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Portsmouth party like there’s no tomorrow after going through wringer

Taha Hashim
·5 min read
<span>Portsmouth’s Paddy Lane does some crowd surfing at full-time. </span><span>Photograph: James Marsh/Shutterstock</span>
Portsmouth’s Paddy Lane does some crowd surfing at full-time. Photograph: James Marsh/Shutterstock

UP, POMPEY

Where was the most happening place on Tuesday night? With Mbappé’s boys in Barcelona? Among a stream of yellow flags in Westphalia? No, as much as we love Big Cup, the game does exist outside of it. The most exuberant celebrations were on the south coast at Fratton Park, where Portsmouth, after 12 years of lower-league shenanigans, sealed their return to the big-time (Championship). Theatricality marked the occasion, too. A point was required for promotion; three to win League One. After 82 minutes they were heading towards none, trailing 2-1 to visitors Barnsley. A Colby Bishop penalty and Conor Shaughnessy header later, they were champions. Cue the final whistle, your bog-standard pitch invasion, and a party like no tomorrow for a fanbase that has been put through the wringer; for a while there, tomorrow didn’t seem to be on the cards.

See, the good ol’ days for Pompey were also setting up the bad ones. Their FA Cup win under ‘Arry Redknapp in 2008 was the pinnacle, and a Big Vase appearance later that year saw them take a 2-0 lead at home against Milan (Ronaldinho and Pippo Inzaghi were the late killjoys, making it 2-2). But the whole thing was propped up on a spenny wage bill, and their 2009-10 campaign makes the first season of Sunderland ‘Til I Die look like a Richard Curtis film. There were four different owners, one of whom, Sulaiman Al-Fahim, lasted six weeks and was later sentenced to five years in prison for nicking £5m from his wife to buy the club (naturally, this was all after he had passed the Premier League’s ‘fit and proper person’ test). The club entered administration in February, was deducted nine points and finished bottom, but somehow, reached another FA Cup final before Didier Drogba said enough’s enough. ShoutSport’s Jamie O’Hara was their player of the season.

The existential crisis didn’t stop there, with another spell in administration two years later and relegation to the fourth tier in 2013. The saving grace proved to be the Pompey Supporters Trust taking over the club shortly before life began in League Two. Previously tossed around in a game of hot potato between suits, Portsmouth FC were finally within the safe embrace of their fans, and a little over a year later were declared debt-free. In a bid to get back to the top and continue the fairytale, the PST sold up in 2017 to the Tornante Group, led by the former Disney chief Michael Eisner. Yeah, just a bit on the nose.

The man leading things from the dugout this season is John Mousinho – yes, the Pro Evolution Soccer version of the Special One – while the captain is Marlon Pack, a local lad who rejoined the club in 2022 having come through the youth set-up and sat on the bench during their horrid final year in the Premier League. “This was the exact reason I came back to this club: the visualisation of what it would be like to be on a stage or an open-top bus where the fans have come out to congregate together and celebrate,” Pack told Big Website last week, looking ahead to the prospect of victory. Now he is very much living it.

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE

Join Sarah Rendell at 7pm BST for WSL updates on Chelsea 3-0 Aston Villa, then Scott Murray will be on hand at 8pm for Big Cup coverage of Bayern Munich 3-2 Arsenal (5-4 agg), while Barry Glendenning will be all over Manchester City 2-2 Real Madrid (5-5 agg, 6-5 pens).

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“It’s a pity. Our [Big Cup] is over due to the referee’s mistake. I just told the referee that he’s been a disaster. It’s the reality … since I am here, all of them were against us. All of them. I mean, all of them” – Xavi takes Barcelona’s 4-6 aggregate exit to Kylian Mbappé and his PSG pals well.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

The bit about penalty arguments in yesterday’s Football Daily reminded me of Steve Nicol’s miss in the 1984 European Cup final shootout. With senior squad members arguing over the order the penalties were going to be taken (after the 1-1 draw against Roma in their own stadium) they turn round to see Nicol, then 22 and on as a sub, has taken matters into his own hands and is striding towards the penalty spot with the ball under his arm. As Nicol tells it: ‘For the only time in my career, I don’t feel in full control. I start my run-up. Then, midway through, I lift my head and look where I want to put the ball. A classic mistake. The ball soars over the bar.’ While some of the members of the team sympathised with the youngster, the ever-forgiving Mark Lawrenson walked up and said: ‘Unlucky Nico, you d1ckhead!’ Fortunately, the Italians’ own penalty blunders and Bruce Grobbelaar’s spaghetti legs got the lad out of trouble” – Martin McGrath.

Tony Adams revealed he was due to take the penalty that made Gareth Southgate infamous, against Germany in the Euro 96 semi-final, but the current England manager stepped up instead as he felt confident that ‘he had this’. Oh Gareth!” – Alex Metcalfe.

Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s winner of our prizeless letter o’ the day is … Martin McGrath.