Heaven's light issue 6 by Official Pompey

THE OFFICIAL DIGITAL MAGAZINE OF PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB

HEAVEN’SLIGHT EDSPACE / WHAT POMPEY MEANS TO ME / OUT OF THE SHADOWS STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW / JOHNNY MOORE / TOM WHITE / TICKET NEWS

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CONTENTS 05 Edspace 07 What Pompey Means To Me 09 Out Of The Shadows

11 Stakeholder Interview 14 Johnny Moore 18

Tom White

25 Ticket News DESIGN The Graphic Design House, www.tgdh.co.uk Designers Chris Dale, chris@tgdh.co.uk Andrew Sanders, andy@tgdh.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY Colin Farmery, SJ Maskell, Tom White, Matthew Sankey, Simon Hill, Pompey Press, The News

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AN EVENTFUL 201314 SEASON IS ALMOST OVER FOR THE BLUES, WITH JUST SATURDAY’S DOCKYARD DERBY AGAINST PLYMOUTH ARGYLE AT FRATTON PARK REMAINING

} Welcome to the May edition of Heaven’s Light. An eventful 2013-14 season is almost over for the Blues, with just Saturday’s Dockyard Derby against Plymouth Argyle at Fratton Park remaining. This issue of Heaven’s Light is packed with news about life off the pitch at Pompey. There is an out of the shadows feature on Pompey security guard Martin Radford, a stakeholder interview with OneCom’s Jonathan Coleborn, another one of Johnny Moore’s favourite years and the latest ticket news. There is also a new column which I have written about my view from the Fratton End, and my first column looks at the appointment of Andy Awford as caretaker manager. 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 Guy

THERE IS ALSO A NEW COLUMN WHICH I HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT MY VIEW FROM THE FRATTON END, AND MY FIRST COLUMN LOOKS AT THE APPOINTMENT OF ANDY AWFORD AS CARETAKER MANAGER 05

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W H AT D O E S

POMPEY MEAN TO ME?

ALAN MCSWIGGAN, 28, FROM FAREHAM TELLS

TOM WHITE WHAT POMPEY MEANS TO HIM

} Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I’m a student. I’ve gone back to education as I’ve had a career change and I’m now studying to be a primary school teacher. I’ve got two children and they drew me to teaching. If it wasn’t for them I don’t think I’d be in this position now. Alongside that I’m a carer in the community as well.

} What does Pompey mean to you? It’s part of my lifestyle and I look forward to Saturdays. I do a week at college and I’m itching for Saturday to come round. Pompey is part and parcel of who I am.

} Can you remember when you started supporting Pompey? The first match I went to was on December 28, 1993. Pompey played against Bolton Wanderers and it was 0-0. It was the worst game of football I’ve ever seen in my life. My grandad took me and the only thing I remember was everyone singing and clapping, and that’s what made me keep coming back.

} Do you have a highlight from your time supporting the club? Winning the FA Cup is an obvious one. It was something that I didn’t think I was ever going to see in my lifetime. My grandad went to the 1939 final, and I listened to all his stories and thought I’d love to experience that. But then it actually happened to me and I’ve never seen anything like it. I also remember the 3-2 win against Leeds in the FA Cup at Elland Road in 1997. And then you’ve got a 3-1 win at Bradford City on the last day of the

season to stay up and a 3-0 win against Barnsley on the last day of the season to stay up. } Do you have any favourite players? At the moment I like Jack Whatmough, I think he’s phenomenal. His positional awareness and his reading of the game is brilliant. I used to like John Aloisi, he was up there. Johnny Lager (John Durnin) I liked because of his character. Alan Knight was my role model growing up as I wanted to be a goalkeeper. I also remember Adrian Whitbread, who was a no nonsense old school centre-back.

} Do you have any favourite goals? Pedro Mendes’ winner against Manchester City is up there. I also remember Steve Claridge’s goal in 1999 against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round, when we won 1-0 at their ground.

} How did you feel when the Trust bought the club? I loved it. I remember I was in Tesco’s in North Harbour shopping. I was checking the Twitter feed on the Portsmouth News from Neil Allen and Emma Judd. I remember when it was all signed I was so happy. It doesn’t matter to me what division we’re in as long as we’re stable. I think the Trust have done well and they’ve listened to the fans.

} What are your hopes for the future for Pompey? I’d like to see us back in the Championship, but all I want is for us to be debt free. As long as my children have got a team to support in the future that’s the main thing.

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OUT OF TH E

SHADOWS POMPEY SECURITY GUARD MARTIN RADFORD TA L K S TO S J M A S K E L L

} Martin came to work at Pompey by chance and a bit of cheek. While working as a security guard in Cascades he was asked to accompany the FA Cup to the Pompey shop there. He asked if there was a job going. Within a week he was working at Fratton Park. His first job was to escort the FA Cup on a round of community visits. “I haven’t looked back since,” he smiles. “I love working here; the staff and players are all a good laugh. No two days are the same.” Martin’s working life has been in security; he started on naval contract work and went on to the container port where his high-level first aid training was much in use. “You would turn up to find a bloke holding his hand up in the air with his finger still under the container,” he recalls.

I LOVE WORKING HERE; THE STAFF AND PLAYERS ARE ALL A GOOD LAUGH

He has good memories of the Premier League days; Peter Crouch and David James in particular were down to earth and friendly, always willing to talk to staff and fans. He says it was the staff here that gave Peter his ideas for ‘pulling the rope’ in that infamous goal celebration. A life-long Pompey fan, Martin has been coming to Fratton Park for 25 of his 32 years. He now sits with his four-year-old son in the North Stand Lower if he isn’t working on match-days, as well as going to away games. Some match-days he works in the police box monitoring the CCTV. During the week the CCTV is fed to the security office at the Fratton End entrance. Martin’s main job is to monitor activity in the ground and to check access and egress. He is the first port of call for all emergencies. He works four 12-hour shifts a week as part of a seven-man team providing 24-hour security cover for the ground, 365 days a year. He has noticed changes this season. “There is an influx of younger fans,” he says. “You see them coming down after school to buy their tickets. The kids are getting the vibe and there is an urge to support the team. “I enjoy meeting people, helping people. Sometimes they just turn up to take photos of the ground and we let them in if we can.” Martin clearly has ‘the Blue spirit.’ In the last six years he has taken two pay cuts. “I stuck it out because I love the club and if me taking a pay cut helps the club ... It’s sort of like a second family that you don’t want to lose.” He looks out across the ground as we leave his office. “I’m here to look after it,” he says.

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STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW JONATHAN COLEBORN T O M W H I T E I N T E R V I E W S J O N AT H A N C O L E B O R N , O N E C O M’S S E N I O R B U S I N E S S D E V E L O P M E NT M A N A G E R } Your head office is based locally in Whiteley, so was that one of the reasons why you decided to sponsor Pompey? The founders and owners of the business are both loyal and long-term Portsmouth Football Club fans. Our chief executive officer Darren Ridge (pictured on page 13) was born 400 yards from the stadium, and Aaron Brown, who is our chief operating officer, is also an avid Portsmouth fan and regularly attends the games with his family. We have been involved in partnering with Portsmouth Football Club in one form or another for more than 20 years, so for us to have the opportunity to partner with the club this season was

a no brainer due to that heritage and our commitment to the club. We’re proud to be the official telecommunications partner for Portsmouth Football Club this season. Being a local business and also owned by Portsmouth fans, it was an ideal fit for our business. } Have you noticed any changes since the fans bought the club? We’ve found the club to be more accommodating and welcoming, certainly in the corporate lounges. It definitely feels like the club has opened its doors to us as sponsors. There is an open dialogue with the club and we enjoy

the partnership benefits. The support from the home fans is vociferous, and certainly the passion that is shown on match-day was one of the main attractions, as well as the fact that it’s a communityowned club. We have facilities in both the Partners Lounge and the Montgomery Suite, and we’re working with the club to generate more income for the Trust via a promotion called OneCommunity. For all new customers to OneCom who are also Pompey fans, we will donate £50 per new customer who joins into the fund. We’ve already raised £33,500 so far, and John Westwood recently signed up. } Have you found any particular benefits from being associated with Pompey? We’ve used the Partners Lounge to host and entertain our existing clients who are fellow Portsmouth fans. We have also used the partnership as a tool to network with fellow sponsors of Portsmouth Football Club, sponsors of visiting teams and prospective new clients alike.

We’ve actually been invited by other sponsors of visiting clubs to attend their home match against Portsmouth, so that’s been really good for us. So for corporate entertainment it’s been very beneficial and has helped generate new opportunities. On the OneCommunity side we’ve found that the Portsmouth fans we’re talking to are so passionate and loyal that they will do anything they can to help the club, so they share our goal. Not only do they get a fantastic tariff and save money, it generates funds for the club and it’s helped us grow our client list. You could say it’s a win, win, win. } How are things going at OneCom? Well thank you. We’ve just opened OneCom House, which is our new head office in Whiteley where we will house our senior management team and our 70 customer service staff. We manage more than 200,000 mobile connections and employ more than 300 staff across offices in Camberley, Brighton, Plymouth, Leeds, Telford, Southampton, Norwich and

Serving Pompey since 1912

Located in the heart of Portsmouth, The Shepherds Crook is Pompey’s No1 pub with a vibrant and lively atmosphere. We’ve always got the match on as well as regular live music events, pub quiz and meat raffle each Sunday and lots more things to keep you all entertained, plus great value beers! Keep up to date with what’s going on by visiting us online. If you’re looking to hold your own special occasion, then come and celebrate with us. Our friendly team will make sure your party goes off without a hitch and you can relax and enjoy yourself!

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Edinburgh. Further expansion is planned and we continue to strengthen our position as the biggest independent business to business Total Communications provider in the United Kingdom. We’ve recently acquired several key corporate clients and we continue to build on our long-standing loyal relationships with existing customers and through product diversification. Business for us is buoyant, group turnover should be £50 million this year, and our company colours are blue and white.

IT DEFINITELY FEELS LIKE THE CLUB HAS OPENED ITS DOORS TO US AS SPONSORS

} Are you optimistic going forward? The market is always competitive, but we feel through our investment in our new customer service centre in Whiteley, and our unique service ethos, we’re able to stay ahead of the game. Our industry is ultra-competitive, however we continue to differentiate ourselves through our bespoke Total Communications offering.

} Are many of your employees Pompey fans and what would you say about the fans? In the Whiteley office there is a core Portsmouth following, and as we sponsor the club there is certainly an affinity with our staff that support Portsmouth. The fans are some of the most dedicated, loyal, vocal and diehard fans around. We find that our business clients that visit us on a match-day are always taken aback by how passionate the support is here.

} Do you think the community club model could be the way forward? With the new Financial Fair Play regulations it’s certainly something which clubs may look to consider. Whether they have the diehard support of a club like Portsmouth remains to be seen. I think potentially if it does happen at other clubs it will mean that they’re certainly better managed and better run from a financial perspective. Whether or not it will work as well as it has here, remains to be seen.

} Is there anything else you would like to add? We’d love it if every reader could visit www.pompeyonecom.co.uk and give us a call and help raise some more money for the club.

WE HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN PARTNERING WITH PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS 13

1972-73 S

} If you judged every season by what happened on the field anyone around for the 1972-73 season would probably take one momentary glance and move on. In précis Pompey finished in 17th place in the Second Division, were knocked out of the League Cup in the second round by minnows Chesterfield and went the same way in the third round of the FA Cup against fellow divisional colleagues Bristol City. It was also a season where Fratton Park recorded to that date its lowest ever league attendance of 4,688. Those staying away were the lucky ones as a match against Middlesbrough ended with a total of 40 free kicks but no goals and precious little threat of one.

seats over the other side in the South Stand which were far more expensive. On top of this among people I didn’t know Pompey came running from the tunnel, now directly under us, in blue shirts and white shorts. Admittedly they were not changes designed to disturb the Richter scale but to someone like me they were earth shattering. Just the other day someone described me as ‘habitual’ and yes I am very much a creature of habit and if the 70’s had forever stayed the 70’s and I had forever stayed 12 years old, I would have happily gone along with that status quo.

A season that began with a 0-0 draw at Nottingham Forest and ended with a 2-0 defeat at already-relegated Huddersfield which just about sums the campaign as a whole up.

If I’m honest the thought of unknown change and disruption frightens me. Rather than me seeking and embracing change, it has to come along and forcibly drag me with it.

Yet it was one of those personal seasons where changes were happening and where I realised that things didn’t stay the same however much I wanted.

Usually when comfortable in this new set of circumstances I am once again like a pig in the proverbial until the next need to move on comes upon me.

Three months previously I had bid farewell to an underachieving team who finished 16th after a last day 2-1 defeat against Burnley.

Not till I was 30 did I take any active steps to initiate change to a life spiralling out of control but generally I am more comfortable to be led.

As always they had left the field on that last day in their traditional all royal blue with blue, red and white piping on shirt, shorts and socks as my dad and I had left our equally traditional North Stand Upper seats.

In my formative years sitting in that North Stand seat watching Pompey in all royal blue was all I had ever known.

The summer was always a great source of irritation to me as a three-month oasis stretched ahead so I gave the pitch and my seat one last look in the knowledge of being back.

Never mind that the South Stand seats were far superior or that blue and white had been Pompey’s traditional FA Cup winning, league championship strip for 54 years from 1912-1966.

Among people around me I had come to know and even if you didn’t always like them all there was that comforting air of familiarity.

It was all about what I was used to in my own private existence and all this was a shock to the system until it became the norm.

Yet come August 1972 I knew different. My dad had swapped our North Stand Upper seats for the posh red

One thing among all the changes that stayed constant was the quality of results and performances on the field.

Yet when I look at games throughout the season I can dramatically pinpoint events that depicted more changes going on around me. For instance we arrived at the opening home fixture against Cardiff straight from Butlins in Bognor where my dad and I had spent a week. The first time I’d ever been there or anywhere like it. The following Saturday as Pompey were beating Millwall 2-0 at The Den to temporarily go top of the league, me, my mum and my best friend went to the Isle of Wight for another holiday. I remember it well because at the holiday camp we ironically met some older Millwall fans, including one who had a romance with my best friend’s sister also on the holiday.

IT WAS ONE OF THOSE PERSONAL SEASONS WHERE CHANGES WERE HAPPENING AND WHERE I REALISED THAT THINGS DIDN’T STAY THE SAME HOWEVER MUCH I WANTED

At the bingo on that opening night we taunted them from afar with Pompey’s result and taunted them more closely as the week went on and we became more familiar. I have this talent for minute detail and to this day I remember his name was John Jolly which is some coincidence given that the referee at Millwall that day was one Edward Jolly. For some weekends after our return John used to come down to Havant and sleep on our lounge floor, we even swapped Christmas cards for a few years. Then his romance with my best friend’s sister ended as quickly as it had begun and I saw him no more though to this day I wonder what he became, and initially missed him like the older brother I’d never had. I also remember a 1-0 home defeat by QPR on November 25 because my dad wasn’t with me and had given his seat to my uncle. The reason was that he had gone to purchase our first ever family car, a blue Ford Escort registration KPX 641J. Again a registration I have etched in memory till this day.

These subtle changes, new holiday places, new friendships happened quite naturally rather than being thrust on me, so much so that I didn’t understand it till things moved on once more. They all signified things happening for the better and again I had to go with them and eventually enjoyed them as there was no other choice. A season where there was an uncharacteristic 5-0 win at Preston followed three away games later by a 5-0 loss at QPR. Earlier in the campaign Pompey had played a rare league fixture against Brighton at Fratton Park. As my grandparents lived in Lancing my uncle watched the Sussex side and I too as Pompey were usually away. I never had any kind of affinity for Brighton but watching them pitted against Pompey at Fratton Park was a new experience. Especially as within their side they had Brian Bromley and George Ley who I had watched in the all royal blue strip of Pompey. Yet more change and transformation to adapt to. And I can remember staying at my grandparent’s house when Pompey returned to the Goldstone on the Easter Monday. Making the same walk across Lancing Park to the station that we always made but for the very first time as the foe, not the friend, and with my Pompey silk scarf tied round my neck, and butterflies within. And then this thoroughly unspectacular season long forgotten by most was at an end. And though there are fond memories of my North Stand seat to this day as my first home I had equally come to love the South Stand and become familiar with the people around me. Until one day I stumbled by chance upon the Fratton End and another chapter was upon me.

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TOM WHITEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S

VIEW FROM THE

FRATTON END

} With the appointment of Andy Awford as caretaker manager until the end of the season my time supporting Pompey had come full circle. Awford was in the team for my first game, a 1-1 draw at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday, March 13, 1999. That game was full with Pompey connections, with former Blues striker Lee Bradbury, who later returned to the club for a second spell, opening the scoring for the Eagles in the third minute. Michalis Vlachos was sent off in the second half, but Guy Whittingham rescued a point for ten-man Pompey with an 89th-minute equaliser. Despite having only just turned eight years old at the time I can still remember the roar when Guyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s equaliser went in, and from then on I was hooked. Awfs was a regular in my first few games supporting the Blues, until a knee injury cut his career short and he was forced to retire when he was only 28 years old. His last professional game for the club had been a 1-1 draw at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday, November 4, 2000. A lot has happened to Pompey since Awford retired, with promotion to the Premier League, winning the FA Cup and going on a European tour followed by three relegations and two periods in administration.

A lot has happened to Awford too, who has been Academy manager at the club at a time when the likes of Adam Webster, Jed Wallace and Jack Whatmough have progressed to the first team. But here we are more than 13 years later with Awford in caretaker charge of the team, assisted by Alan McLoughlin, who also started my first game, and another former Blue in Paul Hardyman. These three men all appreciate what Pompey is about and what the fans expect, and equally the fans know all about them.

THESE THREE MEN ALL APPRECIATE WHAT POMPEY IS ABOUT AND WHAT THE FANS EXPECT, AND EQUALLY THE FANS KNOW ALL ABOUT THEM

I was fortunate enough to be among the 1,200 travelling Pompey fans for Awford’s first match of his current caretaker spell in charge, the 2-1 win at Newport County. In the first half the Blues produced some of the best football I have seen them play this season, but as well as an accomplished performance on the pitch that day the atmosphere generated by the travelling Pompey fans was also impressive. There was one period in the second half when ‘Andy Awford’s blue and white army’ was sung continuously for what felt like a good ten minutes.

to the party to make it two wins out of two for Awford. The encouraging results have continued with a thumping 4-1 victory at Dagenham & Redbridge, a 3-2 win at home to Bristol Rovers, a 1-0 win at Northampton Town and a remarkable 4-4 draw at Bury. With the upturn in performances and results on the pitch and the strong bond between Awfs and the fans, the board decided that Awfs deserved to be the new permanent manager of Portsmouth Football Club.

With Awford, McLoughlin and Hardyman in charge of the Blues it felt like there was a genuine bond between the fans and the management team. That momentum continued a week later for Awford’s first home game of his current caretaker spell in charge, the 1-0 win against Hartlepool United. Before the match Awfs had asked for a wall of noise from the Pompey fans, and had cited the classic 1-0 win against Stockport County on Tuesday, February 17, 1998, which has gone down in Blues folklore. The fans certainly delivered on the day, producing the best atmosphere at Fratton Park this season, while the players also came

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