MAX PORTER has always been a studious footballer. England C manager Paul Fairclough tells a story about how the midfielder, then at Barnet, stood outside the Rochdale dressing room waiting to pick the experienced brains of Gary Jones.
The 29-year-old has worked hard to make the best of himself and a ten-year professional career that includes a promotion to the Football League is testament to that.
But last season a groin injury wrecked his year and he began asking the question: What happens next?
It’s why he made the difficult decision to ask National League Bromley to let him go so he could prepare for the next chapter of his life and build a future for his young family; wife Courtney and their nearly two-year-old son Henry.
“You’ve got to be honest,” Porter says. “One thing I will say, I don’t think enough footballers are honest enough at our level.
“If you want a contract that’s going to support you, there are only two or three of those at each club. At the end of the season you could be out of contract and you don’t want to be scrambling.
“The first question that could be asked about me is, ‘How many games has he played?’ That’s tough.
“I was looking over my shoulder and thinking, ‘What’s next?’ Inevitably I’m going to have to go part-time at some point. I wasn’t enjoying myself or happy with the standards I was reaching at Bromley, for different reasons, so I made the decision to make sure I could look after my family.
“It’s really scary. I’ve been a pro for ten years, but I was getting to a position where I was envying other players at the club because they had jobs they could fall back on. If it didn’t work out for them at the end of the season, they had security to look after themselves.
“Being out of the Football League again, as well as having a young family and bills to pay, you have to make the decision about what’s best. It’s been the hardest one I’ve had to make.”
Moving to part-time Chelmsford City means he can start pushing forward with answering that question. He’s set up a Personal Training business with wife Courtney, will take a massage course in November, and has the final assessment for his UEFA A Licence before Christmas.
Porter says he’s excited for his next chapter and is keen on the coaching route, but it shouldn’t be underestimated what a dilemma it must have been for the former Rushden & Diamonds and Newport County man.
Especially after he’d dug into his own pocket to return to full fitness after last year’s groin injury nightmare. It was a journey back that took him from specialist to specialist and eventually to Munich to the operating table of Dr Ulrike Muschaweck.
Pain Signals
“It was a chance conversation with an old team-mate, Christian Jolley, who recommended a specialist from Germany who did Jamie Vardy’s operation earlier in the season,” Porter says.
“I was on my A Licence and the Welsh FA kindly let me have the afternoon off to go down and see her.
“As soon as I met her she told me what was wrong. She said the nerve in my groin was dead and it was sending out pain signals. By now this was nine or ten months, so she said it would have to be removed.
“The sad thing was that she said if I’d gone to see her originally when I’d been match fit, I’d have only been out two weeks because of the method she practises.”
A late cancellation at her Munich clinic gave Porter the chance to be back in time for pre-season, so he packed his bag and jetted to Germany.
It also gave him a few hours to see what Non-League clubs have over the World Cup winners’ domestic giants.
“I had so much time in the morning before my appointment that I went to do the tour of Bayern Munich’s stadium,” Porter says.
“We were in the dressing room, which was amazing, and they were showing us this screen where Pep Guardiola could put a video on and write tactics onto it. The warm-up rooms were amazing too and they’ve even got a swimming pool the players use before games. It wasn’t small either – ten metres by ten metres.
“I asked, ‘Do they have ice baths?’ I was interested because when Newport played at Wembley in the FA Trophy, I got in one just for the experience.
Opportunities
“They said, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve got ice baths.’ We walked around the corner and it was two black wheelie bins! I just burst out laughing. Even in Non-League we have two wheelie bins.”
Fully recovered and feeling as good as ever, Porter still has a burning desire for more success and he hopes that will come at Rod Stringer’s National League South Chelmsford – although he’s already lighter in the pocket.
“I signed and the first thing they said was: New signing, that’s a £10 fine – I’d been there five minutes,” laughs the former England C captain.
“I tried to pay it but they said, ‘Oh no, you settle up at the end of the month’. I’ll probably have a couple more by then. It shows they’ve got a good team spirit and in training they seem a really good bunch.
“They’re an ambitious club too. I’m not going there to settle and transition my life. One of the best moments in my career was getting promoted with Newport County. It’s a brilliant feeling.
“If we can be in the mix at Chelmsford – I’m not saying we’re going to win it – it will be great. There are still opportunities to have those really good experiences and have that on your CV.”
