Where is Portsmouth’s training ground? The story of Pompey’s move to Copnor Road
Portsmouth’s training ground is currently based in Copnor Road in Hilsea, less than three miles from Fratton Park, but it hasn’t always been that way.
From 2002 until 2013, Pompey were training at the Wellington Sports Ground in Eastleigh.
This rubbed some fans up the wrong way, because the team was based closer to Southampton than the city they were supposed to be representing.
The move back to a PO postcode started during Portsmouth’s financial crisis when the club was in danger of going bankrupt.
Below, Pompey News outlines the story behind Portsmouth’s move to Copnor Road.
The story behind Portsmouth’s move to Copnor Road
Portsmouth moved to the Wellington Sports ground from HMS Collingwood in 2002.
The move coincided with Portsmouth’s biggest period of success in modern history, as the club was promoted to the Premier League in 2003.
Pompey attracted a host of top stars to the club during their time in the top tier, but they never trained in Portsmouth.
The club suffered a dramatic fall from grace due to financial problems, and one consequence of that was moving away from Eastleigh.
Pompey moved to the University of Portsmouth’s Langstone sports site in 2013 as a cost-cutting measure, before moving to the Roko training base in Copnor Road.
Portsmouth were initially leasing the base from Roko, but they bought the leasehold in 2021.
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Portsmouth continue to make upgrades to their Copnor Road training ground
Portsmouth have continued to grow since being purchased by the Eisners, and that includes frequent developments to the training ground.
While a lot of these major developments were made following input from Portsmouth’s executives, director of football and the first team manager, a move has been made to allow the players to suggest their own changes.
“Me and John seem to spend a lot of time playing Grand Designs around the training ground but, in terms of the changing rooms, we have a really senior group here and were happy for them to take a lead on that project,” director of football Rich Hughes told The News.
“That’s their space, they can put their own identity on it and make it into an environment they want it to be.”
The group, headed up by captain Marlon Pack, played a big role in the latest investment made in the training ground over the summer.
Now, director of football Rich Hughes says that he’s proud to show potential new signings around Pompey’s ‘state of the art’ facilities.
Hughes said: “It’s great when you’re showing players around the football club to give them the differentiation of where we were to where we are now.”
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