On This Day – 5th April
It was on this day in 1898 that Portsmouth Football Club were founded.
A year later, work began on building their Fratton Park home. The club were also accepted into the Southern League First Division that same year, joining the league in time for the start of the 1899/90 season.
A 1-0 victory over Chatham Town was achieved in the club’s very first competitive match. Four days later, soon-to-be arch-rivals Southampton were the first visitors to Fratton Park. Pompey fans will be glad to read that they beat The Saints 2-0!
The club continued to do well in the Southern League until the 1910/11 season, when they were relegated after a very poor season. Despite financial hardships, the club managed to get promotion back to the Southern League #Division One at the first attempt.
The 1912/13 season saw the introduction of their blue home shirt, the colour that they have worn as their home shirt ever since. After the First World War, Pompey won the Southern League title and were elected into the Football League.
The Third Division title was secured in 1923/24 and a year later, the main stand (that still stands to this day) was opened. Two years after that, promotion to the First Division was secured.
Pompey reached the FA Cup Final in 1929 and 1934, losing to Bolton Wanderers and Manchester City respectively. They made up for it in 1939, beating Wolves in the Final. With the Second World War starting in the September of that year, the Football League was postponed. A Wartime League started, but the results aren’t held in the official Football League records.
A defeat in the 1946 FA Cup Third Round to Birmingham City ended Portsmouth’s seven years as FA Cup holders, a record that their fans will be quick to tell you. This is because of the intervening War years, but they won’t tell you of that small issue!
Pompey won back-to-back First Division titles in the 1949/50 and 1950/51 season, the only times in their history that they have lifted the biggest trophy in English football.
In 1956, Portsmouth held the first ever floodlit Football League match. Later in that same year, a new terrace at the Fratton End of the ground was built.
In 1959, Portsmouth were relegated from the First Division and two seasons later down to the Third Division. They won the Third Division title in their first season and spent the next thirteen seasons in the second tier. Two relegations in three seasons saw the club drop into the basement division of the Football League for the first time since 1924.
At the start of the 1980’s, Portsmouth started in the Fourth Division. They would then climb up to the First Division in seven years, where they would spend a single season before again dropping into the Second Division.
For the next fifteen years, Portsmouth played in the Second Division (or First Division as it became known in 1992 when the Premier League was introduced).
In 1992, the club went on a great run in the FA up, reaching the semi final before losing on penalties to eventual winners Liverpool in replay.
In 2002, former West Ham United manager Harry Redknapp joined the club and took the club to the promised land of the Premier League. He also guided the club to FA Cup glory in 2008, winning an FA Cup Final at the club’s fourth attempt. This FA Cup win saw them qualify for Europe, where they were drawn in the same group as AC Milan. The Italian giants visited Fratton Park and were losing 2-0 before a late comeback spared their blushes and they returned to Italy with a 2-2 draw.
A second FA Cup Final was reached in 2010, but Chelsea won that day. Pompey had finished bottom of the table and financial problems hit the club hard. They nosedived through the divisions, with back-to-back relegations in 2012 and 2013 sending the club into League Two.
In recent times, the club’s fortunes have changed and things are on the up at Fratton Park. The League Two title was won in 2017 and this was followed up two years later with a win at Wembley in the Football League Trophy. They reached the final of the same competition last season to reach Wembley yet again, but were unable to retain the trophy.
The club has a loyal fanbase and the rivalry with Southampton remains as strong as ever. I’m sure they will return to the Championship in time and maybe return to the Premier League.
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