Portsmouth ‘cannot afford slow start again’ as new fixtures revealed
Portsmouth fans can start to make detailed preparations for the upcoming season, following the release of the 2025-26 Championship fixtures.
The fixtures were released on Thursday (26 June), with most fans likely to have immediately checked for the dates of the South Coast Derby.
However, John Mousinho and his team may be more concerned with the opening fixtures of their Championship season.
Portsmouth dealt a generous start to the Championship season
Portsmouth have been dealt plenty of winnable fixtures in the opening months of the season, particularly at home, compared to the horror of last year.
Their first home games are against Norwich, Preston, Sheffield Wednesday and Watford – four sides who personified mid-table mediocrity throughout last season.
They face Middlesbrough and Coventry in October, but then their home fixtures continue to look generous for the rest of the calendar year.
It’s only in January when the league’s big hitters start to visit Fratton Park.
Of course, that’s because Portsmouth face away trips to these teams in the early months of the season. They’ll visit West Bromwich Albion, Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester before October is through.
But their home fixtures are so generous that Mousinho will expect to be well clear of danger after Portsmouth’s first 10 games.
Portsmouth cannot afford to start slow
Portsmouth endured a slow start to the 2024-25 season, winning none of their opening nine fixtures
Many attributed this to the team adjusting to the demands of the Championship, but they were also dealt a rough hand by the fixture computer. They faced all of the promotion favourites in those first nine games, starting with the title winners, Leeds.
| Pompey’s first nine games last season | |
| Played | 9 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Draws | 5 |
| Losses | 4 |
It’s not like that this time. There are many winnable games in the early months of the coming season. If Pompey find themselves trapped in the bottom three around November or December, there could be reason to panic. Because the fixtures only get tougher after that.
Mousinho recently completed Pompey’s first summer signing in Adrian Segecic. He’ll be looking to get more business done early so his team has time to gel before the first Championship game.
The season starts on 9 August, and Pompey will need to be prepared to hit the ground running.
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