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HEAVEN’SLIGHT EDSAPCE / WHAT POMPEY MEANS TO ME / YORK2POMPEY

STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW / JOHNNY MOORE / TOM WHITE / AWAY DAYS

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CONTENTS05 Edspace

07 What Pompey Means To Me

09 York2Pompey

11 Stakeholder Interview

14 Johnny Moore

17 Bygone Blues

18 Tom White

21 Josh Sweetman

25 Away Days

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} Welcome to the February edition of Heaven’s Light. As usual this edition of Heaven’s Light is packed full of news about life off the pitch at Fratton Park, although there are a couple of subtle changes. My column looks back at Pompey’s 0-0 draw at Wycombe Wanderers, while Josh Sweetman looks back at some of his favourite away days in his column. This issue also contains a stakeholder interview with the chief executive officer at Sporting Ads, Christian Clayton, and another one of Johnny Moore’s favourite years. We don’t have an out of the shadows feature this month as instead we have a feature on the York2 Pompey charity bike ride. The ticket news page has also changed, as it now gives detailed information on Pompey’s upcoming away games and is called away days. We will also be speaking to another fan to find out what Pompey means to them. If you would like to be in a future edition of Heaven’s Light saying what Pompey means to you then please feel free to contact me. You can email me on tomwhite@pompeyfc.co.uk and you can also send any comments, ideas or suggestions for our publication to that email address. Yours in Pompey,

Tom White

Heaven’s Light Editor

EDSPACE

THE TICKET NEWS PAGE HAS ALSO CHANGED, AS IT NOW

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ADAM THOMAS-SCARROTT, 42, FROM BAFFINSM E A N T O M E ?

W H A T D O E SP O M P E YTELLS TOM WHITE WHAT POMPEY MEANS TO HIM

} Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I’m Portsmouth born, live in the city, work for a local insurance company and am married with two kids. I’m told I knew my football tables before

my times tables. Saturday evenings and the rest of the weekend were spent reading the Sports Mail back to front and back again. My interest in Pompey, football, stats and newspapers can all be pretty much put down to Mike Neasom and the Sports Mail.

} What does Pompey mean to you?

The club is a big part of the city and a big part of my life. I’m passionate about the city and club and promoting the positive aspects.

} Can you remember when you started supporting Pompey?

1982 was the year of the Falklands War and the Mary Rose being raised from the Solent seabed, while in my world it was my first visit to

Fratton Park for Pompey’s game in the FA Cup second round against Aldershot. My grandad and uncle took me along. I remember absolutely nothing about the game, other than we lost 3-1. And there for me began the ups and downs of being a Pompey fan. That season did of course end on a high as I celebrated when we beat Southend 2-0 to seal promotion to the old Division Two. That elation feeling, we’d done it. Another promotion and we’d be in Division One. That simple. The naivety of a ten-year-old, but I was hooked.

} Do you have a highlight from your time supporting the club?

It has to be winning the FA Cup final in 2008. My brother and I had the privilege of enjoying hospitality. While it meant we were not in the

Pompey end, we had a fantastic day from start to finish and one that remains firmly up there despite the financial troubles that then started to unfold.

} Do you have any favourite players?

Mick Quinn, Linvoy Primus, Robert Prosinecki, Guy Whittingham, Matt Taylor and Lassana Diarra are the names that immediately spring to mind. If I’m

pushed to select one though, it’d have to be Alan Knight.

} Do you have any favourite goals?

Nwankwo Kanu’s 2008 FA Cup winner for obvious reasons.

} How did you feel when the Trust bought the club?

Elated that the club had been saved. I remember the moment when I was told – fellow fan Gareth Hawkes came over to my office and ushered me

into an impromptu ‘meeting’ to share the fantastic news.

} What are your hopes for the future for Pompey?

Premier League in five years, Champions League in seven? No, seriously I’d like to see the club back in the Championship within five years ideally, but

realistically that could be tough. Having said that we’ve overcome challenges before, so anything is possible. Regardless, wherever we are the support continues and it’s a fine achievement to have an average home crowd of circa 15,000. Let’s hope we move back up sooner, rather than later. That’s what we all want and the club and city deserve success.

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} There are 32 amateur cyclists taking on the Big Pompey Ride challenge - a 300-mile cycle from York City Football Club to Fratton Park, which will take three-and-a-half days to complete from April 29 to May 2.

The start point for the challenge was decided by the Football League’s fixture list - whichever team Pompey would face for the final home game of the season would be where the team would cycle from.

Organiser Tom Dearie said: “This ride builds on a similar challenge we did last year - 20 Pompey fans who met through football and on Twitter decided to cycle from Fratton Park to Bury FC in time for Pompey’s final away fixture.

“We raised more than £20,000, and though part of the money we raised went towards the Pompey Supporters’ Trust share ownership in Portsmouth Football Club, we were all cycling in memory of Jack Robinson, a four-year-old boy from Denmead who sadly died from a brain tumour before we started our ride and a large portion of the fundraising went to three groups close to Jack’s parents’ hearts.

“Our Ride2Bury challenge was so successful that we just had to do it again. But this time we have 12 more riders, we’re raising money for seven local charities and an eighth that will be chosen by York City FC. We also have a bigger target - we want to raise more than £30,000 this year.”

The training will now start in earnest. All the cyclists have a range of abilities - from triathlon coaches and Ultra runners through to people who haven’t cycled for years.

Fundraising will also step up a gear between now and the event. Fareham coach firm Lucketts Travel Group have agreed to donate a coach to get the cyclists up to York, while Howdens Joinery Co has agreed to be the main ride sponsor. Brilens Custom Clothing has agreed to provide hoodies and T-shirts, and there will be a range of merchandise designed by one of the riders, Neil Hardcastle.

“We are looking for support from any company that might be able to help us out with two minibuses,” Dearie added.

“We have qualified drivers for them, and they are needed to ensure the riders have the support team they need to be able to complete the 300-mile cycle in safety and relative comfort. So, as well as businesses that can sponsor a rider for £250, if any company can help with our minibuses we would like to hear from them.”

Around 200 people attended the launch, including charity representatives, Pompey players Michael Poke and Joe Devera, Portsmouth Football Club chief executive Mark Catlin and board member Ashley Brown.

To donate, see bigpompeyride.co.uk and click on the donate page.

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} You work with lots of different clubs across lots of different sports, so how did you first get involved with Pompey?

I had a connection with Anna Mitchell. I worked at Gloucester Rugby Club when Anna was on the commercial team there, and when

she came to Portsmouth she invited me down here. I met Mark and the team, went to a match, and was impressed with the set-up and the fans. I like that the club is owned by the fans because it stabilises the set-up. I bought crowd facing boards, pitch facing boards, LED screen and programme rights, and I entered into a three-year agreement with Portsmouth and started seeking local independent businesses to showcase their services to the ground. } How has the partnership with Pompey been going so far?

It’s been fantastic. I love it down here. I love the area, the people are great and they love

STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEWS P O R T I N G A D S

the club. They’ve been through turbulent times, but I see absolute loyalty. } Do you think there are any particular benefits from being associated with Pompey?

Pompey is well placed geographically for a start. The club can offer that independent service, so Portsmouth was certainly on

my radar because of the location. Geographically they’re well positioned, which is an important point for an advertiser as their catchment area is a wide catchment area. The advertisers have two different perspectives, they either go for a branding exercise, and reinforcing their brand, or they go for the content. } How are things going at Sporting Ads?

They’re going fantastically well . We’re getting more clubs and adding them to our portfolio, and we’re moving to our

TOM WHITE INTERVIEWS CHRISTIAN CLAYTON, THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER AT SPORTING ADS

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I LOVE THE AREA, THE PEOPLE ARE GREAT AND THEY LOVE

THE CLUB

THE CHAIRMAN AND THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ARE CONTROLLING AND

REPRESENTING THE CLUB THE WAY IT SHOULD BE, FOR

THE FANS

new offices. I enjoy what I do and I have fun doing it . I enjoy meeting the advertisers, and I’m interested in what they do and whether I can help them to enhance their business. Sporting Ads is going from strength to strength, and I’m always looking for new sports to come on board. Women’s football is on the way up and interests me. } As you work with summer sports and winter sports I presume you have to be quite organised?

I have to plan ahead with my scheduling. Scheduling is a key part of my business. The rugby union season traditionally

starts in September and goes through to May, the Super League is from the end of January to the end of October, cricket is April to September, and the football season is August to May. So I have to plan, because all the advertisers will want their boards in at the start of the season so I have to schedule in accordingly what I ’m buying in. The end result that I get for the advertiser is a prominent position in the programme or on the board with a captive audience, and they’re getting their brand out there with the association of a great club. } Are there any new projects going forward?

I ’m going to the USA and having a look at some of the stadiums there. I have a good feeling because there’s a massive

untapped market there. } Are you optimistic forward?

I think if you always have a smile on your face, are positive in everything you do, and love what you’re doing, you’re

normally a winner. If you have those basic ingredients in anything you do in life, in any job, you normally win at it . } Do you think things have changed at Pompey since the fans bought the club?

I think the club’s in good hands; Anna’s great for the club, she knows what she’s doing and makes good commercial

decisions. Like any club though, it ’s all about success on the pitch. This is probably a Championship club, but if you went to the Premier League and had a bigger ground it would take off. This club is a sleeping giant.

} Could the community club model be the way forward for football?

Definitely, 100 per cent. I absolutely love it and I think more clubs should follow suit. The chairman and the board of

directors are controlling and representing the club the way it should be, for the fans. That’s the whole point of the club, and I’m a great supporter of that philosophy. } Is there anything else you would like to add?

Sporting Ads has a great relationship with the club, and who knows what the future may hold for Pompey if they go

on to better things.

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} You’re the main sponsor of Pompey’s Academy, so what made you want to get involved with the Academy in the first place?

SW I’ve been supporting the Academy for probably three years now. It started back when the club were

having severe problems. It looked like the Academy could be folded and I didn’t think that was right. Myself and one of the other directors decided that we would fund new tracksuits and one of the kits, and it’s continued from there. We weren’t going to get too heavily involved this year, but we had a meeting with Anna Mitchell and this year we’ve done a bit more and done all the shirts for all ages.

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} Chester 0 Pompey 1 on the final day of the 1980-81 season will be remembered by very few given it was a meaningless end of season encounter as the Blues ambled in at sixth place for their first season back in Division Three following their first ever exile in the basement.

Years later the mundane nature of this contest actually brings home the significance of today’s play-off system when you realise that in comparison the game might have been etched on the memories of every Pompey fan alive at that time.

For in different circumstances the win would have edged Pompey into the play-offs along with Charlton, Huddersfield and Chesterfield with the 2,153 gate at the now defunct Sealand Road that day doubled, maybe even trebled.

David Gregory, whose 80th-minute goal signed off the meaningless encounter and season, would have been seen as a hero. The goal would have been seen as equally heroic, and the campaign would have extended another month leaving Pompey two matches from Wembley.

How did we ever get on without the play-offs? Well as it happens we got on like this with meaningless encounters long forgotten and containing no memories.

For a first season back this was by no means a bad effort though many were disappointed by the eventual finish, which again the play-off scenario would have allayed at least temporarily.

Therefore for the highlight of this particular season we had to uncharacteristically, in Pompey’s case, look to the League Cup which consumed us over seven mostly enthralling matches.

After accounting for fellow third division side Plymouth over two legs in the first round Pompey did the same to second division Oldham.

It should be noted that absolutely nothing has changed over 35 years. The first leg at Boundary Park which Oldham won 3-2 drew a crowd of 5,251. The second leg at Fratton Park which saw Pompey triumph 1-0 drew 18,548.

1980-81S E A S O N

They triumphed by virtue of away goals on an emotional night courtesy of Joe Laidlaw at one end and keeper Peter Mellor at the other who I will return to later as one of the main subjects in this article.

Meanwhile it was then on to Bristol Rovers where Pompey fans present can claim the unique honour of watching a Rovers v Pompey clash at Bristol City’s Ashton Gate – in a goalless draw.

Come the replay, legs being only for the early rounds, it was already known that the winners of this would travel to domestic and European giants Liverpool, which set the scene for another emotion-soaked evening under the lights at Fratton Park.

Cue another 18,000-plus crowd who roared Pompey on, and when Steve Perrin’s 90th-minute clincher added to David Gregory’s early opener the roar could probably be heard on Merseyside.

I’ve often thought that the Perrin goal and the guy himself deserved more prestige all these years later such was its importance and significance at the time. But like Gregory’s at Chester it’s very much finding the person who still remembers it when the Liverpool match is ever discussed.

A game where the ticker-tape welcome resembled a snowstorm in which half the 32,000 crowd must have been Pompey fans present in every area of the ground barring the Kop.

I will always remember the trip to Liverpool in a bittersweet kind of way. On boarding the special at Havant my 20 cans of lager were confiscated then nicked from a siding at Lime Street by the time I got back.

Getting back was indeed problematic in itself. On the trek from Anfield to Lime Street, roughly three miles, I was jumped by a set of Liverpool fans who emerged from the top of a bus. They were pretty gentle with me but it wasn’t long before I realised my wallet had gone.

A 4-1 defeat with no alcohol and now no money had not been my

15

planned itinerary for the day and looking back it was a mercy that it came before the age of the credit card when I could have potentially lost a little more than the £20 within, though this was not an insignificant amount in those days.

When the wallet arrived back through my letterbox a few days later in an envelope with a Liverpool post mark I was hugely excited on discovering the content within.

It had been sent back by Liverpool City Council who had found the wallet in their car park and were alerted by a medical prescription inside carrying my name and address. Obviously the thief had either not seen any great need for a month’s supply of penicillin or been hit by a pang of conscience.

Humbled by the thought that someone generous and thoughtful enough actually existed in Liverpool to pay the second class stamp and return the wallet I opened it to discover that any pang of conscience had not run as far as four £5 notes, which had been replaced by one worthless written note which simply said: “Thanks mate.”

And so to Peter Mellor the distinctive blonde keeper who like most could be either brilliant or embarrassing.

My first recollection of him was collecting his sticker for a soccer album many years before when he was at Burnley.

I was at the 1975 FA Cup final when he twice spilled the ball into the path of Alan Taylor to present West Ham with a 2-0 win over Fulham at Wembley.

Only two weeks previous to that he had been in action against Pompey in a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage on one of those enjoyable spring afternoons down by the River Thames.

Little could I imagine back then that he would become part of my most audacious project which came in Peter’s first season at the club when I was on one of those government courses for the unemployed at Chichester College.

We each had to devise a social media project and I decided to interview Peter Mellor even though I’d never met him up close.

The easiest thing might have been to contact the club but as the weeks went by with this unresolved and the completion date coming closer I decided to pull a bit of a stroke.

When I was a kid I used to mimic radio interviews where I would be both the interviewer and interviewee.

I decided that I could easily mimic the Lancastrian tones of Mellor so my project consisted of me asking question, then me giving answers in a different voice.

“So Peter, how are you enjoying your time at Pompey?”

“Well Johnny it’s been great, this is a fantastic club with great supporters,” (spoken in a deep Manchester accent).

It sounded quite authentic to me after about the tenth attempt but come the

time of playing it back to the whole class and tutors it sounded far less so.

As it boomed out on my Sanyo cassette recorder the size of a large transistor radio I really wanted the ground to open as I stared downwards throughout.

The Manchester accent was probably slightly less convincing than the plan itself which to me sounded exactly what it was. Me interviewing me.

Nothing was said but the plot thickened a week or so later when I was called to a meeting with one of the course supervisors who was from outside the college.

It was a Scottish guy called Jim O’Kane who unbeknown to me had another position which can you believe was assistant to Stan Harland who was Pompey’s youth coach. You couldn’t make it up.

Years later I got to know Jim really well but back then he just told me that perhaps the course wasn’t for me and six months before the end of it at Christmas 1978 I departed.

Who knows whether he had in the meantime asked Mellor himself about the interview, it will remain one of the things I will never discover as by the time we did become acquainted some 20 years later Jim had forgotten the incident or indeed my existence at Chichester College.

Neither did it close there. Towards the end of the season and into the summer my sister’s June wedding was coming closer onto the horizon.

Imagine my surprise when she announced that the man she was hiring a white Rolls Royce off for the occasion was no other than Pompey’s keeper.

Among the many side-lines he had Mellor also ran a car hire business so I went over to his West Wittering home with the bride to be.

It will always go down in history as the first Pompey player’s house I ever went inside and as he offered me a beer from the fridge I couldn’t escape the irony of the situation.

There I was sitting in a house and drinking the beer of a man whose soccer sticker I had proudly stuck in my album aged ten and then made the unwitting subject of a bogus interview aged 19. What a truly marvellous web life can weave.

It was actually the first and last time I saw Peter Mellor as he would depart Pompey usurped by a certain young keeper called Alan Knight who I wasn’t too sure about back then.

1980-81 had been a season where I found myself £20 and 20 beers lighter, short of penicillin, ousted from a government-sponsored course, sat in the house and white rolls of a Pompey player who I had used in a plot of subterfuge, and experienced an enthralling League Cup campaign.

If only they had invented the play-off system it would have put the icing on a season of vast extremes.

BYGONE BLUESJohnny Moore looks at Robert Prosinecki’s contribution to Pompey

HE MAY HAVE BEEN PAST HIS PRIME WHEN HE CAME TO POMPEY, BUT THAT ONLY SERVED TO SHOW WHAT A PLAYER ROBERT PROSINECKI MUST HAVE ONCE BEEN.

Appropriately for a compulsive chain smoker, the Croatian maestro lit up Fratton Park with his virtuoso displays.

When he arrived at Fratton Park, Blues chairman Milan Mandaric – a personal friend – declared: “This is my gift to Pompey fans.”

And what a gift it was as the man who made football at the top level appear preposterously simple, found Division One to be child’s play.

Since 1986, the midfielder had turned out for a litany of top European sides, beginning at Dinamo Zagreb and moving on to the likes of Red Star Belgrade, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla and Standard Liege.

Prosinecki was also an icon on the international stage and is the only player to score in the World Cup finals for two different nations – Yugoslavia and Croatia. He represented the former at Italia 90 and the latter at Euro 96 and the World Cups in 1998 and 2002.

Those 1998 finals in France saw Croatia emerge as a surprise package, reaching the semi-finals and taking the lead against the hosts before bowing out with a 2-1 defeat. Prosinecki was then on target in a 2-1 triumph over the Netherlands in the match to decide third place.

All that and much more made him a marquee signing for Pompey – even if he was the wrong side of 30.

But there were strong rumours at the time that Mandaric’s gift was not totally appreciated by manager Graham Rix (the same applies to Japanese goalkeeper Yoshi Kawaguchi, who arrived later in the season to add to the cosmopolitan feel at Fratton).

Prosinecki’s debut was as a 74th-minute

ROBERT PROSINECKIDOB: 12/01/69POSITION: MIDFIELDERPOMPEY CAREER: 2001-2002POMPEY APPS: 35POMPEY GOALS: 9

THE MAN-OF-THE-MATCH STOOD WITH HANDS ON HIPS AND A LOOK OF ‘WHAT MORE CAN I DO?’ PLASTERED ACROSS HIS FACE

substitute in a Division One home defeat to Bradford. He started the next game, but this was even less inspiring – a 2-1 loss to lower league Colchester in the first round of the League Cup.

However, he soon began to weave his magic and after netting a winner from the spot at Stockport, the playmaker was pulling the strings in a 4-2 victory over Grimsby on the south coast.

A first Fratton strike soon followed as Crystal Palace were beaten and Pompey began to click. After an indifferent start to the campaign, they went six games unbeaten and plundered 14 goals in the process.

Prosinecki was a perfect foil for strikers Peter Crouch and Mark Burchill, who were very much the benefactors of his architecture.

The Croatian’s drag-backs and subtle passes to change the direction of a game were certainly befitting of a much higher stage.

This was brought into sharp focus during a February home match against Barnsley when he mesmerised the Yorkshire side and helped himself to a hat-trick.

Pompey led 4-2 with just six minutes remaining, having dominated proceedings thanks to the enigmatic Prosinecki.

They somehow contrived to draw 4-4, however, and at the final whistle, the man-of-the-match stood with hands on hips and a look of ‘what more can I do?’ plastered across his face.

He did last the season, playing at Manchester City on the final day, by which point Harry Redknapp had replaced Rix in the dug-out.

It was certainly a turbulent campaign – and Prosinecki was involved in the embarrassing 4-1 FA Cup defeat to bottom tier Leyton Orient. But having played just one season – in which he netted nine goals – at Pompey, the biggest compliment is that many fans will, without hesitation, name him in their best ever Blues side.

And that is because Robert Prosinecki was a diamond that shone brightly from the mediocrity.

18

} I have to start this column with a confession.

When I made the trip to Adams Park with three mates to watch Pompey play Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday, January 31, I wasn’t particularly optimistic.

The Chairboys were top of League Two going into the match, while Pompey went into the game in 18th place after earning just three points from their previous eight league games.

Regardless of those rather depressing statistics, the four of us were determined to enjoy our day and make the most of it.

We arrived in Wycombe in good time, about two-and-a-half hours before kick-off, and set about finding a hostelry to quench our thirst and sample the pre-match atmosphere.

By luck we stumbled upon the away-friendly Hour Glass pub, which already contained a healthy number of Pompey fans.

After getting our drinks we managed to find one of the few remaining tables in the pub and discussed our thoughts ahead of the match, as well as what the best way would be for Pompey to line-up to give themselves the best possible chance of going home with something from the match.

Such is modern life and the joys of social media, the pub was full of chatter at about 2pm as the team news for the match emerged.

It’s fair to say Andy Awford had surprised the majority of Pompey’s fans at the pub by opting for a 3-5-2 formation, with six changes made from the 2-1 defeat at home to Southend United on the previous Saturday.

Josh Passley made his debut at right wing-back after arriving on loan from Fulham just two days before the game, while Ben Chorley, Jack Whatmough, Dan Butler, Danny Hollands and Ryan Taylor also came into the side.

The Blue Army were in full voice in the Panache Stand, and Awford’s players responded with an excellent first-half performance.

TOM WHITE’SVIEW FROM THEFRATTON END

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The Blues played some of their best football of the season and sliced the Wycombe defence open on numerous occasions in the first 45 minutes, but they were unable to find the goal that their impressive play undoubtedly deserved.

Matt Tubbs had the two best opportunities, but he was unable to net his first Pompey goal as he was denied by a committed block by Wycombe defender Aaron Pierre and a fine save by home goalkeeper Matt Ingram.

Wycombe’s best chance of the first half was when Joe Jacobson’s shot cannoned off the Pompey crossbar.

At half time the chatter was about how well Awford’s side had played and how the Blues deserved to be in the lead.

Pompey had the wind against them in the second half and were unable to reach the heights of the first 45 minutes, but they were comfortable throughout as Wycombe created very little.

Some home fans decided they had seen enough and decided to leave early, much to the amusement of the vociferous Blue Army.

Pompey then comfortably saw out the last few minutes of the match to claim a hard-fought share of the spoils.

The players made their way towards the away

THE BLUES PLAYED SOME OF THEIR BEST FOOTBALL OF THE SEASON

AND SLICED THE WYCOMBE DEFENCE OPEN ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS IN THE FIRST 45

MINUTES, BUT THEY WERE UNABLE TO FIND THE GOAL THAT THEIR

IMPRESSIVE PLAY UNDOUBTEDLY DESERVED

end at the end of the match and received plenty of applause from the appreciative travelling support.

With long queues in the car park getting out of the ground, the four of us decided to have a post-match pint (soft drink for the designated driver) after the match in the Scores Bar at the ground.

After we finished our drinks it was time for us to hit the road and head home, and we were more than content after a thoroughly enjoyable away day.

21

} Standing in the terraces at Wycombe with not nearly enough layers on in the freezing conditions got me thinking how much I have missed away games.

Since the glory days of our Premier League years, I perhaps haven’t travelled round the country watching the boys in blue as much as I could have done. That isn’t to say I only followed Pompey on the road when we were at our peak of success, heading away to university followed by travelling and now work

J O S H S W E E T M A N ’ S

POMPEYC H A T

BUT LOW AND BEHOLD, MATT TAYLOR PROVIDED THE GOODS TO SECURE A REPLAY, WHICH SOON AFTER WAS FOLLOWED UP BY A FAMOUS 1-0 WIN IN

THE REVERSE FIXTURE

commitments have put an end to an away day jolly every two or three weeks.

Adams Park was the first of this season, and Newport was the only ground I made it to last year after returning from watching England get battered in the Ashes on the other side of the world, but I stood there as the final whistle blew the other week desperately cheering a 0-0 stalemate.

As we hit the road to head back down south, I thought to myself that you would never get that reaction from Pompey fans after a league game. Nobody likes to travel a long distance to see their team lose. They want a well-earned three points; a battling performance to justify the effort that they made to make it to the opposition’s ground.

I’ve seen the success of beating Aston Villa 3-1, Birmingham 2-0 and Wigan 2-0 during the 2007/08 season, but I have also been up to Hull to watch

22

a bore 0-0 draw, summing our luck up as a last-gasp Hermann Hreidarsson header bounce back off the post. Not to mention James Beattie scoring twice and then flaunting his celebrations in front of the away end at Stoke. Much like Pompey in the past few years, there have been plenty of ups and downs.

Like everyone, I remember my first ever away game. February 15, 2004, my grandad surprised me with tickets to Liverpool away in the FA Cup, and while not being able to hold my excitement, I didn’t hold much hope.

The thought of a successful away day and my first taste of a game outside of Fratton Park soon hit rock bottom. I will spare you the gruesome details, but having suffered from travel sickness when I was younger, the journey to the game wasn’t the greatest I’ve ever experienced.

But low and behold, Matt Taylor provided the goods to secure a replay, which soon after was followed up by a famous 1-0 win in the reverse fixture.

I had the bug, and through the years I tried

to visit as many grounds as possible. There was Bolton away, when £5 brought me a match ticket and coach travel thanks to Pompey’s free travel initiative.

Then there was Southampton, the arch enemy, in the FA Cup. There is no need for me to tell you the scoreline, it is etched in every fan’s memory, but it was one of the only games I couldn’t get tickets to, despite being a season ticket holder.

I remember being bitterly jealous that my brother was offered a ticket from a friend, and rather than stand in the away end at St Mary’s stadium taunting our rivals as Jamie O’Hara smashed in the fourth to secure a cup quarter-final against Birmingham, I was watching someone who I would later go on to play football with celebrate our last goal by doing the worm across a pub floor.

I couldn’t believe I had missed out on such a great away day, but would it stop me going to the next one, of course it wouldn’t. There is something different about an away day, an excitement that you just don’t get when at Fratton Park, and even though we have enjoyed just one league victory on the road since August, my enjoyment of playing at the opposition’s ground will never change.

25

AWAYD A Y S

Accrington Stanley v PompeySaturday March 7, 3pmSky Bet League Two

Ground: Store First Stadium (The Crown Ground), Livingstone Rd, Accrington, Lancashire, BB5 5BX

Capacity: 5,057 (2,000 seated)

Away End: The Coppice Terrace

How to get there by car:

You should take the M275. You should then follow the M27 and M3 to the Winchester by-pass. Take the A34 in Winchester. Ensure that you take exit 9 from the M3. When past Winchester and in Oxfordshire, you should get on the M40. Continue on the M40, then take the M42, M6 and M65 to Dunkenhalgh Way. Take exit 7 from M65. Take Blackburn Road/A678 and Whalley Road/A680 to Livingstone Road in Accrington. For Sat Nav users, the postcode is BB5 5BX.

THERE WILL BE TOLLS ON THE JOURNEY!

There is car parking of a reasonable size at the ground which is free, however it fills up relatively quickly. Otherwise street parking is the other option.

Travelling by train:

From any Portsmouth stations, it would take six hours and 54 minutes to get to Accrington. It would require three changes which are at London Waterloo, London Euston and Preston. It is a very expensive journey on the train. It will cost £116.80 for an open return without a railcard. With a railcard, it will cost £77.10.

The train station is roughly a mile away from the Crown Ground, so a taxi could be a wise idea. Where to drink?

There is a club bar at the ground, however that is strictly for home fans to use only. The nearest pub is the Crown which is just directly behind the ground and welcomes all sets of supporters. The Crown is possibly the best place to go for a quick pint before the game as it is so close.

Hotels:

All hotels and guest houses are on the ‘Late Rooms’ website.

JOE ATKIN PROVIDES DETAILED INFORMATION ON POMPEY’S UPCOMING AWAY GAMES

Northampton Town v PompeyTuesday March 3, 7.45pmSky Bet League Two

Ground: Sixfields Stadium, Northampton, NN5 5QA

Capacity: 7,653 (all seated)

Away End: South Stand

How to get there by car: In order to get to Northampton, you must firstly get onto the M27. Take the M27 and A34 to A43/B430 in Oxfordshire. Take the A43/B430 exit from the M40. Continue on to the A43 until you meet Northampton. At Northampton, Sixfields is signposted a number of times and so is the ground. The postcode for Sat Nav users is NN5 5QA.

*There is a relatively large car park opposite the stadium that away fans tend to share with home supporters. The price of the car park is usually £4. The only downside for this is that on popular games the car parks get full quickly. On the way to the ground on the opposite side of the road is a car parking area called ‘Duston Mill’ which costs £2.

Travelling by train:

From all Portsmouth stations, it would take around three-and-a-half hours to get to Northampton station. The ticket prices for an open return without a railcard would cost £59.20, whereas with a railcard it would cost £39.10. The journey will require two changes. These will be at London Waterloo and London Euston.

The train station is about two miles from Sixfields stadium. A taxi would be suitable or if you fancy a nice gentle 15-20 minute walk to the ground then that is also doable.

Buses are also another possibility. All Daventry buses beginning with D, such as the D2 and the D3, will take you to the ground. The 22 also brings you directly outside of the stadium.

Where to drink?

Northampton is a very suitable area for fans who have spare time on their hands before a game. Built around a leisure complex, there is a lot for fans to do. There is a McDonald's, KFC and Pizza Hut around the area, and there is also a TGI Friday’s and a Bella Italia. In my opinion the best place to go would be Sixfields Tavern. A friendly vibrant place to eat and drink before a game, with a good atmosphere.

Hotels:

Just opposite the ground behind TGI Friday’s there is a Travelodge which usually offers rooms at good prices for away fans.

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