He won an England U-21 cap in 1996, whilst playing for Southampton in the Premier League.
The much travelled left back, played for eleven clubs in total, before finishing his playing career at Macclesfield Town in 2005.
Potter graduated from Open University in 2005 with a degree in Social Sciences and worked as a football development manager for the University of Hull and as a technical director for Ghanas women team in 2007. He then became assistant coach for the England Universities squad before joining Leeds Becket University, completing an MSc Leadership Personal and Professional Development.
In 2008 Potter secured a role as manager of Northern Counties East League Division One team, Carnegie, before joining Osterund in 2011 who played in the Swedish fourth tier. He secured back to back promotions, and then in 2015, the Swedish minnows did the unthinkable and gained promotion to the top flight, playing attractive football on a limited budget.
European cup exploits followed with some big wins against Turkish giants Galatasaray, and Greek side PAOK. His team even had the nerve to beat Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates stadium, yet lost 4-2 on aggregate.
This caught the attention of Swansea City, who appointed him in 2018 on a three year contract. Despite finishing tenth in his first season, Brighton came calling and paid £3m compensation in order to appoint Potter as their Head Coach in 2019.
A three year spell followed, before Chelsea paid £16m compensation with a further £6m for five of his back room staff to make the move to Stamford Bridge. Despite reaching the quarter finals of the Champions League, Potter was dismissed after 31 games, where his team had lost 11 games, yet were occupying a mid table position in the Premier League, with a 38.71% win rate.
Once thought of as a future England manager, why had his career stalled so abruptly?
His style has won many plaudits, tactically flexible, attacking and possession based are three traits that most clubs would be looking for from a manager. At Swansea he had used ten different formations, and completed the most passes per 90 minutes in the Championship.
Aged 49 he still has a lot to offer and went on record that he deliberately took a step back from football since April 2023 to spend time with his family and reflect.
He is now open to a return to the game he loves, and is reportedly interested in a short term deal at West Ham should Lopetegui leave in the near future. However, there have also been links to Southampton, Wolves and, most recently, RB Leizpig.
The boards stance on West Ham’s Head Coach currently is that performances must improve and Bournemouth will be another must win game. Whether Potter will be available in the near future remains to be seen.
