Tues 11th, Weds 12th and Sat 15th Jan

[SVH]

from January onwards he certainly was.....prior to that he was a good player in the championship
Hoolihan is/was quality but he just did not play enough

I just checked and Hoolahan played as many games as Kieran Lee from Jan last season.

 

[Davidimp]

Quite funny watching 5/6 start to run over the tarpaulin towards the home fans after they scored, to then bottle it after a handful of steps, make a few gestures and be dragged down by the stewards.

Never seen Cambridge as a game that brings out the idiots!

Sharing a train with them for 10 minutes was enough, nobheads the lot of them.

 

[masi51]

It's now called the anchor and been done up, much nicer prefer the treaty of commerce on the high St.
Away fans who are deemed a risk are normally put in the square sail on the brayford now. O definitely have nobheads too. Mostly the same age as that lot yesterday but some my age and older.

The infamous Blue Anchor pub

 

[SVH]

Thought we played well especially in the first half and really should have been in front.
Second half thought we overplayed and always wanted the extra pass and Cambridge grown into and started to catch us on the break and felt the goal was coming.
Thought the free kick was harsh but Dunk knows what he's doing , fair play, our giant keeper stays on his line (as usual) and Ironside has an easy finish.
No offence to Laker and SVH but a group of your 'fans ' thought they were auditioning for green street with their behaviour especially after you scored fighting with our stewards and spitting at them.
Huge police presence at the railway station to deal with them but oddly none went on the train with just the poor guard. One guy in pale top and a baseball cap spent of the game taunting our fans, wasn't surprised to see him at the station after, most of this would have been late teens to early 20s.
We have idiots too, just a shame they have to spoil for the majority.

It's the stone island crew which every team see to have in their following.

A good view of the guy in the pale jumper here and one or two stewards going flying when the goal goes in.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1482462208336572419

 

[Bar Carousel]

Did anyone see that young lad on the EFL highlights show shouting 'wanker' over and over after MK's second goal?!

What on earth has happened to Fleetwood's pitch? Why were Donny not wearing their red and white home kit and when did Pompey lose a stand?!

The North Stand has had it's capacity reduced for a number of years due to basic areas of safety not meeting current minimum standards. The upper was renovated and improved over the last few years. The lower is now being completely re profiled and altered for improvement works and eventually reinstate it back to full capacity. The Eastern half has now started and the Western half will be carried out after that. Hopefully all ready for the start of next season.
The main (South Stand) will be next to create one continuous tier from pitch level up, and then the away end will be improved the season after (reinstating it back to full capacity and including wheelchair provisions for away fans to sit with their own supporters).

All necessary and at a cost the fans could never have raised under previous ownership, but given we have owners who promised ground improvements, it all feels a bit underwhelming and doing the minimum required to avoid further restrictions, without a new stand in sight. Total sum including improvements already made will put it at approx £16m. Ultimately our capacity will remain around the same as before the council put restrictions on the stands. So back to approx 21,000 as opposed to around 17,500 as current.

 

[Luke Imp]

£16m for that one stand?! Crikey.

 

[WhiteRussian]

£16m for that one stand?! Crikey.

When does it become cheaper or should I say more cost effective to demolish and rebuild to todays standards?

 

[Bar Carousel]

£16m for that one stand?! Crikey.

That's the total for all three stand improvements. Effectively £16m to only retain what we have, hence why the Trust sold the club to the Eisner family. Fans could never has raised that, and there was no appetite to borrow and create debt again.
Five years down the line and there's growing unrest that we were promised improvements which were understood to be better than what we're getting. This feels like an expensive sticking plaster to stop the capacity being further cut, and little more. Still three out of four stands will have posts restricting views, no executive suites and limited space under the stands to congregate and generate increased entertainment and beer/food sales to boost income.

 

[Luke Imp]

Ah right, £16m for three makes more sense.

If the Cowleys get you guys on a roll, it'll be interesting if they start pushing the issue a bit with infrastructure because they were always keen on improving off the field infrastructure as well as on it.

 

[Bar Carousel]

When does it become cheaper or should I say more cost effective to demolish and rebuild to todays standards?

A good question.

Since the Eisner family took over we have had specialist after specialist come in and advise them. The stand currently being worked on is supposedly the one in future which will undergo a full rebuild (well the upper section anyway) but they are reluctant to commence until various other parties involved in an overall regeneration of the area come on board (restaurants, hotels, bars etc). For now this is all about reinstating full capacity again.

The away end is the most disappointing. Rather than demolishing and starting again (to create space under the stand), it is being modernised as-is. There will still be that narrow (albeit enlarged) strip at the back of the stand for kiosks and that's about it. Supposedly the material under the concrete profiling may be contaminated and it would cost millions to safely remove it, so they decided it was easier to keep it sealed under the concrete.

 

[Bar Carousel]

Ah right, £16m for three makes more sense.

If the Cowleys get you guys on a roll, it'll be interesting if they start pushing the issue a bit with infrastructure because they were always keen on improving off the field infrastructure as well as on it.

We've just acquired a modern gym adjacent to our training ground. The Cowley's I imagine are more focused on how we can utilise that to our advantage (it currently still has hundreds of paid up members) for now.

 

[WhiteRussian]

I take it there is no thoughts of relocating your ground to a new build?

 

[Bar Carousel]

I take it there is no thoughts of relocating your ground to a new build?

That is a now 50 year old question which has been asked countless times. I think i've seen five different stadium proposals in my life time alone!

Portsea Island is one of the most populated parcels of land in the UK. There is no space to build a new stadium unless there is a large scale renovation project somewhere (the last being Gunwharf). Off the Island proposals have come and gone over the years, either still within Portsmouth City limits or in adjacent authority areas, but the general view is that Pompey FC belongs on the island.

I had hoped that having the Eisner family on board who had a history of stadium development with sports teams in the US that we would finally be able to get it done. From what we understand it is just not possible, plus Michael Eisner loves the history associated with Fratton Park and thinks that we lose the soul of the club if we leave.

 

[SVH]

I had hoped that having the Eisner family on board who had a history of stadium development with sports teams in the US that we would finally be able to get it done. From what we understand it is just not possible, plus Michael Eisner loves the history associated with Fratton Park and thinks that we lose the soul of the club if we leave.

I would agree with them too. The last thing you want to do is move to a soulless stadium like Colchester or MK Dons.

 

[thewwfc]

It's the stone island crew which every team see to have in their following.

And even if they don't have them "in their following"...

For the Wycombe v Oxford game, someone in the Wycombe end ran onto the pitch just so they could make wanker gestures at the Oxford fans.

Turns out he wasn't even a Wycombe fan, just some sad Danny Dyer wannabe who I suspect wouldn't dare do the same thing without the benevolent presence of stewards for protection.

Still, he got arrested and all, hope it was worth it.

 

[WhiteRussian]

I would agree with them too. The last thing you want to do is move to a soulless stadium like Colchester or MK Dons.

While I agree ours is too big for us, it's fine when it's full. The thing is ours wasn't built just for MK Dons, it was built as a stadium for the town to attract big events and we are just one set of users. We don't own the stadium, the stadium (Inter MK) owns MK Dons.

 

[Bobbin']

The away end is the most disappointing

Maybe to look at but it’s a cracking away end.

 

[K-Win]

The away end is the most disappointing. Rather than demolishing and starting again (to create space under the stand), it is being modernised as-is. There will still be that narrow (albeit enlarged) strip at the back of the stand for kiosks and that's about it. Supposedly the material under the concrete profiling may be contaminated and it would cost millions to safely remove it, so they decided it was easier to keep it sealed under the concrete.

I've heard that we're slowly buying up properties in the street behind the away end whenever they come on the market, so that we can eventually expand in that direction. Not sure how true this is?

If so then this would be similar to what other clubs with grounds in residential areas (e.g. Liverpool) have done. Obviously the process can take many years.

 

[Luke Imp]

The away end is the most disappointing. Rather than demolishing and starting again (to create space under the stand), it is being modernised as-is. There will still be that narrow (albeit enlarged) strip at the back of the stand for kiosks and that's about it. Supposedly the material under the concrete profiling may be contaminated and it would cost millions to safely remove it, so they decided it was easier to keep it sealed under the concrete.

That's what we're doing with the Stacey West imminently (unless it's delayed because of costs, supply problems etc), and creating concourse areas under is (rather than currently out in the open as it currently is) and offices/rooms linked to the Foundation and Community areas of the Club.

 

[Bar Carousel]

I've heard that we're slowly buying up properties in the street behind the away end whenever they come on the market, so that we can eventually expand in that direction. Not sure how true this is?

If so then this would be similar to what other clubs with grounds in residential areas (e.g. Liverpool) have done. Obviously the process can take many years.

To the best of my limited knowledge, that isn't something which is at the plan stage at this moment in time. The house buying was more so to create better access and potentially additional car parking if enough could be bought up in a row. Obviously if it ever reached a point where enough had been bought out behind the South or the Milton it would open up greater opportunity for development.