A commanding centre-half with Chelsea, John Mortimore made 279 appearances for the Stamford Bridge club and was an ever-present when they won promotion to the First Division in the 1962/63 season.
He was managing in Greece when he was asked to take over as Pompey boss from his former Chelsea colleague Ron Tindall. He spent heavily in the transfer market, paying £115,000 for Fulham defender Paul Went. There was, however, a financial crisis at the club and he had make eleven of the playing staff available for transfer to offset the club's mounting debts.
In September 1974 he was sacked and after a spell as Lawrie McMenemy's assistant at Southampton, he worked abroad, taking Benfica to the Portuguese League and Cup double.
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