Portsmouth’s worst-ever deadline day signings – Kaide Gordon and two Stoke City flops
Portsmouth are no strangers to epic last-minute signings on transfer deadline day.
The South Coast club have some of the best players to wear the Pompey shirt this century on the final day of the transfer window.
We have already looked at some of Portsmouth’s best deadline-day signings, but there have been some stinkers to come through the door at the last minute as well.
Below, we explore some of Portsmouth’s worst-ever deadline day signings.
Kaide Gordon – loan from Liverpool (2025)
Portsmouth looked short of attacking options as the winter transfer window was closing last February.
So, John Mousinho took a punt on youngster Kaide Gordon, who was plying his trade with Liverpool’s under-21s
Gordon had already done fine during a loan spell at Norwich earlier that season, but didn’t do anything of note for Pompey.
Gordon only featured five times for Portsmouth, all from the substitutes’ bench. Often, he found himself left out of the squad completely. Ultimately, he was deemed not good enough by Mousinho.
Portsmouth look short of attacking options again this summer, and it’s possible that Mousinho could look to loan another promising young striker from the Premier League.
He’ll be hoping for someone who can make more of an impact than Gordon did.
Dave Kitson – signed from Stoke (2010)
Portsmouth were in the midst of their financial crisis in the summer of 2010, having gone into administration and been relegated from the Premier League the previous season.
This transfer window was mostly about selling players and trying to pay off the club’s huge debts.
However, they did manage to pull off a last-minute transfer swap deal with Stoke City that excited fans at the time.
The deal involved Marc Wilson moving to Stoke, while Dave Kitson and Liam Lawrence going the other way.
Kitson scored eight goals in this first season, but only four in 35 appearances the season after, in which Portsmouth were relegated to League One.
He was widely regarded to be a talentless beanpole. On top of that, he was one of the last players to agree to have his contract terminated that summer when Portsmouth were in danger of folding.
Liam Lawrence – signed from Stoke (2010)
Lawrence was signed on an emergency loan on deadline day, because there was not enough time to file a permanent transfer. He transfer was eventually confirmed though, and he was a lot better than Kitson. He proudly wore the captain’s armband for a short while.
However, like Kitson, he was a huge drain on Portsmouth’s financial resources. It emerged that the club had broken their own wage self-imposed wage limit to sign the pair.
| Player | Appearances | Goals |
| Dave Kitson | 72 | 12 |
| Liam Lawrence | 58 | 8 |
Lawrence ultimately had to have his Portsmouth contract terminated halfway through the following season, as the club was stripped to its bare bones around him.
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