Portsmouth – First Division Champions 2002/03

Posted on | July 23, 2009 | No Comments

As it appears Portsmouth fans will not end up with the takeover we all wanted, I feel the need to lighten the mood!

We still have weeks of off the pitch events ahead of us, even after the takeover is fully completed, so I thought I’d concentrate on the football side of things. The Premier League is undoubdedly the place to be, but for the also-rans there is little chance of pre season conversation turning to title chances and those of other teams, because outside the top four there are no title chances! Championship or promotion winning seasons have always been precious, but especially so nowadays.

The season started positively on 10th August 2002 with a 2-0 home win against Nottingham Forest. This date was definitely the start of a new era, but doubly so in my case as I met my wife that night in a nightclub in Sydney! I remember hearing of a solid away point at Sheffield United in the next game whilst getting ready in my hotel room to go out, and by the time of the 3-2 win at Crystal Palace I was in Surfer’s Paradise. Great days!

I remember feeling that this could be a great season because of the way the team had come from 2-0 down to win the match, but Harry Redknapp had of course also reconstructed the entire team since he had taken over from Graham Rix at the back end of the previous season. Things hadn’t started too auspiciously, as Redknapp’s first game at Preston North End finished in a 2-0 defeat. I was at the game and we were never really in it. Svetoslav Todorov made his debut and was sent off for an off the ball incident!

The week after the Palace game I was back home to get my first look at the new look Pompey in action at Fratton Park against Watford. My recollection is that it was a non contest. We won 3-0 and it was fluid, fast football that I just wasn’t used to seeing. Paul Merson and Matthew Taylor were magnificent, and that was to continue for the rest of the season.

The day after that, I went away to the Baltic. I was at sea out there, on and off, for the rest of the season, so I missed most of it! In a funny sort of way, though, the memories are just as strong. I recall three main ways that I got the results. At sea, they were either communicated to me on the bridge or I would make sure I was in the communications office at full time to get them on the radio. The other main way, of course, was to follow the football in the bar of one of the many Baltic cities we visited. I remember being amazed when we lost at home to Leicester City, but funnily enough it didn’t spoil my weekend in Helsinki and by this stage I knew we were going to win the following week anyway!

During one of my pit stops home, I took that girl I had met in Sydney (now my wife) to Fratton Park. She had come all the way back from Australia to see me, so I needed to impress her. We lost 2-1 to Sheffield United and it was freezing! She obviously saw past that. I think I remember the match where I became convinced that nothing was going to go wrong, that we were just to strong to blow it. It was one of those where I hung around the communicatons office waiting for the result and then it came through. Pompey 6 Derby County 2. I hadn’t seen any of the game of course but the result said it all.

I was again home on a pit stop, but his time driving from Edinburgh to Somerset, when we played at Leicester. I half expected to lose to our perennial bogey team, and we duly went one down. It was a matter of pride as far as I was concerned, but the 1-1 draw we eventually got also helped cement our position at the top. The equaliser came from Matty Taylor, with one of a number of outside-the-box efforts he produced that season.

There were a number of crushing away wins that season too, not least at Millwall where Pompey fans were banned. I have since seen highlights of the 5-0 Pompey win in deafening silence!

As the season drew to a close, it became increasingly clear that the Championship was a two horse race between the only two teams in serious contention for promotion. Sheffield United’s high point had seemed to be their win at Fratton Park, and they had faded after this. Pompey had always been in pole position but Leicester had hung on doggedly and were stiil within striking distance. Portsmouth had the chance to clinch promotion with a win at home against Sheffield Wednesday, who were bottom of the league. I was in the country but couldn’t make the game. By now I planned to get married (I didn’t hang around!). I was needed elsewhere to help organise it and knew better than to argue! Anyway, Pompey did me a favour and lost the game. We were knocked off top spot by Leicester, but we all knew it was only a matter of time.

Three days later, on a Tuesday night, we reconvened at Fratton Park against Burnley. I wasn’t going to miss it this time and saw Paul Merson’s penalty smack the bar right in front of me early in the game. Still we believed and the magic moment arrived with fifteen minutes to go at the Fratton End. Nigel Quashie squared a ball low across the box (I’m sure he was shooting!) and Todorov diverted it in. I’m not sure how, but I remember seeing the image of  him running into the crowd at the other end of the ground as if it was right in front of me.

Afterwards, I cherished my one and only time so far on the Fratton Park pitch (I have also done Huddersfield, Bradford, and Wigan) and still have my blades of grass. In terms of pure achievement on the pitch in a competitive environment over an extended period, I think I’ll be lucky to see it bettered in my lifetime. It is certainly right up there with the best memories, but the memories that mean the most aren’t necessarily linked to the highest footballing achievements! I think that’s partly what keeps us supporting our team come what may.

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