Portsmouth are one of English football's more recent success stories. Having languished in the second tier of English football for almost twenty years, they achieved promotion to the Premier League in 2002/03, and with it unfolded a new era in the club's history. While not currently achieving similar heights to the past few years, the club are still on course to stay in the Premiership for a seventh consecutive season.
The Early Years
Founded in 1898, Portsmouth's official name is Portsmouth City Football Club, giving rise to one of the more popular chants among the club's fans. However, the 'City' part of the name is rarely used, and for the majority of its history, the club has been known merely as Portsmouth, or by its nickname, 'Pompey'. Its early years were largely unsuccessful, until the 1930s began - at that point, business began to pick up.
Having already reached the FA Cup Final once, in the 1927-28 season, the club repeated the feat in 1933-34, again falling short despite their prior experience. However, in 1938-39, the club would go on to win their first FA Cup, triumphing 4-1 over Wolverhampton Wanderers - this gave the club the distinction of holding the FA Cup for longer than any other team in history, as league football was suspended for six years following their victory, as World War II descended on Britain.
Pompey's Fortunes Fluctuate
Following the Second World War, Portsmouth's success would continue, culminating in back-to-back league titles in 1949 and 1950. However, shortly afterwards, a swift drop down the league was to occur, leading to the club's relegation from the top flight in 1959, and from the second tier to the third in 1961.
This rapid fall from grace was halted somewhat by manager George Smith, who led the club back to the second tier, and cemented its place throughout the remainder of the 1960s. Nevertheless, the club's fate was determined by a lack of financial stability in the early 1970s, and Portsmouth found themselves falling through the divisions rapidly, ending with a spell in the Fourth Division (what is now League Two).
On The Rise Again
This spell in the Fourth Division was brief, however, with the club attaining promotion all the way back up to the top flight by the time 1987 rolled around. The promotion was short-lived, as the club fell immediately back into the second tier, but when the club reached the FA Cup semi-finals for the first time in decades in 1991-92, this was the spark that ignited a slow but steady recovery.
By 1997 the club was once again in contention for the play-off places in what was now Division One; in May 1999, they were saved from dire financial circumstances - and not for the first time - by a billionaire owner, this time Serbian-American businessman Milan Mandaric.
Hitting The Heights
Mandaric's £30 million input into the club saw huge investment in the club's facilities and players, and having narrowly avoided relegation from Division One in the 2000-01 season, the club achieved a solid mid-table place in 2001-02 thanks to the genius of Croatian legend Robert Prosinecki. This was followed by the club's eventual promotion to the Premier League in 2002-03, an act masterminded by Mandaric and the club's new manager, Harry Redknapp.
Following a series of cheap but inspired transfer dealings, Redknapp's side went on to top the Division One table in that season, playing some excellent football. The likes of Paul Merson and Yakubu Aiyegbeni starred for Pompey in a season that brought fans some of their most exciting scenes ever witnessed, with a 6-2 home victory over Derby and a 5-0 away win at Bradford the highlights.
The FA Cup, Europe And Beyond
Having achieved promotion, the club's next task was to solidify itself in the Premier League. This it did, with relative ease, finishing 13th in its debut season. Following the acrimonious departure from, and subsequent return to the club, of Redknapp as manager, Pompey narrowly avoided relegation in the next two seasons. In 2007-08, however, the club's fortunes picked up once again, as they finished 8th in the Premier League and won their first FA Cup in 69 years.
Their triumph over Cardiff City in the final saw them ascend to the heights of European football, even going so far as to achieve a 2-2 draw against Italian giants AC Milan in the 2008-09 UEFA Cup. This success was supplemented by a victory in the Barclays Asia Trophy pre-season tournament, the first time the club had won a competition staged outside of England.
Despite struggling against relegation following the loss of Redknapp and two key players this season, Portsmouth have proven that they are a club big enough to belong in the Premier League for the foreseeable future. With local rivals Southampton suffering relegation to the third tier of English football and undergoing severe financial difficulties, Portsmouth are in prime position to cement a place as the key footballing entity on the South Coast - it is up to them to grasp this opportunity with both hands.
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