2013 Prediction League; Game 2 (Portsmouth - home)

Div3North · 04-08-2013, 17:30

Accrington Stanley

V

Portsmouth FC

2013/14 Prediction League – Game 2; v Portsmouth (home)

Simple enough game, football ……….. Ask Pompeii’s Manager Guy Whittingham;

“In the league we are going into you need people who can run, people who can head and people who can score goals ………….”

Seemples!

Although they are, you’ll remember, currently in the relegation positions ……

And we ain’t!

This week’s starter for ten (no cheating); when did we last play Portsmouth in the League (whatever Division)?

Answer; we never have ……… We have, though, played them competitively before, in the FA Cup …………………Three times …….. In the 1924/5 season we lost 5-2 at home (on January 10th) in the First Round (which might not be the direct equivalent of the current 1st Round); in 1958/59 we met them at home again, this time on 24th January, and this time in the 4th Round; we drew 0-0, and lost the replay four days later at Fratton Park by 4-1.

None of the present squad have played for Pompey for more than 12 months; the whole (then) squad was “let go” by 12th August last year, consequent upon their relegation to League One and the accompanying (continuing) financial mess; this season – at last – peace reigned, and, as pre-season favourites to win League Two, they began with a home fixture against Oxford

; all was going well, in front of what is claimed as the League 2 record crowd of 18,181

– one up on 25 after a debut goal from Patrick Agyemang ; then it all went very pear-shaped indeed, and they finished up “thrashed”

(what a wonderful “Roy of the Rovers” word that is

) 4-1 ……………. That really wasn’t supposed to happen ……….Nor did they want to lose 30 year-old defensive MF and Austrian International Johannes (“Johnny”) Ertl, who was red-carded for a flailing elbow so misses the joys of our changing facilities ………….

Pompeii FC was founded jointly by Ludicrous Sextus and Frankie Howerd in 1898 AD

(5th April – end of the Tax Year!

); they played then, as they still do, at Fratton Park; for their first 20 or so years they were playing in the Southern League. At the start of the 1920-21 season they joined the newly-formed Third Division (in effect, Div 3 South, since Div 3 North was created the following year); newly-elected Cardiff went straight into Div 2, not Division 3, and Grimsby were “placed” (ie relegated) into the Third Division, thereby providing the first recorded case of “fixing” by the Football Authorities (cf Doncaster Belles/Manchester City Ladies now)

. For those of you who are interested, the inaugural Third Division was won by Crystal Palace, with Stockport being relegated from Division Two; Portsmouth finished 12th on 39 points from 42 games (good at home, with 10 wins, 8 draws and 3 losses

, but crap away – W2 D7 L12

). Mind you, given the state of public transport they had to walk to all the away games ...........

That said, it quickly got better, and they went up to Div 2 at the end of the 1923/4 season, and into Div One three years later – the 26/27 season including their best-ever win, 9-1 over Notts County

; the first season in Div One wasn’t easy (losing 10-0 to the Foxes didn’t help

), but they held on for 30+ years (including winning the FA Cup in 1939, beating Wolves 4-1, and winning the title in both 1949 and 1950 (think Jimmy Dickinson and Jimmy Scoular at wing-half, Reg Flewin at CH and skipper, and 1939 Cup-winners medalists Bert Barlow at inside forward and Cliff Parker on the wing)). In 1959 they were relegated to Div 2, and in 1961 to Div 3, although they came straight back up; in 76 they went down again to the third tier, and in 1978 they went into Div 4.

Their situation improved, eventually, and they hit the relative heights again, winning the FA Cup for a second time in 2008 (1-0 v Cardiff – they also lost the Final in 1929, 1934 and 2010). However, the 2000s were a massively unsettled time for the Club (they had 14 managers between 2000 and 2013), and financial problems and point-deduction penalties hit hard and often

; at the end of 2009/10 they dropped from the Premier League to the Championship with a record of P38 W7 D7 L24 GF34 GA66 Pts 19 (which included a 9 point deduction for entering administration – although they’d have gone down anyway, since Burnley and Hull (18th and 19th) both had 30 points)

; two years later (2011/12), not helped by a 10 point deduction for entering administration again, they went down to League One (P46 W13 D11 L22 GF50 GA59 Pts (net) 40 (if they hadn’t lost those 10 points they’d have stayed up and Barnsley would have gone)

; last season, with a 10-point deduction for failing to pay football creditors

, they came down once more – a spectacular and very sad fall from grace (Northampton, Swansea etc etc); last year, once again, they’d have gone anyway – they earned 42 points (net 32), and Scunthorpe went down with 48.

Famous old boys include “bustling centre forward” Ray Pointer

(ex Burnley, for whom he hit 118 in 223 games), Bury and Coventry (who are hoping to play next season’s home fixtures at the Store First, I understand

)), Mark Hateley (subject of the famous song, “Have I told You Hateley That I Love You”

), Neil Webb (Man U), Sick Note (Darren Anderton), Peter Crouch and Calamity James ; famous ex managers include Ian St John, Alan Ball, Tony Pulis, Harry Redknapp – he who was alleged – the very idea! - to have once opened a bank account in the name of his dog

(Rosie) to conceal payments received, Joe Jordan and Tony Adams.

Manager Guy Whittingham, who played for Pompey as a striker during two spells and a loan, making 195 appearances for them, as well as 113 for the Owls (he also counts Yeovil, Villa and Wycombe as ex-employers) was appointed full-time Manager on 24th April; he/the Club released 14 of last year’s squad (including GK Simon Eastwood, who signed for Them at Ewood

); best known of the new boys are probably defenders Sonny Bradley and Danny East, both 21, who both signed from Hull; Simon Ferry (25), a MF from Swindon, who also provided MF Joe Devera (26), once of Barnet, and Paulo di Shoveover’s

first signing at the County Ground; winger Andy Barcham (26), ex Spurs trainee, Leyton Orient, Gillingham (who I was pleased to see lost to my home-town team on Saturday!

) and Scunthorpe; Patrick Agyemang (32) joined from Stevenage (also Wombles, Brentford, Gillingham, PNE, QPR, Bristol City and Millwall); Barnet’s Ricky Holmes (winger, 26)) and Oxford’s Tom Craddock (striker, 26), who – in 4 years – scored 34 for Luton and 28 for Oxford; more exotically

, Romain Padovani (23), a defensive MF, arrived from Monaco II, and FB Yassin Moutaouakil (26) – French, of Moroccan descent, and an u21 international – came in from Hayes and Yeading (after Chateauroux in French Ligue 2, Charlton and Motherwell). I’m prepared to bet he doesn’t get booked many times this season – if you were a Ref, would you like to try writing his last name in your book?…………….

Worthy of note that their squad on Saturday featured 7 new signings in the starting 11, with 5 more on the bench ….. Bondz N’Gaza (which sounds like a fantastic name for a Bond villain, I always think

) signed during the week on a one-month loan (last on Stevenage’s books); he’s a 23 year-old CD ………….(No; it stands for Central Defender ……….

)

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which – DON’T FORGET - is 12.15pm on Saturday 10th August 2013. And don’t forget we’re on the box, so it’s clean undies

and a shave

, please, Gentlemen; no letting the side down!

You have to think, with their support (10,000+ season tickets sold

) and their money, that the Bookies know what they’re about, making them one of the favourites to go up automatically

………………… But then again, those are the same Bookies who know nothing, since they think we’ll go down

………… Perhaps we should all gang up on William Hills, and put lots of money, every season, on us staying in the League ……….That’d show ‘em!

Good luck to everyone ………………. Keep the Faith ………..And thanks for playing!