Inside Pompey
The most successful side on the South Coast, Portsmouth Football Club was founded in 1898 and holds the title of the most major honours of any club in Hampshire - making them '...officially the greatest team on the South Coast of England'.
Iconic Football Manager Jose Mourinho said "The atmosphere was absolutely incredible", when speaking to the media about Fratton Park, Pompey's home stadium. Footballing legend Ronaldinho also said that the ground had "The best atmosphere in world football", which is extremely high praise from a player who had played just about everywhere there is to play at the top of the game.
Former Glories
After being founded in 1898, Portsmouth FC, also known as 'Pompey', climbed the Southern and Western leagues and became an established member of the Football League. The first major honour came for Pompey in 1939, where the South Coast side beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1 to win the FA Cup, England biggest domestic cup competition. Due to the timing of World War II, Portsmouth held the Trophy for the longest period of any club, as Germany invaded Poland in September 1939 and all English football was suspended until further notice. Then, just 4 years after football competitions restarted in 1946, Pompey won back-to-back league titles, winning their second in 1950. Portsmouth are one of only 5 clubs to have won consecutive Football League titles since the end of World War II.
After over 50 years of obscurity for the boys on the South Coast, Pompey finally returned to the top flight of English football in 2003, under manager Harry Redknapp. Redknapp surprisingly left Portsmouth after a disagreement with club chairman Milan Mandaric in November 2004, the Pompey boss shockingly joined their biggest rivals Southampton after his departure, and saw his side lose 4-1 to Portsmouth in the derby match. However, he would make a return to Portsmouth just one year later, in November 2005. After a few seasons of steady growth in the Premier League, and with the newfound wealth provided by new owner Alexandre Gaydamak, Pompey reached the FA Cup Final in 2008, beating Manchester United in the Quarter-Finals along the way. The Blues ran out 1-0 winners over Cardiff City, in a game that provided Portsmouth with their greatest accolade in recent history.
The Fall from Grace
Just one year on from the FA Cup victory, it became apparent that there were financial issues going on behind the scenes at the club, and in 2009, this meant that Portsmouth had to sell some of their most valuable players, including: Peter Crouch, Glen Johnson and Niko Kranjcar, in order to raise funds for the club. In May 2009, Sulaiman Al-Fahim purchased the club, this is where the financial state of Pompey began to spiral downwards rapidly. In October 2009, the club admitted that it had not paid some of the players and staff. Because of the financial situation, the Premier League placed Portsmouth under a transfer embargo, meaning the club could not buy any players in order to aid the attempt at staying in the league. Later on during the season, under new owner Balram Chainrai, Portsmouth found themselves £135 million in debt and so in order to protect the club from liquidation, Chainrai placed the club into administration. This automatically incurred a nine-point deduction which consigned the team to almost certain relegation. Portsmouth fell down the leagues over the next 3 years, with more points deductions, and it seemed inevitable that the club would be liquidated and expelled from the football league. However, in April 2013, Portsmouth exited administration when a deal was completed for the Pompey Supporters Trust to purchase the club. A trust set up completely by fans, allowing supporters to buy minority shares in the club. And in September of 2014, an historic announcement was made that Pompey had paid off all debts to creditors and ex-players and staff. Portsmouth Football Club had been saved by the fans.
Redemption for Pompey?
After a few years rebuilding in League Two, Portsmouth were promoted back to England's third tier in 2017, winning the League Two title on a dramatic final day. A new era began for the club when American former CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner fronted a takeover from the Pompey Supporters Trust. Since then, Pompey have established themselves as a strong side in League One, reaching the play-off semi-finals in back-to-back years in 2019 and 2020, but unfortunately could not take the step up to the EFL Championship. In 2023, Portsmouth sit 9th in League One, under young manager John Mousinho. Fratton Park is currently facing renovations, increasing the capacity and facilities of the stadium, as part of a long-term plan which aims to prepare the club for climbing the leagues in years to come, so that the club will not repeat the financial troubles it has seen in the past, but instead it will be able to thrive at the top end of English football. Things are on the up for Pompey!