Roy Portugal
Roy Portugal
Roy Portugal was briefly the darling of the Boothferry Park crowds in the 1960s, with his rugged, no-nonsense,almost sexual attacking play.
Unfortunately, injury, self-inflicted penances and the rise of Ken Wagstaff and Chris Chilton forced him into the reserves, and later he saw out his career as a non-league journeyman for Goole, Bridlington Trinity and Scarorough before finishing up at New York Cosmos.
Having earned little from his time in football and with no other profession to fall back on, Roy tried his hand at all manner of occupations, from milkman to PA to Tom Baker.
After retirement, he supplemented his meagre pension writing the occasional column for The Three O’Clock At Kempton.
Eccentric and possibly more than a little senile, he was the self-styled controversial voice of the fanzine.
You can read some of his choicest cuts here.
Sefton Delmer said
Roy was one of those players who made the most of what talent he had, whilst, at the same time, never quite fulfilling his potential.
A modern equivalent, I suppose there is a comparisson to be made with Marcus Gayle x