A COMMUNITY CLUB

A COMMUNITY CLUB

By Mat Killeen

Football is by far the most popular sport in England.  Historically, what this has meant is that the football club would be at the heart of the community.  For one south-coast club however, this has taken on an all-together new meaning.

Two-time English league champions, Portsmouth, have seen many changes in their 118-year history.  From being the longest reigning FA Cup champions in English football history during the 1930s and 40s to administration in 2012, the club has now stabilised and looks to plot their root back up the footballing pyramid.

The club currently resides in Sky Bet League Two, the bottom tier of the English football
 league system.  This is not the first time the Blues’ have been this low, having spent two seasons there in 1978/79 and 1979/80.

In the last few years, the club has suffered with severe financial trouble coinciding with several changes of ownership.  This led in 2012, to the Portsmouth Supporters’ Trust launching a takeover bid.  This was successful and saw Pompey take it’s place in an exclusive group of football clubs in England to be fan-owned.

A member of the PST, Colin Farmery, reflected on the attitude taken by the group to buy the club saying: ‘For the community bid to buy the club, the key thing we had to do was break the link with the past.  The bid recognised that if Portsmouth were to thrive in the

 future would need to lose the debt because anybody who bought the club in the future would always be hamstrung by it’.

Most of the work done by the new owners of the club in the past three years, has taken place off the field.  This has seen some re-development of their Fratton Park home, along with a new training base being opened in the heart of the city.  Along with the clearance of the past debts, this has allowed the club to start laying the foundations upon which to build for the future and their potential rise back through the leagues.

I asked Colin, a Pompey fan since 1970, where he saw the club going in the future.  He said: ‘I very much see our goal as getting Portsmouth back to the Championship.  This would put Pompey back where they have been for the majority of the last 50 years’.  Farmery described Portsmouth as a ‘top-flight aspiring club’, not one which is there every season, but one which, if it dropped to the third or fourth tier, would still get on or upwards of 15,000 fans for home matches.

Another subject that has been prevalent in the club’s recent history, is that of physically where they would be playing their football.  There have been a few plans down the years of possible moves, one of which would have seen the club relocate to the harbour-side.  None of these came to fruition however, and the club has remained at it’s home since 1890.  Asked whether this might change in the future, Colin said: ‘You never say never.  For the best past of 50 years, people have been trying to find a new site for a stadium’.

But of course, a community club is more than just what happens surrounding the first team.  It is about how young players have the chance to progress through the system and how other sections of society are provided the opportunity to participate in football.

Among the notable graduates from the Portsmouth Academy in the past, include Scotland international Matt Richie, Marlon Pack, Jed Wallace, Dan Butler and current Pompey first-team member, Jack Whatmaugh.

Another element of the community nature of the club is the women’s team.  Portsmouth FC Ladies, who were founded in 1987 and currently ply their trade in Women’s Premier League South Division.  Among the team’s successes are 10 Hampshire Cup victories, the most recent of which came against Basingstoke in 2016, and twice league winners in 2011/12 and 2014/15.

Before the 2016 Hampshire Cup final, now ex-manager, Perry Northeast, offered an insight into how the team had progressed during his three years in charge.  He said: ‘In my three years in charge, last season was the magical one.  We won the Southern Division on a very limited budget and produced some great young players’.  Northeast also paid tribute to the role the Football Association had played in helping to develop women’s football saying: ‘The FA have been the drivers.  They have been drawing a lot of funding from Sport England, which has gone into the female game.  They have also driven clubs to ensure that their professionalism and the level of capital being invested, is high to ensure the game is sustainable.’

Despite the positives, it has not all been good for the south-coast outfit.  When the Women’s Super League was launched in 2010, clubs had to apply to be awarded a franchise in the new division.  Pompey were unsuccessful in their bid to join the now top division.  The club also failed to gain promotion after losing out in a play-off after winning the PLSD in 2014/15.

When asked how he thought the club could progress over the next few seasons, Northeast commented that he thought it was all about what the club did off the field.  He highlighted the coaching system at the club which supported a good on-field set-up.  He said: ‘If Portsmouth do this they could be in the Super League in five years and Champions League within 10 years’.

The link between the men’s team and the women’s team is not based on financial support, as it is with some of the bigger teams, but there is support offered by the men’s team where possible.  However, they both play their role in ensuring the brand of Portsmouth FC is one which has strong links with the community, and one that knows it’s limitations and how best to cope with these.

It is clear to see that on all sides, the ambition is there to ensure that whether it is the men’s team or the women’s team, they achieve their full potential.

Photos by : Dave Taylor