Heaven's Light Issue 13 January 2015 by Official Pompey

THE OFFICIAL DIGITAL MAGAZINE OF PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB

HEAVEN’SLIGHT EDSAPCE / 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 17 Bygone Blues 18

Tom White

21 Josh Sweetman 25 Ticket News DESIGN The Graphic Design House, www.tgdh.co.uk Designers Leigh Griffiths, leigh@tgdh.co.uk Andrew Sanders, andy@tgdh.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY Colin Farmery, Tom White, Sasha Burford, Pompey Press, The News

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MY COLUMN LOOKS BACK AT A DRAMATIC 2014 FOR POMPEY, AND EXAMINES HOW 2015 HAS STARTED AT FRATTON PARK

} Welcome to the January edition of Heaven’s Light. Firstly, I’d like to wish a Happy New Year to all of our readers. As usual this edition of Heaven’s Light is packed full of news about life off the pitch at Fratton Park. My column looks back at a dramatic 2014 for Pompey, and examines how 2015 has started at Fratton Park. We also have a column from Josh Sweetman about his biggest regret so far from his time supporting the Blues. This issue also contains an out of the shadows feature with Kelvin Silvester, who manages the premises at Pompey’s new training ground at Roko Health Club, a stakeholder interview with Graham Cole and Sean Welling of ANA Treatment Centres, another one of Johnny Moore’s favourite years and the latest ticket news. 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

THIS ISSUE ALSO CONTAINS AN OUT OF THE SHADOWS FEATURE WITH KELVIN SILVESTER, WHO MANAGES THE PREMISES AT POMPEY’S NEW TRAINING GROUND AT ROKO HEALTH CLUB 05

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W H AT D O E S

POMPEY MEAN TO ME?

TOM HEMBER, 23, FROM PORTSMOUTH TELLS TOM WHITE WHAT POMPEY MEANS TO HIM

} Can you tell us a bit about yourself? I had a season ticket from the 2000-01 season to the 2008-09 season. I didn’t have one for the last year of the Premier League, and then I went to the University of Brighton for three years to study Sport Journalism. I didn’t have a season ticket last season, but I got one again this season.

Premier League. I remember my dad said to me ‘this will be us next year’ and I thought there was no chance, and then a year later we were watching Pompey win 5-0 at Bradford City on the last day of the season. After years of watching us just stay up we’re at Bradford and we’re passing them off the pitch. West Ham away in the year we just stayed up was another highlight. We won 4-2.

} What does Pompey mean to you?

} Do you have any favourite players?

It was my childhood. Every Saturday I’d go with my dad, and it gripped me. I wasn’t one of these kids that would sit in front of games consoles; I would constantly be playing or watching football.

Robert Prosinecki is definitely up there. He’s the first person I saw that was so much better than everyone else and really stood out. I love Steve Claridge. He was a local hero who scored goals.

} Can you remember when you started supporting Pompey?

} Do you have any favourite goals?

My first game was at home to Bury on a Tuesday night, and I remember moaning about being cold. My dad thought I wouldn’t want to go back, but from then on I made him take me whenever he could. One of the first games that I remember is Swindon away on a Boxing Day. It was freezing cold, and I absolutely loved it and wanted to keep going. I got a season ticket when Tony Pulis was in charge and watched people like Scott Hiley. I also remember going to Fratton Park when Aaron Flahavan died, and looking at all the flowers that were in the goal. } Do you have a highlight from your time supporting the club?

Nottingham Forest away in the season we won the Championship is a highlight. Matt Taylor and Vincent Pericard scored and we won 2-1. Before that whenever I went away with my dad we’d usually lose. We went to Manchester City on the last day of the season when they had already been promoted to the

Matt Taylor’s goal against Everton. It’s not every week you see someone hit a volley from just inside the opposition’s half. Steve Stone against Manchester United when we won 1-0 in our first season in the Premier League is another favourite. } How did you feel when the Trust bought the club?

I remember when the game at Hull City was going to be our last game, and it just didn’t seem real. Clubs get relegated all the time and come back up, but you don’t see a club fold out of nowhere. When the fan takeover was completed all of that had come to an end and we had people in charge who cared about the club. } What are your hopes for the future for Pompey?

Obviously I want us to go up, but for me the club being debt free is almost as good as promotion. I think the Championship has got to be the long-term aim. If we get there I’d be happy.

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OUT OF TH E

SHADOWS

MAINTENANCE MANAGER KELVIN SILVESTER TALKS TO TAYLER WILLSON } “This is the just start of better things to come at Portsmouth Football Club,” maintenance manager Kelvin Silvester tells me, when I question him on how things are going since the club began training at Roko. Andy Awford’s side have been at the Hilsea-based training facilities since the back-end of last year. Kelvin described it as a “work in progress” but admitted he was delighted with how it has gone thus far. “It’s going great. We’re taking each day as it comes. We’re aiming to make it [Roko] the players’ second home. It’s where they train, it’s where their gym is and it’s where they eat.” Kelvin joined the club as maintenance manager of both Roko and Fratton Park in August last year, and even admitted that he wasn’t really into football when he first arrived. “I have to say, Pompey really has rubbed off on me. I’m passionate about the club now and I’m passionate about football - which is a bit strange, but a nice feeling to have. I’ll be honest, I didn’t really like football when I joined!” Despite being office-based at Fratton Park, maintaining both the stadium and Roko requires Kelvin to be both contactable and available almost all of the time. “I’m always in close contact with Andy Awford,” he explained. “If he ever wants anything doing, I jump and get it done. The players are the most important thing in the club, yes, but every member of staff at the club makes a great team.”

Kelvin’s arrival too, with small things like doors and windows being replaced and repaired, when they’d been neglected in the past. He confirmed that this would continue until he’s 100 per cent happy – because he’s a perfectionist, by his own admission. “There are plans in place with regards to improving the ground, because that’s what it’s all about. We’re a huge club, but our ground is dated. Our training ground is nearly there and now it’s time to get our home ground sorted too. “I’m a handyman myself, I’ve been brought up to fix things and that’s what I’ll continue to do until this place is up to standard. I’m a perfectionist! “We’ve done a great job so far, but this is the just start of better things to come at Portsmouth Football Club.”

WE’VE DONE A GREAT JOB SO FAR, BUT THIS IS THE JUST START OF BETTER THINGS TO COME AT PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB

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STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW

ANA TREATMENT CENTRES TOM WHITE INTERVIEWS FINANCE DIRECTOR GRAHAM COLE AND FACILITIES MANAGER SEAN WELLING Established in 1998, ANA Treatment Centres are located in Farlington, near Portsmouth. ANA offer detoxification and treatment for reliance on drugs and alcohol, and tailor programmes to clients' needs, listen to them and their loved ones, and support them to begin a lifelong recovery free from addiction. ANA are experienced in dealing with the challenging prospect of coming into treatment and make clients feel welcome, looked after and taken care of. ANA also work with eating disorders, gambling problems and online addictions. ANA is for anyone, and the fees reflect this. ANA have one of the highest success rates in the UK, and their philosophy is 'treatment in the real world'. Aftercare and post-treatment counselling are also available, and ANA also offer sessions for families, loved ones and carers. Visit www. anatreatmentcentes.com for further details.

} What made you want to get involved with Pompey in the first place? We’ve always seen ourselves as being linked to the city. ANA Treatment Centres were founded in Southsea, and our founder, Libby Reid, is from the area, so it seemed like a natural link. When we were made aware there was an opportunity it seemed like the next step for us. The organisation is growing, and it seemed like a good way of putting us out there in the community. Although we’re local and do a lot of work with people from the area and out of the area, a lot of people aren’t aware of us or what’s available, so it was a good way of raising awareness and giving something back to the city and the club.

} Do you think there are any particular benefits from being associated with Pompey?

You can’t de-mystify what we do in an advert in the programme or a sign at the back of the stand, but what we are trying to get over is that everyone may know someone who could be affected with addiction issues, and it’s alright to ask for help. The work we do in treatment for people who have addictions is very much about social inclusion. It can happen to anyone, and we see ourselves very much as 'treatment in the real world'. The treatment is the important thing, that’s what’s going to change people's lives and help them do things differently.

} Do you have a steady level of people looking for help or does it vary?

In the last 12 months I would say it’s been quite steady. It’s become more acceptable for people to seek help.

} Do you have a wide range of people from different backgrounds who seek treatment?

We've had clients who could be living with parents, home owners or of no fixed abode, and successful professionals who are in crisis, up to other professionals who have issues at work. So addiction doesn’t pick and choose. Clients all come as a result of different things. They haven’t become addicted to whatever the substance is for the same reason, they’ve all got their own reasons why they couldn’t cope with the world they were in and needed to take something that would help them cope. } Have you noticed many changes over the years?

While the underlying therapy is very similar, the organisation itself has changed drastically. It started in Southsea with one or two councillors and one or two clients, and it then grew. About seven years ago we moved to a wonderful facility in Farlington; Fleming House, while still retaining the buildings in Southsea, which enabled us to expand the programme, employ more people and deal with more clients. The programme is constantly rolling, so there will always be people at the start, middle and end of the programme. It’s also become more regulated, and the Care Quality Commission regulates us.

} And the organisation has a range of different programmes doesn't it?

SW 12

The programmes is an eclectic mix of conventional therapies, coupled with

A LOT OF PEOPLE AREN’T AWARE OF US OR WHAT’S AVAILABLE, SO IT WAS A GOOD WAY OF RAISING AWARENESS AND GIVING SOMETHING BACK TO THE CITY AND THE CLUB relaxation therapies and music therapies. It’s about tailoring the programme to the needs of the client, because some clients will respond to a certain style of therapy, while others need a more direct approach. So it’s about giving the clients a chance, and we underpin our programme with the 12-step programme. We give support therapy, then we look at health and wellbeing, and then we’re looking at life skills and reintegration. } As social inclusion is part of what you do, do you think community ownership could be the way forward for football?

I think it works. It's definitely a plus that the fans get that involvement and feel that they have a say. I’m glad the club has managed to get through to this point because I think the city would have been poorer without the club.

THE TREATMENT IS THE IMPORTANT THING, THAT’S WHAT’S GOING TO CHANGE PEOPLE’S LIVES AND HELP THEM DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY

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

SW 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.

1981-82 S

} If I tell you the highlights of the 1981-82 season were a pig’s head, a plastic pitch and Preston Prison then you would rightly assume that not a lot happened on the pitch. It was one of several seasons that seemed as unspectacular at the time as looking back on it years later. A series of forgettable games back then, let alone remembering now. To set the backdrop Pompey finished 13th in the old third division, never in the slightest danger of either going up or down. They drew 19 games, which was just short of half a season. Ten of those draws coming at Fratton Park, which accounted for nearly half the home games as well.

writer and fan Steve Bone on Twitter. It was the first away game of the season at Preston on a boiling hot August day when our minibus pulled outside a pub near Deepdale and bang opposite the local prison which overlooked the pub garden. Given the heat we stood in the garden where cell windows were all open with young prisoners hanging their heads out to hurl abuse when they realised where we were from. It didn’t improve their mood much when pints of beer were raised in their direction as an indication of our freedom and their incarceration.

And that was just in the league. It was all pretty predictable from the very beginning with an uninspiring 1-1 home draw with Lincoln and continued in that fashion right to the bitter end where the final game brought an equally uninspiring 2-2 draw at home to Millwall when for 90 other clubs the league season had ended. If it all sounds pretty undramatic believe me it was. It was a malaise reflected by attendances which by that final home game against the Londoners had dropped to 4,902. Even the notorious hooligans of the time had been caught up in the general apathy and couldn’t be bothered. Though that might have been exacerbated somewhat by a ticket ban for away fans, and the fact it was on the Friday night before the cup final. It kind of summed the season up that Pompey’s slumbered on six days after everyone else. Like a slow train going nowhere in particular. At least the FA Cup tie against them a few months before had drawn in excess of 10,000 but gates generally failed to peak much over 7,000 and a few times dipped well below. Funnily enough my mind was jogged back to this time by fellow

As the rounds of drinks increased the taunts from some of our crew became a little more personal re their immediate families and cut quite near to the mark. Needless to say it was the incarcerated who were getting the little more wound up out of the two groups by the end of the exchange. They just had slop out to look forward to while we were heading for another pub. I think that was our group’s parting taunt. Till very recently I had been convinced that the game itself had been played on a plastic pitch, which was the subject of my Twitter discussion with Mr Bone who disparagingly disproved my belief with hard facts. In a way it maybe shows how utterly unmemorable the season and this game was given that my memory was playing tricks and creating illusions. The reality was they didn’t actually install plastic till later. Pompey lost the game 1-0 and the heat, the prison exchange and the fact Tommy Docherty was their manager are my abiding memories of the day and game.

And given the passing of time I’m a bit worried that perhaps along with my plastic pre-occupation this might all have been a dream. If it were it was not the kind of dream I would have been disappointed to awaken from. There were one or two other memorable highlights such as a League Cup draw at QPR that October which most definitely was on a plastic pitch. On our coach was a guy called Ray Tindall who worked in the Mr Butch butchers in Havant which was run by his brother.

EVEN THE NOTORIOUS HOOLIGANS OF THE TIME HAD BEEN CAUGHT UP IN THE GENERAL APATHY AND COULDN’T BE BOTHERED

He actually got on the coach with a giant pig’s head which somehow they smuggled into Loftus Road when security was far more lax than now. They had no end of fun with it, which was about the only to be had amidst a 5-0 thrashing on plastic.

came in mid-February with a 5-1 thrashing of Chesterfield and a Billy Rafferty hat-trick.

But even the inanimate boar had become thoroughly bored by the time the fourth goal rattled in and made his escape never to be seen again.

Then there was a 3-0 home victory against Swindon with a Jeff Hemmerman hat-trick, by which time manager Frank Burrows had made way for Bobby Campbell.

There was actually an interesting QPR line up of future Pompey coaches that day with John Gregory, Terry Fenwick and Gary Waddock all in the line up and Terry Venables in the dugout.

It was also the season when Pompey beat Southampton 2-1 in the Hampshire Professional Cup semi-finals in front of just over 6,000.

In these days the League Cup was played over two legs which made the return match at Fratton Park as meaningless as the league campaign. And guess what? It ended a 2-2 draw with current Pompey assistant coach Waddock sent off for chopping down Leigh Barnard.

The players were as uninspiring as performances, with luminaries such as Alex Cropley who came with an injury prone career and after ten games unsurprisingly quit through injury.

The home FA Cup third round meeting with Millwall, where there was more action off the field than on it, also ended in a 1-1 draw making it 21 stalemates for the season. Pompey’s interest in the FA Cup ended four days later at The Den, after yet another drawn game in 90 minutes, with a 3-2 defeat. Perhaps if one game epitomised the season it was the goalless draw at home to Bristol Rovers on Boxing Day.

Brian Bason made nine appearances on loan from Crystal Palace and his performances were as ineffective as the team. There was a spurt from March as the team contrived to only lose once in the final 13 games but by then most had been battered into submission as gates slid to 6,000 and then 4,000. On casting my mind back to where it all began that season I found myself wondering whether the inmates of Preston Prison had in fact had the last laugh. Nine months of incarceration must surely have been more fun than slow torture.

With the Christmas football programme decimated by the weather Match of the Day turned up at Fratton Park and left 84 minutes of a dire encounter on the cutting room floor. These days I can’t even remember, if ever I did, what happened in those six other minutes. At this stage maybe Match of the Day should have known what to expect as this made it 24 goals in 23 games for the home side who followed it up in the next home game with a 0-0 draw against Southend. Looking on the bright side things might have been worse. Up at Chester come mid-January they had yet to win at home. That was until Pompey turned up and presented them with their first to become one of two clubs who held the shame of losing at Sealand Road come the end of that season. Even in such seasons as this there were exceptions and Pompey’s

BYGONE BLUES Johnny Moore looks at Bill Thompson’s contribution to Pompey

return of Dickinson for the final two away fixtures, Thompson remained in the side.

BILL THOMPSON WAS ARGUABLY THE MOST PRICELESS UNDERSTUDY TO EVER PULL ON A FOOTBALL SHIRT.

He showed his versatility by appearing at both left-back and centre-half in 3-2 defeats at Arsenal and Manchester United – the only time that season that Pompey lost successive games.

The Scottish defender made 42 appearances over seven seasons, never playing more than 15 games in any one campaign – hardly the most overwhelming statistics. But in being in the right place at the right time to replace the cream of the crop in some of the most vital matches in the club’s history, he was up there with the best. Born in Glasgow, Thompson joined Pompey from Carnoustie in 1946 as a versatile player who could – and would – play anywhere along the back-line, although his favoured position was left-half. There was one major sticking point, of course – that was the regular spot for the immortal Jimmy Dickinson. The fact he had to wait almost three years before making his debut will tell you all you need to know about the patience of the man, as well as the unerring consistency of ‘Gentleman Jim’. Even back then, having to wait that long would have driven most beyond distraction and through the exit door. However, patience was indeed a virtue and it must have been worth its weight in gold when Thompson made his bow in place of the injured Dickinson in the final home game of the 1948/49 campaign. Huddersfield were the opponents and Pompey had already been confirmed as champions following the previous week’s victory at Bolton.

THOMPSON’S GOALS – THE ONLY ONES HE WOULD EVER NET FOR POMPEY – PROVED PARAMOUNT AS THEY WON THE TITLE WITH A GOAL AVERAGE OF 1.947 Field Marshall Montgomery was at Fratton Park to receive the championship trophy and history had been made. There cannot be many who waited that long for their debut, only to make it for the league champions. The hosts triumphed 2-0 thanks to goals from Duggie Reid and Ike Clarke and the biggest compliment was that, despite the

BILL THOMPSON DOB: 10/08/21 POSITION: DEFENDER POMPEY CAREER: 1946-1953 POMPEY APPS: 42 POMPEY GOALS: 2

Thompson would return to Highbury when he deputised for Reg Flewin against FA Cup winners Wolves in the Charity Shield, which was shared following a 1-1 draw. Frustration followed as he played just eight games the following season, each time as a replacement for either Dickinson, Flewin or Jimmy Scoular. But his finest moment was yet to come. With Pompey needing to win handsomely at home to Aston Villa in order to retain the title, they were dealt a huge blow with the loss of striker Clarke through injury. Cometh the hour, cometh the man as Thompson – who had never played up front in his life – led the line. There was a fairytale start as he fired the Blues ahead from 35 yards with just 20 seconds on the clock and then added another in a 5-1 triumph. With rivals Wolves beating already-relegated Birmingham 6-1, Thompson’s goals – the only ones he would ever net for Pompey – proved paramount as they won the title with a goal average of 1.947, compared to Wolves’ 1.551. Over the next three campaigns, he would play 30 matches before departing for Bournemouth in 1953. But Thompson returned to Fratton Park in 1961 for a brief spell as caretaker manager following the dismissal of Freddie Cox and then assisted new boss George Smith. Upon learning of Bill’s death on Boxing Day 1988, one fan summed up his contribution perfectly with the words: “That man gave me the best day of my life.”

TOM WHITE’S

VIEW FROM THE

FRATTON END

} 2015 is a new year which presents new possibilities for Pompey. And if it’s anywhere near as dramatic as last year then it will be another interesting 12 months at Fratton Park. At the start of 2014 Richie Barker was Pompey manager, and the team were training at the University of Portsmouth’s Langstone campus. The Blues struggled for the first few months of the year, and as the club slid towards the relegation zone Barker left the club in March. Enter Andy Awford. Awfs took over the side on a caretaker basis with seven games of the season left, with Pompey in 22nd place and just two points above the relegation zone. Awford’s reign started with a dramatic 2-1 victory at Justin Edinburgh’s Newport County, with Ryan Taylor and Jed Wallace on target for the Blues. Pompey followed up their Rodney Parade success with a 1-0 win at home to Hartlepool United, a 4-1 win at Dagenham & Redbridge, a 3-2 win at home to Bristol Rovers and a 1-0 win at Northampton Town. The Blues rounded off their season with a 4-4 draw at Bury and a 3-3 draw at home to Plymouth Argyle, as Awfs earned 17 points out of a possible 21 to lead Pompey to a comfortable 13th-place finish.

Awford was appointed Pompey’s permanent manager before the Plymouth game, and if anybody thought there was going to be a quiet summer at Fratton Park they were wrong. In May Pompey announced a deal for a new training ground for the first team at the Roko Health Club site on Copnor Road, and in June Awfs launched an ambitious fanfunding campaign with Tifosy to raise £250,000 in two months for two academy training pitches at the new training ground. While some people doubted that the ambitious scheme could be pulled off, Pompey’s fans showed their tremendous support again and

AWFS TOOK OVER THE SIDE ON A CARETAKER BASIS WITH SEVEN GAMES OF THE SEASON LEFT, WITH POMPEY IN 22ND PLACE AND JUST TWO POINTS ABOVE THE RELEGATION ZONE

raised an astonishing £270,000.

which offered plenty of hope.

There was also plenty of transfer activity at Fratton Park in the summer, with the likes of Paul Jones, James Dunne and Craig Westcarr all joining the club.

The Blues then played their first home game of the year against Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink’s high-flying Burton Albion and earned a creditable 1-1 draw.

Pompey started this season as they finished the previous one, earning ten points out of a possible 12 from their first four league games.

Paul Robinson and Matt Tubbs have both signed permanent deals at Fratton Park since the start of the year, and they will be aiming to play their part in a successful future for the club.

The Blues drew 1-1 at Exeter City on the opening day of the season, before winning 2-1 at home to Cambridge United, 2-0 at home to Northampton Town and 1-0 away to Oxford United to sit in second place in the League Two table. Since then it’s fair to say Pompey’s results were consistently inconsistent for the rest of the year. As a general rule the Blues impressed at Fratton Park but struggled on the road. Pompey won six, drew two and lost three of their first 11 home league games of the season, but only won one, drew five and lost six of their first 12 away league games of the season. The first team moved into their new training ground at Roko Health Club before the end of the year, and the Blues finished 2014 with a battling 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road against John Still’s high-flying Luton Town. 2015 started with a controversial 1-0 defeat at Rodney Parade against Newport County, although Pompey did produce an encouraging performance

JOSH SWEETMAN’S

POMPEY C H A T } Ask any football fan far and wide what their biggest regret is since they started following their local football team, and I can guarantee you will get a mixture of weird and wonderful answers. Some will fill the heart with laughter, and some will leave you in disbelief. Those who have a great story are always the first to tell their long tale, a story that can be shared over a pint in the local. For myself, my biggest regret ever since I started following the boys in blue is

HAVING GIVEN MY BROTHER MY SEASON TICKET, I REMEMBER SITTING WITH MY HEAD IN MY HANDS IN BETWEEN A ROUND OF PAINTBALLING

slightly embarrassing. If anyone asks me what it is, I try to play it down as if it isn’t a big deal. Now I pride myself, like the majority of Pompey fans, on following the club through thick and thin. Through the good times and the bad, through FA Cup success and administration. There have been many proud moments in the last decade, most famously the Pompey Supporters’ Trust’s successful bid to take control of the club, but my tale goes back to the Premier League years. Saturday, September 29, 2007, a certain home game against Reading. There is no need for me to beat around the bush, we all know what the famous score was. Unfortunately, I decided to go paintballing for a mates birthday instead of attending the game. Having been a season ticket holder since I was a nipper, I have always made an attempt to attend a game.

If someone was trying to arrange a social outing during a Fratton Park fixture, I simply rejected them. When I was at the University of Brighton, I would be back every weekend for a home fixture, regardless of whether it would interfere with my studies. I remember once, on a sunny Sunday in 2008, my Sunday League match went into extra time. With Pompey set to take on Tottenham in the early kick-off, my lift had turned up and I was ready to leave after 90 minutes. In the end, I played through the pain of thinking I may miss the game and haggled a lift to the game, still fully dressed in my football kit. Five minutes after kick-off, I made it to my seat looking like I was ready to take the place of Sol Campbell or Sylvain Distin should they suffer an injury. But that fateful game against Reading will always haunt me. The highestscoring affair the Premier League has ever seen, and I missed it. It summed

my luck up straight away. Having given my brother my season ticket, I remember sitting with my head in my hands in between a round of paintballing. I thought to myself, I’m here being splattered by paintballs, leaving my body black and blue, and 20,000 lucky fans are witnessing history. The situation was made worse by a friend, who I had asked to text me any goal updates. Expecting a few, getting 11 in total was not what I envisaged. I felt so bad I reckon I was close to tears. With no internet on my phone, I had no way of telling if it was a wind up or not, a quick call home confirmed my worst fears. I had missed out on the most entertaining game of Pompey’s top-flight stay, and I hate to admit it to anyone, as usually they were lucky enough to be there. Now, whenever the Fratton End starts bellowing “we want seven” in a high-scoring affair, I’m usually the one desperately screaming the song, keen to see it for the first time.

TICKET

NEWS Home Matches Pompey v Southend United Saturday January 24, 3pm Sky Bet League Two Tickets are on general sale Pompey v Hartlepool United Saturday February 7, 3pm Sky Bet League Two Season ticket holders/shareholders: Monday, January 26 (10am) General sale: Wednesday, January 28 (10am)

IMPORTANT NOTICE Any supporters who attempt to enter Fratton Park with a concession ticket (individual match ticket or season ticket) for which ineligible will face instant removal from the ground. Their ticket will be confiscated and there may be a further ban from attending matches. Please ensure you are in possession of the right ticket before travelling to the match to avoid any embarrassment on arrival. If there is a problem with your ticket, please contact the ticket office as soon as possible. Supporters buying concession tickets to away games are strongly advised to take proof of age identification. Failure to do so may mean they will have to upgrade to the adult price on arrival, or they may not be admitted to the ground. DATES AND TIMES OF ALL GAMES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Pompey v Tranmere Rovers Tuesday February 24, 7.45pm Sky Bet League Two Tickets are on general sale and those bought for the original date are still valid

Away Matches

How To Buy Tickets Tickets to Pompey matches can be bought from the Frogmore Road ticket office, by calling (023) 9277 8559 or online at tickets.portsmouthfc.co.uk

Home Matchday League Prices 2014/15

Wycombe Wanderers v Pompey

Adults: £20 Senior (60+)/Young Person (17-22): £15 Junior (U17, unaccompanied): £10 Junior (U17, accompanied by an adult): £5

Tickets are on general sale

Adult is aged 23-59 on September 1 2014. Senior is aged 60 or over on September 1 2014. Young person is aged 17-22 on September 1 2014. Junior is aged 16 or under on September 1 2014. Adults/seniors/ young persons in the Family Section must be accompanied by a junior. Accompanied junior tickets not available online.

Saturday January 31, 3pm Sky Bet League Two

Ticket Prices Adult: £18 Senior (60+): £14 Young Person (19-25): £12 Junior (8-18): £9 Child (U8): £5 Coach Prices Adult: £18 Child: £10 Supporters buying concession tickets are advised to bring proof of age identification with them to the game. Official coach travel can be bought from Lucketts Travel in Fareham, by calling 0845 389 0644 or online at www.lucketts-holidays.co.uk

Opening Times Monday-Friday: 10am-5pm Non-match Saturday/Sunday: Closed Matchday Saturday: The ticket office will be open between 11am and 3.30pm for upgrades/enquiries only. On matchdays, tickets can be bought from the ticket kiosks behind the Fratton End which are open between 11am and 3.30pm. Collections can be made from main reception.

Contacts Phone: (023) 9277 8559 Email: tickets@pompeyfc.co.uk Disabled Liaison Officer: Allison McNeil

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