IN FOCUS: PORTSMOUTH

Main Club Sponsor

TICKETS

SHOP

Ahead of our return to the Sky Bet Championship, learn more about all 23 of our opponents

2024-07-12T08:00:00.000Z

IN FOCUS: PORTSMOUTH

Ahead of our return to the Sky Bet Championship, learn more about all 23 of our opponents

2024-07-12T08:00:00.000Z

Ahead of our return to the Sky Bet Championship, learn more about all 23 of our opponents

Portsmouth Football Club was founded in 1898 and the team have always played at Fratton Park.

After being elected to the football league in 1920, ‘Pompey’ became the first club south of London to reach the top division of English football in 1927.

They stayed there for 32 years and, after winning the FA Cup for this first time in 1939, the Hampshire-based outfit went on to claim back-to-back league titles in 1948/49 and 1949/50.

After a period flittering around the English football leagues, Portsmouth enjoyed their first and only Premier League spell to date after securing promotion from the Championship in 2003.

In that seven year spell in the top-flight, they secured two top-10 finishes, won the 2008 FA Cup and subsequently competed in Europe, as well as finishing runners-up in the 2010 FA Cup final.

Relegation was confirmed at the end of the 2009/10 campaign, before back-to-back relegations in 12 months saw Pompey drop to League Two in 2013.

Portsmouth found themselves in League Two for four seasons, before promotion in 2017 which saw them lift the league title and reach League One.

After six years in League One, Pompey are on their way back now after securing promotion to the Championship in style last season.

They won League One with 97 points from their 46 matches, five more than Derby County in second. Doing so, Portsmouth join Burnley as one of only five clubs to have won England’s top four divisions.

Stadium: Fratton Park (21,100) – Frogmore Road, Southsea, Portsmouth, PO4 8RA

Nickname(s): Pompey

Manager: John Mousinho

2023/24 finishing position: 1st in Sky Bet League One (promoted automatically)

2023/24 top scorer (all competitions): Colby Bishop (21)

Played for both:

Peter Crouch – The storied striker enjoyed two season-long spells with Portsmouth (2001/02 & 2008/09) scoring a combined total of 34 goals in 87 appearances in all competitions. He scored four goals in their UEFA Cup run in 08-09, which ended in the group stages, adding to the 11 he scored in the Premier League and finishing as Pompey’s top scorer. A successful spell at Tottenham Hotspur was then followed by a significant period with Stoke City from 2011 to 2019, before a January transfer to Turf Moor. Crouch spent the final six months of his professional career with Burnley and made six appearances off the bench before hanging up his boots.

Matthew Taylor – Born in Oxford, Taylor spent the first three years of his playing career with Luton Town before spending six years with Portsmouth between 2002 and 2008. The left-midfielder's first season for Pompey saw him star in their promotion to the Premier League, where they stayed for the rest of his spell at the Club. After four seasons at Bolton Wanderers, Sean Dyche brought him to Burnley upon promotion to the Premier League in 2014, but his first season was thwarted by an Achilles injury. Taylor would, however, play a part in the Clarets’ return to England’s elite in 2015-16, gaining a reputation as a ‘super-sub’ as he contributed four goals, despite 26 of his 27 appearances coming from the bench.

David Nugent – Nugent started his career at Bury, joining Portsmouth in 2007 after two years at Preston North End. The highlight of his spell was his role in their FA Cup win, featuring as a substitute in the final against Cardiff City at Wembley. He later spent the 2009/10 season on loan from Portsmouth at Burnley, making his debut against Liverpool as a substitute for Martin Paterson at Anfield in September. Nugent's first Clarets goals came on his Turf Moor debut against Sunderland and the striker returned south with six Premier League goals to his name.