I am a life long supporter of Portsmouth Football Club. I have been going to Fratton Park since the age of 8. I have seen Promotion, I have seen relegation, I have seen FA Cup success and I have seen European Football.
However what we are witnessing now is something very different. Fighting for survival, half full stadiums, diminishing atmosphere. It has all changed and at a drastic pace.
I was at Fratton Park on a cold Tuesday night not too long ago. We were hosting Brentford. The game was dull, I began to look round. Empty seats everywhere, the chants were whisphers of what it used to be like. We were known as the loudest, the most passionate fans in the country once. Now I look around and it saddens me. At £15-£20 the tickets still aren’t cheap, especially for the quality of football. You can almost sit anywhere you please. There used to be a time when you had to be a season ticket holder to get to these games, to see our beloved Portsmouth. Those days are gone.
2008, I was at Wembley for the FA Cup final as we beat Cardiff. King Kanu scored. Our team that season had the likes of David James, Glen Johnson, Sol Campbell, Sylvain Distin, Lass Diarra, Sulley Muntari, Niko Kranjcar, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch. We had Harry Redknapp at the helm, times couldn’t have been better.
The next season we welcomed AC Milan to Fortress Fratton Park in what was the UEFA Cup (At this point we had Tony Adams in charge). We were 2-0 up after goals from Kanu and Kaboul. Ronaldinho then graced the pitch. After a wonderful free kick by the man himself and a late equalizer from Inzaghi the score ended 2-2, better than any Pompey fan had expected.
We went on to finish mid table that season in the premier league. This is where it started to all go wrong.
Owner after owner, manager after manager.
Here we are at home to Brentford (which we went on to lose 1-0). I think now it has now come to the point where I don’t care what league we are in. I want players playing in blue to want to play for Pompey.
It’s time for these greedy businessmen to leave OUR football club. It’s time for the fans to take control. It’s time to restore the pride back into our city and into OUR Portsmouth Football Club. Play up Pompey and back the supporters trust!
@TaylerWillson