Meet The Teams of The EPL: Portsmouth FC
Portsmouth Football Club (pronounced /?p??rtsm??/) is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey,[1] sometimes called ‘The Blues’, with their fans known as ‘The Blue Army’. They play in the Premier League. They have played their home matches at Fratton Park since 1898.
The club is majority owned by the wealthy Al-Faraj family of Saudi-Arabia[2]
Portsmouth have won the FA Cup twice, most recently in 2008. Pompey’s main rivals are Southampton, though they are now separated by two divisions.
The club was founded in the back garden on 5 April 1898 at 12 High Street, Old Portsmouth, with John Brickwood, owner of the local Brickwoods Brewery as chairman, and Frank Brettell as the club’s first manager. The club joined the Southern League in 1899 and their first league match was played at Chatham Town on 2 September 1899 (a 1-0 victory)[3], followed three days later by the first match at Fratton Park, a friendly against local rivals Southampton, which was won 2–0, with goals from Dan Cunliffe (formerly with Liverpool) and Harold Clarke (formerly with Everton).[4] That first season was hugely successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, earning them the runner-up spot in the league. 1910-11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Robert Brown as manager the team were promoted the next season.
Football was suspended during World War I, but following the resumption of matches Portsmouth won the Southern League for the second time. Continuing success saw them in the Third Division for the 1920-21 season. They finished 12th that year, but won the division in the 1923-24 season. The club continued to perform well in the Second Division, winning promotion by finishing 2nd in the 1926-27 season, gaining a record 9-1 win over Notts County along the way. Portsmouth’s debut season in the First Division was a struggle. The next season they continued to falter, losing 10-0 to Leicester City, still a club record defeat. However, despite their failings in the league, that season also saw Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final for the first time, which they lost to Bolton Wanderers. Portsmouth managed to survive relegation, and their fortunes began to change. The 1933-34 season saw Portsmouth again reach the FA Cup Final, beating Manchester United, Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City and Birmingham City on the way. The club was again defeated in the final, this time to Manchester City. Having established themselves in the top flight, the 1938-39 season saw Portsmouth reach their third FA Cup Final. This time the club managed to defeat the favourites, Wolves, convincingly 4-1. Bert Barlow and Jock Anderson scored whilst Cliff Parker scored twice (3rd and 4th) completed the famous victory. League football was again suspended due to World War II, meaning Pompey hold the unusual distinction of holding the FA Cup for the longest uninterrupted period as the trophy wasn’t contested again until the 1945-46 season.
[edit] Post War Pompey : 1946 – 1971
League football resumed for the 1946-47 campaign. In Pompey’s Golden Jubilee season of 1948-49, the club were tipped to be the first team of the 20th century to win the Football League and FA Cup double. However, Pompey crashed out of the FA Cup in the semi-final against Leicester City, but made up for it by claiming the league title in spectacular fashion. That season also saw a record attendance of 51,385, a club record which still stands to this day.
In 1956 Portsmouth played the first league game under floodlights against Newcastle United on the 22nd of February.
The club retained the title the following year, beating Aston Villa 5-1 on the last day of the season, and are thus one of only five English teams to have won back to back titles since World War II. Although the team finished third in 1954-55, subsequent seasons saw Portsmouth struggle and they were relegated to the Second Division in 1959.
Portsmouth went down to the Third Division in 1961 (the first former English League champion team to do so) but were promoted back to the Second Division at the first time of asking under the guidance of George Smith. Despite limited financial means, Smith maintained Portsmouth’s Second Division status throughout the sixties until moving upstairs to become General Manager in April 1970.
[edit] John Deacon and Pompey: 1972 – 1988
A cash injection, that accompanied the arrival of John Deacon as chairman in 1972, failed to improve Portsmouth’s league position. With Deacon unable to continue bankrolling the club on the same scale, Portsmouth were relegated to the Third Division in 1976.
In November 1976 the club found itself needing to raise £25,000 to pay off debts and so avoid bankruptcy. With players having to be sold to ease the club’s financial situation, and no money available for replacements, Portsmouth were forced to rely on an untried manager, Ian St John and inexperienced young players. Consequently, they were relegated to the Fourth Division in 1978.
Portsmouth were promoted back to Division Three in 1980, and in the 1982-83 season they won the Third Division championship, gaining promotion back to the Second Division. Under Alan Ball‘s management, Portsmouth narrowly missed winning promotion to the First Division twice before finally succeeding in 1986-87. Unfortunately, by the middle of the 1987-88 season the club was again in grave financial trouble, and Portsmouth were relegated straight back to the Second Division. The summer of 1988 saw Deacon sell the club to London based businessman and former Queens Park Rangers Chairman, Jim Gregory.
[edit] Smith, Venables and Mandari?: 1991 – 2001
Jim Smith‘s arrival as manager at the start of the 1991-92 season, combined with the emergence of some good young players, sparked a revival in the team’s fortunes and that year Portsmouth reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup, losing on penalties to eventual winners Liverpool after a replay. Portsmouth missed out on promotion to the FA Premier League only by virtue of having scored one less goal than West Ham United.
In the summer of 1996 Terry Venables arrived at Portsmouth as a consultant, later taking over as chairman after buying the club for £1. The team enjoyed a run to the quarter-finals of the FA Cup in 1996-97, beating FA Premier League side Leeds United en route, but finished just short of the qualifying places for the play-offs for promotion to the Premier League.
Portsmouth’s centenary season, 1998-99, saw a serious financial crisis hit the club, and in December 1998 Portsmouth went into financial administration. Milan Mandari? saved the club with a takeover deal in May 1999, and the new chairman immediately started investing. However the club only survived on the last day of the 2000-2001 season when they won their final game and Huddersfield Town lost theirs, keeping Portsmouth up at their expense.
[edit] Redknapp era: 2002 – 2008
Harry Redknapp took over as manager in early 2002, with Jim Smith returning to the club as assistant manager. Redknapp was able to make the most of Mandari?’s willingness to invest in players at a time when competitors were struggling after the collapse of ITV Digital’s television deal with the Football League. Just over a year later, Portsmouth were celebrating winning the Division One Championship and promotion to the Premier League, winning the title with a game to spare.[5]
The club finished 13th, 16th and 17th in its first three Premier League seasons. Redknapp had resigned midway through the club’s second Premier League season, after a disagreement with Mandaric, and went on to manage bitter rivals Southampton, only to return just over a year later. In January 2006 Portsmouth was bought by businessman Alexandre Gaydamak and, with large amounts of money available for the manager to make record signings, the club finished the 2006-07 season in the top half of the table for the first time, only one point short of European qualification.
The 2007-08 season started with Portsmouth beating Liverpool 4-2 on penalties to win the Barclays Asia Trophy after a goalless draw, with Pompey goalkeeper David James saving penalties from Yossi Benayoun and Fernando Torres. It wasn’t to be the club’s only success that season as, in 2008, Portsmouth reached the FA Cup Final for the first time since 1939. They had eliminated Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarter finals and the following day became the only Premier League team left in the cup, following Cardiff’s surprise win over Middlesbrough. Portsmouth immediately became favourites to win the cup; in a season noted for the scalping of favourites. They beat Championship side West Bromwich Albion 1-0 on 5 April at Wembley Stadium in the semi-finals, the same day that the club celebrated its 110th birthday. Portsmouth went on to win the cup with a 1-0 win against Championship team Cardiff City. The win earned them a place in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup, the club’s first time playing European football. Their first UEFA Cup match resulted in a historic 2-0 victory over Vitoria Guimaraes and went on to win the aggregate (4-2). This put Portsmouth in the group stages for the first time in its history.
[edit] Adams, Hart and Arabs: 2008 – present
On 25 October 2008, Redknapp left Portsmouth for a second time, this time to join Tottenham Hotspur as their new manager, replacing Juande Ramos. Following his departure, Redknapp’s assistant Tony Adams was promoted to the managerial role.
Adams’ official tenure began with a 0-1 defeat to Liverpool on 29 October 2008. On 27 November, Portsmouth managed a historic result against Italian giants AC Milan, going 2-0 up during the game and finishing at 2-2. However, results and performances of this ilk did not continue, and the FA Cup Holders bowed out of the 2009 competition at the 4th Round stage with a 2-0 home defeat at the hands of Championship side Swansea City. Striker Jermain Defoe and midfielder Lassana Diarra departed in the January transfer window making things more difficult for Adams. Rumours of Adams’ dismissal began circulating on 8 February 2009[6] and this was confirmed by the club on 9 February 2009 [7] Youth team coach Paul Hart took over as manager until the end of the season, with Brian Kidd assisting him, and oversaw an upturn in form that resulted in Portsmouth being guaranteed Premier League safety on 16 May; the club were not in action themselves that day, but Newcastle’s defeat by Fulham made Portsmouth mathematically safe with two games remaining. Portsmouth finished the 2008-09 season in 14th place.
On 26 May 2009, Portsmouth accepted a bid from United Arab Emirates businessman Sulaiman Al Fahim to buy the club following negotiations led by Portsmouth executive chairman Peter Storrie on behalf of club owner Alexandre Gaydamak.[8] A statement released by the club read “Portsmouth Football Club can confirm that it has accepted an offer from Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim to buy the club, and has been completed” “Executive chairman Peter Storrie concluded the deal with Dr Sulaiman Al-Fahim in Rome on Tuesday night the 26 May”.
Because of the financial problems suffered by the club, Portsmouth were forced to sell several of their top players and earners including Peter Crouch, Sylvain Distin, Niko Kranj?ar and Glen Johnson.
On 21 July, Al Fahim was appointed Non executive Chairman of Portsmouth. On Wednesday 19 August the official Portsmouth website announced that a rival consortium headed by current CEO Peter Storrie had also made a bid for the club; unknown at the time, this was backed by Ali al-Faraj. Despite this, Al Fahim completed the takeover on 26 August; Al Faraj moved to review a takeover of West Ham United.
As the early stages of the 2009/10 season progressed the finances dried up and the club admitted on 1 October that some of their players and staff had not been paid. On 3 October, media outlets started to report that a deal was nearing completion for Ali al-Faraj to take control of the club. On Monday 5 October, a deal was agreed for al Faraj and his associates via British Virgin Islands registered company Falcondrone to hold a 90% majority holding, with Al-Fahim retaining 10% stake and the title of non-executive Chairman for two years.[9][10][11] Falcondrone also agreed a deal with Gaydamak the right to buy, for £1, Miland Development (2004) Ltd, which owns various strategic pockets of land around the ground, once refinancing is complete.[12]
2 days after the al-Faraj takeover was completed Portsmouth’s former Technical Director Avram Grant returned as Director of football. [13]