Full name John Potter 1997–1999 Celtic Weight 80 kg Years Team Height 1.85 m | Playing position Role Football player Name John Potter Position Defender | |
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Date of birth (1979-12-15) 15 December 1979 (age 36) | ||
Place of birth Dunfermline, Scotland | ||
John Potter (born 15 December 1979 in Dunfermline), is a Scottish football player, who is currently the head coach of Dunfermline Athletic, returning to this role after a short, unsuccessful spell in charge as manager.
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Potter was brought up in High Valleyfield; a small mining village which has produced numerous talents in the past including: Hugh Kelly, George Connelly and John Fraser. He is the cousin of Craig Potter and the younger brother of former Raith Rovers goalkeeper, and current Hamilton goalkeeping coach, Brian Potter.
Career
Potter began his career at Celtic, but failed to make a senior appearance for them. Potter was highly rated at Celtic Park and captained the reserve side, most notably on 16 February 1999, when Mark Viduka made his first appearance in a Celtic shirt in a 4–2 victory against Motherwell. Potter travelled to Portugal with the first team squad and was an unused substitute in Wim Jansen's final game in charge against Sporting Lisbon, but a change in management from Jansen to Josef Venglos signalled the end of Potter's career at the club.
After leaving Celtic, Potter joined hometown team Dunfermline Athletic and spent three years at East End Park. In 2002, he joined Clyde. He made his debut on the same day he joined Clyde, in an evening fixture against Partick Thistle. At the beginning of the 2004–05 season, Potter was appointed captain of Clyde, and started every single game for the Bully Wee that season.
He joined St Mirren in July 2005 and won promotion to the Scottish Premier League in his first season. At the beginning of the 2008–09 campaign, Saint's manager Gus MacPherson named Potter as captain, a position he held for three seasons. However, towards the end of the 2010–11 season, Potter - along with 9 other players at St Mirren - was told that his contract would not be renewed and he would be allowed to leave the club on a free transfer.
After seeing out his contract at St Mirren, Potter joined his former St Mirren team mate Paul Gallacher at Dunfermline Athletic, beginning his second spell at the club. He became U20s player/coach assisted by Craig Dargo in 2012. Potter took control of the first team in December 2014, after Jim Jefferies left the club. It was announced at the end of the season that, after failing to secure promotion or a play off position, Potter would step down as Manager of the club and return to his position as head coach. Although having not played since May 2014, Potter was registered as a player for the Pars during the 2015–16 season, and was an unused substitute in a number of first-team matches.
Potter continued as under 20s manager for Dunfermline into the 2016–17 season, and played for the side in a one-all draw against Inverness under 20s in April 2017. Potter was also linked with becoming assistant manager of St Mirren in October 2016, after form teammate Jack Ross was appointed manager of the Paisley club.
Managerial statistics
As of 2 May 2015