Considering I now live in Portsmouth, it’s surprising that I haven’t already covered Fratton Park on this website. However, better late than never, so here’s the latest fact file.
Tenants: Portsmouth Football Club
Capacity: 21,063
Record attendance: 51,384 – Portsmouth vs Derby County, 26th February 1949
Notable game: The biggest game in Pompey’s history could well have been their 2008 UEFA Cup tie with AC Milan, which saw Younes Kaboul and Kanu open the scoring for the home side before Milan hit back through Ronaldinho and Filippo Inzaghi.
Claim to fame: The home of John Westwood, possibly English football’s most famous fan. (Don’t recognise the name? Google him. I promise you’ll know who he is!)
Bonus fact: Portsmouth played their reserves side at Fratton Park in April 1929, while spectators listened to the FA Cup final that was being played at Wembley thanks to newly installed loudspeakers.
Ground review:
There’s only one word that can be used to describe Fratton Park: character. Furthermore, there’s only one word that can be used to describe Portsmouth Football Club: history.
When visiting Fratton Park, it’s hard not to think back to the huge amount of ups and downs that the club has had, even just in the past decade. The mind starts wandering back to memories of watching the time Pompey played AC Milan on TV, or seeing the likes of Jermaine Defoe and Peter Crouch scoring each week on Match of the Day.
However, even without the fascinating history, Fratton Park is still an incredibly interesting stadium. The away stand, including the turnstiles, have all been covered in street art. In fact, on one of my random visits I spotted some ‘artists’ adding to the collage.
While the street art has clearly been contributed to over a large period of time, the Victorian-style ticket office looks like it has stayed the same since the club’s formation in 1898. I can imagine it’s how the characters from Downton Abbey would have bought their football tickets. Who can forget that famous Portsmouth vs Downton six pointer in 1914?
There’s as much character inside the stadium as there is outside; the steps are uneven and shallow, presumably having been eroded away by millions of football fans from every decade of the 20th and 21st centuries. The stands are close to the pitch, creating an intimidating atmosphere for players. Every mistake, no matter how small, is jeered and laughed at by the home faithful.
The away and home fans are also close together, leading to a lot of banter which is at some points light-hearted and, at some other points, hostile. However, that’s to be expected when you have a city as proud and passionate about it’s football club as the Pompey faithful are.
For any ground-hopper, this is a stadium that you simply must tick off your list, because you won’t find another one like it anywhere in the world. As a football ground nerd, it’s safe to say that I feel pretty damn lucky to have it on my doorstep!
Somerset Stadiums 