earning a starting berth alongside David Nugent in the season opening 4–2 defeat against Swansea City on 9 August 2003. One week later, he scored his first professional goal in the 3–2 home defeat to Scunthorpe United. Porter, who said that "I didn't enjoy it [his debut goal] as much as I wanted because we lost", was withdrawn from the game after spraining his ankle. He made it two goals in two games on 23 August as his side saw off Kidderminster Harriers 2–0, but he again failed to complete the full 90 minutes with a recurrence of his ankle injury.
Porter scored his tenth and final goal of the season on 8 May as Bury beat Macclesfield 2–0 at Gigg Lane. He made 40 appearances in all competitions over the season.
2004–05 season In the newly renamed League Two, Porter scored his first goal of the season for Bury on 21 August 2004 in a 1–1 draw with Chester City. He received the first red card of his career on 28 September during a Football League Trophy first round match with Stockport County. Already on a yellow card, Porter was sent off in the 90th minute of the encounter, with the scores tied at 1–1. He bundled the ball into the net using his hand, and referee Mark Cowburn showed him a straight red for the handball offence. Bury eventually lost the game 3–1 after extra time, ending the game with nine men on the field. Following his suspension, he returned to score from the bench in the 1–1 draw at Leyton Orient on 9 October.
Porter had been a transfer target for Oldham Athletic ahead of their clash with Brentford on 15 March, with Oldham boss Ronnie Moore saying that the club had made "a reasonable offer". Bury manager Graham Barrow said there was "no chance of him leaving", with the club stating that Oldham wanted to take Porter on loan with a view to a permanent deal in the summer. The loan move never materialised, as Porter matched last seasons tally with his final goal of the season on 9 April when Bury drew 2–2 with Kidderminster. He scored ten goals in 36 appearances. With his contract expiring, Porter was offered a new contract to remain with Bury in the summer of 2005.
Oldham Athletic After rejecting a new contract offer from Bury, Porter joined League One side Oldham Athletic on 22 June 2005, signing a two-year deal with the club. His aim was to "impress in pre-season, get a place in the starting line-up when the season starts and keep it". He also said he was "relishing the challenge" of playing at a higher level. Porter's transfer fee was subject to a tribunal, with Bury rejecting an initial £25,000 offer from Oldham. With Bury initially asking for £275,000, the tribunal set the transfer fee at £50,000 up front, with Bury receiving £25,000 after Porter had made 15 appearances for Oldham, and a further £25,000 after 30 games. The tribunal also added a 15% sell-on clause for any future transfer fee.
2005–06 season Porter scored on his League One debut on 6 August, heading in a Rob Scott throw-in after 24 minutes to help his side to a 2–0 win over Yeovil Town, despite carrying a knee injury. He scored the first hat-trick of his career when Oldham drew 3–3 with Brentford at Griffin Park on 19 November. His trio of goals, all headers, arrived within the first 23 minutes of the game, scoring all three in 12 minutes.
An ankle injury left Porter battling for fitness in February, and a knee injury left him only able to make sporadic appearances until the end of the season, requiring specialist treatment in the close season. He ended the season having made 35 appearances in the league and cups, scoring nine goals.
2006–07 season In the 2006–07 season, Porter opened his scoring account with a brace during a 2–0 win against Nottingham Forest on 12 September.
In March 2007, it was reported that Championship side Stoke City were interested in signing Porter on loan with a view to a permanent £600,000 move in the summer. Oldham manager John Sheridan expressed his anger at "people unsettling our players when we're trying to push for promotion". He also added that Porter had recently "missed five or six chances he'd usually put away. So something's up." After missing five games with knee damage, Porter returned to action in a 1–0 win over promotion rivals Yeovil on 31 March. He then scored his 20th goal of the season on 7 April in a 1–1 home draw with Huddersfield. Having turned down a £650,000 bid from Championship side Plymouth Argyle for Porter during the January transfer window, Oldham managing director Simon Corney believed that the club faced a battle to retain Porter's services in the summer, but said that "we don't want to stand in the way of players who can better themselves at bigger clubs", revealing that there was interest from a Premiership club. He scored his 22nd and final goal of the season with the only goal against Chesterfield on the final day of the season, securing a play-off place for his side. Porter described the goal as "the biggest goal of my career — maybe not the best but certainly the most important". He played in both the 2–1 play-off semi-final first leg defeat to Blackpool, and the 3–1 second leg defeat.
After making 40 first-team appearances and scoring 22 goals for Oldham, Oldham offered Porter a new contract to remain with the club. The club offered Porter what Simon Corney described as "a good contract", and with no decision made by the player in June, the club's owners decided to put a block on all incoming transfers while they waited to see if they would receive a transfer fee for Porter if he were to leave. Porter was also offered a chance to join Dundee United by manager Craig Levein, but withdrew the offer after Porter stalled in his decision. Levein added that he would only "want people who are desperate to come to this club. He just did not give that impression, so I wished him all the best and told him we are no longer interested".
Motherwell Porter signed for Mark McGhee's Scottish Premier League side Motherwell on a free transfer on 3 July 2007.
2007–08 season Porter made his Motherwell debut on 4 August 2007 when his side earned a 1–0 away win at St Mirren. His first goal for the club arrived on 25 August with the winning goal in a 2–1 win against Gretna, a match which was designated an 'away' game while Gretna were ground sharing Fir Park with Motherwell. He scored 18 goals in 42 appearances.
2008–09 season Porter made his European debut in the UEFA Cup during the 2008–09 season, replacing John Sutton after 67 minutes of the 1–0 defeat to AS Nancy at the Stade Marcel-Picot on 18 September 2008. He started in the 2–0 home defeat by the French side in the return leg on 2 October. Between these games, Porter received his first red card since 2004 in a 2–1 extra time defeat at home to Hamilton Academical on 24 September in the League Cup. He scored his first goal of the season in Motherwell's 3–2 win over Falkirk on 5 October.
Porter scored his second career hat-trick for Motherwell on 27 December to help them to a 3–2 win over Inverness. Porter scored his eighth goal of the season with the only goal of the game as Motherwell beat Hearts at Fir Park on 7 January 2009. He scored his final Motherwell goal on 18 January with the final goal in a 4–0 away win over Dundee United. During January, Porter was subject to a number of bids from both Scottish and English clubs. With his contract expiring in the summer, and having already rejected speculation of a move to Hearts, Porter again rejected another move, this time back to England with League One club Huddersfield Town after a £200,000 bid. Later in January, Porter was again linked with a move away, on this occasion to Championship side Cardiff City, with Motherwell accepting a £400,000 offer for the player.
Derby County After being linked with a move away from Motherwell to clubs including Heart of Midlothian, Huddersfield Town, Cardiff City, Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest, Porter finally made a move away from the Scottish club and back to England in the Championship with Derby County on 3 February 2009 for a fee in the region of £400,000. He became Derby manager Nigel Clough's first signing. He signed a 2½-year deal with County, saying that "I really enjoyed my time in Scotland and it was a difficult decision to leave Motherwell".
2008–09 season Porter made his debut for the club as a replacement for Rob Hulse in Derby's 3–0 win at Plymouth Argyle on 7 February 2009. He hoped to have a part to play when Derby faced Manchester United in the fourth round of the FA Cup on 15 February. Porter said: "I'm from Wigan and I support Manchester United, so it would be even more special to play against them". Porter came on for his home debut in the game, once again replacing Hulse, while the Rams were 3–1 down to United. Manchester United eventually won the match 4–1. After making his first start for the club in their 2–1 defeat to Doncaster Rovers, Porter continued in the starting eleven on 3 March in a game against Swansea City, and his selection paid off by scoring his first two goals for Derby in the 2–2 draw. He scored his third goal for Derby on 7 March, giving his side the lead by scoring from eight yards after just one minute of a 2–1 win against Bristol City. In the match, Porter was withdrawn at half-time, and was subsequently ruled out for the rest of the season with a hip injury.
2009–10 season