Credit: Imago

Dan Godfrey

Wed 16 April 2025 12:39, UK

Portsmouth supporters are reminiscing en masse on the events of one year ago on Wednesday, when the Blues finally returned to the Championship.

John Mousinho‘s side did so by soaring to the League One title, having spent 12 seasons in the doldrums of the lower leagues, plagued by financial disarray, reams of players on one-month rolling contracts and the threat of non-existence.

Countless players, managers and tears on, Pompey finally did it – and it takes no rocket scientist to see how much it meant, and why it meant so much.

Portsmouth fans look back on ‘that’ night at Fratton Park

For all the lows at Portsmouth that the supporters have had to endure, there have also been plenty of highs from the 21st century that you could struggle to fit onto one hand if named.

This promotion undoubtedly ranks among them. This is in competition with the 2003 promotion to the Premier League, two FA Cup finals in three seasons including the 2008 triumph, subsequently qualifying for Europe and luring AC Milan to PO4.

The wins over Southampton under – and against – Harry Redknapp. The great escape in 2006. It’s up there with it all. That Conor Shaughnessy header will live forever in the minds of many, replayed daily on supporters’ phones, laptops and televisions.

In 2012, when a beleaguered Portsmouth side – whose players’ salaries were often deferred – faced an administration-inflicted drop out of the Championship, a message on the big screen at Fratton Park displayed “we’ll be back” while the squad and their families took acclaim from a full house in the stadium.

Some Blues fans feared the worst was yet to come; others remained more optimistic and were therefore hit harder by what followed. But 12 years on, Pompey did come back. And now they must stay there.

Fans have flocked to social media to share their memories of such a poignant night, which signalled the good times at Pompey once again.

Mousinho and Pompey squad must complete survival mission

Portsmouth have discovered since their promotion party, at times the hardest way, the gulf between the Championship and League One which by and large did not exist so much the last time they were in the second tier.

Pompey have been excellent for the most part at Fratton, buoyed by their cauldron of sold-out noise on a biweekly basis, but have really disappointed away from home.

Mousinho’s men now have four games to avoid the drop, in a race with as many as seven other clubs to steer clear of the bottom three.

Portsmouth next face the latest of their tricky away tests on Good Friday against Norwich City (18 April).