It’s back. Potentially: Fratton Park friendly explored as Portsmouth close in on finalising summer plans
Pompey are exploring the possibility of hosting a Fratton Park fixture as part of this summer’s pre-season schedule.
That is being pencilled in as a potential date to stage a pre-season game at home for the first time since facing Bristol City in July 2023.
Fratton Park off limits in 2023
Fratton Park was out of bounds last summer, with the new South Stand television gantry being constructed, thereby delaying essential pitch maintenance, which subsequently took place afterwards.
As a consequence, all five friendlies took place away from home, including Charlton and MK Dons.
In addition, a behind-closed-doors encounter with Wycombe, played over a total of 120 minutes, was held at their Hilsea training ground, with the Blues losing 4-0.
Ongoing work at Fratton Park
Work on the Fratton Park pitch is currently well underway and that progress will inevitably dictate whether a friendly can take place this summer.
However, with Pompey keen on wrapping up their pre-season at home on August 2 with one final friendly, it remains a possibility.
Certainly it would represent the opportunity to ramp up the calibre of opposition before the Championship campaign kicks off on August 8.
Back in July 2023, a crowd of 7,986 – including 1,802 travelling fans – turned up for Bristol City’s visit ahead of what turned out to be a League One title-winning season for the Blues.
Mark Sykes grabbed the only goal for the game for the Robins against a Pompey team which included newcomers Will Norris, Regan Poole, Conor Shaughnessy, Terry Devlin, Jack Sparkes, Christian Saydee, Kusini Yengi and Abu Kamara.
Pompey’s current pre-season schedule involves the players returning on June 23, while on July 5 they head to Slovakia for a six-day training camp in Bratislava.
Portsmouth have unveiled five friendlies
National League side Woking will be the first friendly opposition on Tuesday, July 15, followed by a trip to Farnborough the following evening (Wednesday, July 16).
On Saturday, July 19, John Mousinho’s men will travel to League Two side Crawley for their third fixture.
They also formed the opposition in July 2023, when Pompey ran out 9-1 winners in a behind-closed-doors match at the training ground. Notably, Yengi bagged a 22-minute hat-trick in a fixture played over four periods of 30 minutes.
Next it’s a visit to League One side Reading on Saturday, July 26, with the annual visit to Westleigh Park taking place on Tuesday, July 29.
Completing the schedule will be Saturday, August 2 against an opposition – and venue – still to be determined. Although supporters would welcome a Fratton Park fixture.
Meanwhile, Championship fixtures will be released on Thursday, June 26 at 9am, with the added interest of Pompey and Southampton occupying the same division for the first time since 2011-12.
How many season tickets Portsmouth FC have sold so far – It’s very impressive
Portsmouth are preparing for another campaign in the Championship after securing survival last season.
After winning the League One title in the 2023-24 season, Portsmouth made a slow start to life back in the Championship last term, and they sat bottom of the table in early November with just nine points to their name.
With Pompey already six points from safety at that stage, relegation was looking like a realistic possibility, but John Mousinho’s side slowly began to pull away from danger as they found their feet in the second tier.
It was not all plain sailing for Portsmouth in the second half of the season, and their poor away form threatened to drag them back towards danger, but they eventually finished the campaign in 16th place, five points clear of the relegation zone.
With Pompey now firmly established back in the Championship, excitement is high among the Fratton Park faithful about what could be ahead next season, and that is underlined by the club’s strong season ticket sales.
Portsmouth reach impressive season ticket milestone ahead of 2025-26 season
After the turbulent times they have experienced over the past two decades, Portsmouth supporters have become known for their loyal support of their team, and that was no different last season.
Pompey had an average attendance of 20,259 last season – an increase of almost 2,000 from their League One title-winning campaign – and that meant that every game at Fratton Park was a virtual sell-out.
The first indication that similar attendance numbers could be repeated next season came when the club revealed that over 7,800 supporters had purchased season tickets in the first full week of sales last month, and that total has now almost doubled.
Ahead of the closure of the renewal window on Tuesday afternoon, Portsmouth confirmed that more than 14,000 fans had bought season tickets for the upcoming campaign, and that is despite an increase in prices.
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