Ian Porterfield Interview
John Duerden reports on a new icon in Busan
It's a long way from South Yorkshire to South Korea. When Ian Porterfield embarked on his managerial career in Rotherham in 1979, little did he know that a quarter of a century later he would be enjoying his life on the south coast of this small country. The journey has been a convoluted one, stops at Sheffield United, Aberdeen, Reading, Chelsea, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Bolton, Oman, Trinidad and Tobago, are testament to that. His journey started at Millmoor but one senses there is still more to come from the talkative Scot.
Soccerphile caught up with him in a plush hotel lobby overlooking the beach area that he now calls home.
Soccerphile: Why did Chris Marsden leave?
Ian Porterfield: I don't want to go into any great detail at this moment in time. I'm sad and disappointed. He had been at Busan for only a short period of time and his wife had been here for a short period of time. Before they came, we invited his wife, agent and himself to see everything that Busan had to offer - where we play, all the people involved with the club, the schooling etc. We pushed the boat out because we're not a wealthy club and it was hard for us to convince the player contract-wise to come here for 2 years. They went back home and decided after a week or ten days that they wanted to come.
Everyone was very pleased that he'd come to the club.
I was quite surprised that he decided just to leave. I'd have hoped that he would have waited to the end of the stage, sat down and discussed it. If that had happened, everyone would have seen it differently. The club is disappointed. However, in football these things happen. It's all about handling players and making the right decisions.
Soccerphile: Why did you decide to come to Busan?
Ian Porterfield: Mr Chong the owner, was looking for a coach to come to Busan Icons and I think that he'd gone to five different countries. I couldn't meet him in London but suddenly I managed to come out here and speak to him. I was so impressed with the man and the type of person he was. I saw the club and I came here (to Haeundae Beach), I was absolutely amazed at what I'd seen. Well, I was sure that my wife would enjoy it here and it has worked out well for us.
Soccerphile: What did you know of Korea and Korean football before you came here?
Ian Porterfield: The Far East was an area that I hadn't been to too much. My aim was to come to Korea for the World Cup with Trinidad and Tobago. The Trinidad and Tobago National Team did so well for such a small country of 1.3 million. We went through all the qualifying games, then went through the 1st round, 2nd round, all the individual games until the last, last bit. We were just a little bit short and missed the boat. It'd always been a dream that I'd had and I'd missed out going to the World Cup by one point with Zambia and I just missed out again with Trinidad and Tobago to come to Korea and I haven't been disappointed.
Soccerphile: Have you been disappointed with the difference between the passion shown during the World Cup and the poor attendances that Busan attract?
Ian Porterfield: Yes but the K-League here has only been going for 20 years. It started amateur and it's getting very professional now. It's growing very quickly. I think that the World Cup created such an interest and many people in Korea started to go and watch the teams - whether it be in Seoul, Busan or Chonbuk. I think that where they let themselves down was the fact that once the World Cup finished, everything stopped. I think that there is great potential here for football. It proved the potential that the team could have when it went to 4th in the world -that was a great achievement. There's a lot of good players here. The football needs better development and better structure, I've been trying very hard to emphasize this idea to Busan I'cons since I came. If football's going to grow here, we've got to get football in the community.
My job is to let people know that we have a football team here. When I first came to Busan and met people, no-one knew that there was a football team here.
Soccerphile: It's a huge city as well.
Ian Porterfield: Of course, we've got over 4 million people. There are many ideas that I would like to put in place and try to help to build the club and make it better. The people out there have got to support their team like they do in some other parts of the world.
There's no reason why this country can't do the same. It will take time but it's possible. I think that if a system was put in place of football in the community, what you would get are not only players for your club but supporters for your club.
What I would like for Busan is for the I'cons to grow and be the family team.
I think that one of the reasons that we don't get good gates is that we play in the World Cup Stadium way over outside of town. It's very difficult to get there, no train service and it takes a long time by bus. This is a big disadvantage to the people here. The old stadium, there's been talk about even moving back because the crowds are so poor.
Soccerphile: Is playing in Busan World Cup Stadium with its 56,000 capacity a handicap?
Ian Porterfield: That's very true. In Suwon, Seoul and Chunnam, all compact stadiums, nice and tight, our performances have been wonderful. I certainly agree that if we had a more compact stadium, it would be a big help, a better atmosphere. We had 23,000 people at our first game (this season) but the stadium looked less than half full. The atmosphere is not there as the people are too far away because we have the running track. Hopefully, one day, I gather Mr.Chong is planning our own stadium. I don't know when this will happen but I think that it would be a good thing, a good arena so that people can come to the game quite easily. There's good excitement for them to come as a family, a family day out, a family occasion and they're all Busan I'cons supporters.
Soccerphile: It's interesting that with all this talk about football in the community that there was a lot of talk recently about Busan I'cons moving to Seoul. Was that serious?
Ian Porterfield: When this story came out, it was quite amazing because we were preparing for the new season and we were in Hong Kong playing two games against the Kuwaiti National Team.
My wife called me and was really worried, she said: 'We are moving to Seoul, it's all over TV.' In all honesty it was a good marketing exercise. I was very happy that the I'cons stayed in Busan.
I think that this was a message to the people here. I recall that we wanted to use the stadium. Our clubhouse is only 18 months old, since I came here. We only have two pitches that were in a little bit of a mess. We wanted to use the main stadium and the second pitch at the stadium. I think that there were some people on the Busan council who said: 'You can't use it.' I'm not certain, this was what I heard.
In between times, the Korean Olympic team was training on the pitch regularly. We are the team in Busan and though we all want the team to do well and they've qualified for Athens and that's wonderful but this is our city and Busan I'cons is the city's team. Since that situation came about, maybe a few people have sat up and took notice and offered more help and support which is very much needed.
At the end of the day, it was never going to happen. That was my thought.
Soccerphile: What do you think about the K-League reverting back to the two-stage season?
Ian Porterfield: That's been done because of the Olympic Games and the World Cup qualifiers. I think that maybe it's too little football and football fans would like to see a bit more football. I was surprised that they made it so short - 12 games (each stage). I thought that maybe they could have made it 36 games. In between they could have the cup competition.
The World Cup and Olympic Qualifiers were very important to the country. I think that the publicity that Korea got from the World Cup was incredible so obviously they want to keep it going.
It's a disadvantage however; it's not the best way. Possibly for teams with small squads like Busan, Daejeon, Daegu and Bucheon it's useful because we don't have the resources of say Suwon, Pohang, Ulsan-teams with more money, Seoul FC. It's going to be better for us because we play fewer games. Last season was very tough on my club, we were playing three games a week with a small squad of players and it was hard.
Soccerphile: There have been some surprises this season, not least Champions Seongnam's poor form, why do you think they are doing so badly?
Ian Porterfield: I think that they let four players move to Incheon, obviously there's been some change there. I think it's good for football that not one team continues to win the league. Because of fewer games this year, every game is a cup final. You can win two games and you're in the top half and lose a couple and you're in the bottom half. The league this season is wide open for a lot of teams. Clubs like Seoul, Suwon, Incheon and Chonbuk - the money these clubs are spending you'd expect to be successful. I would love to have the budget that these people have, it would make my job a lot easier. Our club is not in that position. I have no complaints; we are going in the right direction. We are laying a foundation and I hope that we keep improving in my time as coach here.
Soccerphile: What would be a successful season for Busan? What would you be satisfied with?
Ian Porterfield: When I came here, we probably had as poor a squad as anybody in the league. We won 13 games last season and finished 4th from bottom, the season before we finished 2nd bottom. We've progressed - the team is far, far better now in many areas but we've still improvements to make. I would hope that we can continue playing well throughout the first phase of the season and maybe even improve the team a little for the second phase and do well in that. Hopefully, we can improve steadily, I don't think that you can snap a magic wand and go from the bottom, where we were, to the top in a short period of time.
Soccerphile: Are there any Korean players you have seen that you immediately thought that they would do well in England or Europe?
Ian Porterfield: There are a lot of good players here that can do well. I think the big disadvantage that they've got here is that they develop very late in their career. In Korea, education is everything, university studies, so players develop a lot later than in the UK and I think it's a big disadvantage. I've got a young goalkeeper, Kim Yong-dae, 23, I believe that if he could go to a good English club that he could do very well. He's got the potential to be an outstanding goalkeeper. It gives me great satisfaction to see how he's developed since I came here. He wasn't even the first choice keeper when I came here and now he's second choice to the lad up at Suwon (Lee Woon-jae) in the national team.
There are a lot of good players here but the late development hinders them. It's quite hard for people to go to the English Premier League and the big leagues in Europe. That's why they take a hop, skip and a jump to Japan because they don't get the necessary opportunities. When you go to the Premier League, you've got to get an apprenticeship, you need that little bit of experience. You've got players of 26, 27 who are babies as far as experience with other people.
Soccerphile: But it's a big gamble to leave school at 16 to concentrate on football in Korea.
Ian Porterfield: That's right but why? Sixty years ago, Korea was as underdeveloped as most African countries. Argue? It's true. Now, it's one of the most forward-looking economies in the world. Education is very important but when you analyze the way football goes in this part of the world-it doesn't work.
Kids are studying all hours of the day here - morning, noon and night. Other countries have education as well as it can be done. Football and education can go together. The KFA should look at, a perfect example. Now France is developing more players than England, Spain etc. The national team won the World Cup and the Euro Championships with a population not much bigger than Korea. It can be done and I tried to encourage this when I was involved in African football. In fact before I left Trinidad and Tobago, I wanted to lay a structure to develop football straight through and it would have worked.
Soccerphile: Would you be interested in the Korean National job?
Ian Porterfield: I love my job at Busan, I want to make a go of this club. I loved being a National coach and had great satisfaction from taking Zambia to 18th in the world from sixty something. I took Trinidad and Tobago from sixty something to 24th/25th. I am very proud of my achievements. The future - who knows? What will be, will be. I am ambitious, my life is football, my love is football. I am committed to Busan I'cons but tomorrow's another day.
There may be a few more Korean tomorrows as there have been suggestions of a contract extension. For enthusiasm alone, the manager of Busan deserves some success and who knows? He could achieve his dream at managing in the World Cup with Korea.
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