Cullen reveals major Portsmouth investment that’s delayed pre-season return to Hilsea
Portsmouth have returned to pre-season training in preparation for their new campaign in the Championship.
The Blues finished 16th last season, securing safety with two games to spare, and the goal will be to improve on that in 2025-26.
However, John Mousinho’s men are currently training away from their Hilsea base.
Andy Cullen reveals reason why Portsmouth are training elsewhere
Portsmouth have been uploading footage of their pre-season training on their social media channels.
However, eagle-eyed supporters have noticed the players training in different surroundings.
That’s because Mousinho and the squad are currently training at the Lensbury Hotel in Teddington. They have been doing so since Friday (27 June), although the plan is to return to Hilsea next week.
In an interview with The News (29 June), chief executive Andy Cullen explained that this was due to the extensive work that has been done on the training ground over the summer.
He said: “At the moment, we just want to protect the training ground pitches as best as we possibly can.”
Portsmouth invested in new drainage for the training ground, and new turf has been re-laid on top of that. Cullen said that although the turf is ready to play on, it was given an extra week just to be safe.
The squad will return to their Hilsea base on Wednesday (2 July) before jetting off to training camp in Bratislava three days later.
Their first pre-season friendly away at Woking is scheduled for 15 July.
Portsmouth owners should be praised for sustainable growth of the club
It’s well known that Portsmouth have one of the smallest budgets in the Championship, and these investments in the training ground wouldn’t have been cheap.
Still, projects like these show the Eisners are willing to invest intelligently to improve the infrastructure of the club.
| Season | Position |
| 2022-23 | 8th in League One |
| 2023-24 | 1st in League One |
| 2024-25 | 16th in Championship |
A common criticism of Pompey’s time in the Premier League is that the money earned wasn’t well invested in long-term projects.
By the time Pompey were relegated, they were in serious financial trouble and barely had any permanent assets to show for their seven seasons in the top division.
Michael Eisner has already invested in noticeable improvements to Fratton Park and the training ground. Eisner is involved in ongoing discussions for potentially increasing the stadium’s capacity. His steady approach to growing the football club has been praised, but it deserves more recognition.
It’s a great time to be a Pompey fan. The club is growing sustainably both on and off the pitch.
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