An edge of uncertainty is what gives the FA Cup its thrill; the most unlikely team can, on its day, defeat even the most intimidating of champions. The 1973 Cup Final brought one of the greatest of these upsets when second-division Sunderland beat an all-star Leeds team seeking the trophy for a second consecutive year. Ian Porterfield scored the only goal of the game .

Leeds, led by Billy Bremner and managed by Don Revie, were establishing themselves as the dominant team in England. They churned out wins with an industrial consistency which, by 1973, had taken them to three consecutive top-three finishes (they would win the league the next season) but which did not endear them to neutrals. Their team contained 11 internationals. Sunderland, by contrast, had been in danger of relegation to football’s third tier that season, and had begun their cup campaign as 250-1 outsiders.

The Black Cats, however, were not overawed. They never let Leeds settle, with Porterfield hassling Bremner in midfield to good effect. In the 31st minute Billy Hughes swung a Sunderland corner from the left. Porterfield met it in the centre of the area, killed the bounce with his left thigh and swivelled elegantly to crash the ball into the net with his weaker right foot.

Leeds increased the pressure as the game wore on, but Sunderland held on, helped by an astonishing double save from their keeper, Jim Mont-gomery, keeping out first Trevor Cherry and then Peter Lorimer with a reflex which The Times applauded as “quite the equal of Banks’s famous effort against Pelé”.

It was the first time a second division team had won the cup for 42 years, and the result was cheered by neutrals everywhere, hailed by The Times as “a triumph for the game itself, for the underdog, and for the unashamed romantics”.

Porterfield retained cult status in the North East for the rest of his life (his right foot was cast in glass in 2003). Later, his peripatetic management career took him to Zambia, Zimbabwe, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Trinidad and, most recently, Armenia.

John Ian Porterfield was born in Dunfermline in 1944 and started his football career with Lochgelly Albert. He had trials with Leeds, Hearts and Rangers before signing for Raith Rovers in 1964. In December 1967 he joined Sunderland for £45,000. A talented left-half who worked hard in midfield, he made 268 appearances for the club over the next decade. His Cup Final goal was one of only 17 he scored for Sunderland.

In 1974 a car crash left him in hospital with life-threatening injuries, and it seemed unlikely he would play professionally again. Although he was back in the first team only 18 months later, his playing career never recovered. He spent time on loan at Reading and criticised Sunderland for not letting him leave permanently while the club sought compensation for his injury from their insurers. He eventually joined Sheffield Wednesday in 1977.

His management career began two years later at Rotherham. He guided them to the third-division championship, before dropping two divisions to take over at Sheffield United in 1981. In his five years there he took them from the fourth division to seventh place in the second. He was then sacked.

His next job was at Aberdeen where he had the tricky task of succeeding Alex Ferguson in 1986. He did well enough, reaching a cup final and qualifying for Europe twice in his two years at Pittodrie but, with his marriage breaking down, he resigned in 1988. He then became assistant manager at Chelsea briefly, before two years as Reading’s boss. He was sacked in 1991.

But he was appointed Chelsea manager shortly afterwards. He struggled during his two years there — turning down the chance to sign Eric Cantona — and in February 1993 he became the first Premier League manager to get the sack.

This setback, however, turned out to be the launchpad for his international career. He took over the national team of Zambia, which had just lost 18 first-team players in a plane crash. He admitted he was apprehensive about the task, but was impressed by the players’ enthusiasm.

His efforts bore fruit immediately and a run of wins led to Zambia coming within one goal of qualifying for the World Cup finals — losing 1-0 to Morocco when a draw would have taken them through. He then led his team to the final of the 1994 African Nations Cup and was awarded the freedom of Zambia.

His success led to a big-money offer from a Saudi Arabian team, al-Ittihad. A spell followed as national coach of Zimbabwe, where he answered to Robert Mugabe’s nephew, Leo. The high-light of his time there was playing a tribute match in South Africa on Nel-son Mandela’s inauguration day.

In 1996 he briefly returned to Britain as assistant manager of Bolton, but left the club after being found drunk in his car after the team was relegated. He had only just finished a four-year ban for drink-driving, itself not his first, and he was banned for eight years. In 2000, driving in Trinidad, he knocked down 24-year-old Jesus Wilson, who died of his injuries.

By this time Porterfield was manager of Trinidad & Tobago, after a stint in Oman. He did well with the team, taking it to 25th in the world rankings and again narrowly failing to make the World Cup.

In 2003 he took charge of the South Korean team Busan I’cons (later I’Park). The team, not part of Korea’s elite, was struggling when he arrived, but he took the Korean cup in 2004 and won the first stage of the championship the following year.

He left South Korea last year and that August was appointed manager of Armenia. “It’s a bit sad, but when you leave the UK the doors seem to get closed to you,” he said in November. “Why that is I will never know, because if you go overseas you learn so much. It makes you a better person and a better coach.”

With Armenia, he again turned round a failing team, despite having colon cancer diagnosed in February. Back-to-back wins against Kazakhstan and group leaders Poland made him a national hero.

Porterfield was divorced twice and had two sons and four daughters. In 2002 he married Glenda Lalai, whom he met in Trinidad.

Ian Porterfield, football player and manager, was born on February 11, 1946. He died of cancer on September 11, 2007, aged 61