Jed Wallace makes Portsmouth return admission after West Brom goal
Portsmouth remain close to the heart of Jed Wallace and he still checks the Blues’ results every week, despite celebrating his goal for West Brom at the weekend.
Wallace was among the Albion goalscorers at The Hawthorns in a 5-1 pasting of Pompey (25 January), and admitted while he attempted not to celebrate, his situation with his current club made it a huge relief to find the net.
The 30-year-old, speaking to BBC Radio Solent’s Andy Moon, reflected on his affiliation with Fratton Park and touched on whether he could ever return to the Blues later in his career.
“It’s mixed feelings because everyone knows my affiliation with Portsmouth, checking their results. It’s been a difficult period for me really and I wanted to try not to celebrate if I scored, but after being out of the team I couldn’t keep it in,” Wallace explained.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to play against Portsmouth – I owe my career to people like Andy Awford, Guy Whittingham and Paul Hardyman – and the fans have been with me since day one, back in my first game against Hartlepool which was a very long time ago now.
“I don’t know [if I’ll be back]. Sometimes it’s never good to go back, and the way I left was a perfect fit to start my career. There was no animosity when I left. But I’ve always got one eye on it and the family have more than one eye on it.”
Jed Wallace back at Portsmouth one day?
Every club has the bulk of supporters who thrive off the nostalgia of their football club and oftentimes want players to return who may not be the best fit for their team at the time.
However with Wallace, just like Matt Ritchie – five years his senior – who returned to Fratton Park in the summer, it feels like a contribution for Portsmouth could still be offered.
The nostalgia for players like Wallace say a lot for him as a player and a personality. The then-teenager was one of the better performers during the worst era in the club’s history, scrapping it in League Two with not two ha’pennies to rub together.
It therefore remains a good feeling that both the club and the player have enjoyed an upward trajectory during their respective stories up to the Championship.
Wallace clearly still adores Pompey and the feeling is reciprocated given the reception he got from the travelling Blues crowd on Saturday – whether he makes an anticipated return in time is anyone’s guess, but we would be lying if we said we never want it to happen.
In other Portsmouth news, a difficult afternoon for Nicolas Schmid at The Hawthorns with two major errors.
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