COULD DO BETTER
Monday, 28 April, 2008

It was Pompey’s first home defeat since Middlesbrough left Fratton Park with all three points just after Christmas.
Roque Santa Cruz slid the ball home after 74 minutes to seal victory for Mark Hughes’ Blackburn.
It was not Pompey’s best performance of the season but Harry Redknapp believes the Blues were unlucky to go home empty-handed.
He felt that they were the better side, especially in the first half and was disappointed at several decisions that went the visitors’ way.
"We didn’t deserve to lose,” sighed the Blues boss. “We were the better team in the first half and I couldn’t see us getting beaten at all. But Blackburn are a hard side to beat. They changed things around a bit after the break and that caused us more problems. I still thought we had chances though and I was pleased with the way we passed the ball. Everyone worked hard as well. Sulley should have scored and Jermain had a couple of chances but we can’t keep on relying on him to score all the goals. He was given offside a couple of times when he was definitely onside. We deserved something out of the game. I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t sell out and the place lacked a bit of atmosphere."
Pompey were forced to play without their talismanic keeper David James after the keeper picked up a calf injury in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester City.
And while Redknapp admitted that James has played such a huge part in the Blues’ success this year, he was pleased with the performance of understudy Jamie Ashdown.
"Jamie did well. Maybe he could have caught the cross he punched that led to their goal but overall I thought he was excellent. Luckily we decided to have a scan on David’s injury because if he’d have trained on Friday then it might have got a whole lot worse. But he’ll be okay and he should be fit for the Fulham game."

JORDAN WANTS IMPROVEMENT
Friday, 25 April, 2008

Joe Jordan has warned Portsmouth that a repeat of their shambolic defensive performance in the 3-1 defeat at Manchester City last week cannot be tolerated.
Mistakes by Sol Campbell and David James that left Harry Redknapp's side 2-0 down against City after only 12 minutes and led to a result that damaged their hopes of qualifying for the Uefa Cup via the league.
Jordan, the first-team coach, warned such errors have to be eradicated against Blackburn Rovers at the weekend and, more critically, in the FA Cup final next month.
"It was a very bad day for us and we will have to do a lot better against Blackburn. We have had a talk about it and the point that has been made is that all the games we have left, not just the Cup final, are massive games. The players know they are better than that and, to be fair, their quality and consistency all season has been very good. We will have to get back to that against Blackburn because games are running out if we want to finish fifth in the table. Aston Villa and Everton are both above us in the table now and Blackburn will be wanting to get there, too. We had a great win at their place earlier this season but they came to Fratton Park later on and knocked us out of the Carling Cup - and deserved it. It is very important for us to go for maximum points at the this stage - in every game. It won't be easy against Blackburn because I thought they thoroughly deserved their draw with Manchester United last week. They are not only competitive but have players who can create things and a striker in Roque Santa Cruz who has scored 21 goals. But we know we have some excellent players as well and we will be determined to show that again."

BLACKBURN PREVIEW

Kanu could be recalled for the visit of Blackburn Rovers, as he looks to secure a place for next month's FA Cup final. However, Harry Redknapp could decide to give Milan Baros another run alongside cup-tied Jermain Defoe.
David Nugent, who scored for the reserves on Tuesday, and Pedro Mendes, left out of the squad for the 3-1 defeat at Manchester City, are both nursing "slight knocks" but could be among the substitutes. Lauren may switch to left back in place of suspended Hermann Hreidarsson.
Noe Pamarot has returned to training after 10 weeks out with a knee injury but is not yet back in contention.

Pompey team (from): James, Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Lauren, Diarra, Diop, Muntari, Kranjčar, Utaka, Baros, Defoe, Kanu, Davis, Nugent, Hughes, Pedro Mendes, Aubey, Begovic.

NEW TRAINING FACILITY PLANS REVEALED
Wednesday, 23 April, 2008

Pompey have announced plans for a new state-of-the-art-training facilty on 35 acres of land in Gosport that will bring them into the 21st century and up to Premier League standards.
The site, which is in the Alver Valley in Lee-on-the-Solent, will house 10 full size pitches, two mini soccer pitches, a three-quarter size pitch and a dedicated goalkeeping area.
The club's main building has been designed by Richard Marshall, the architect behind Arsenal's London Colney training base.
The 18,0000 sq ft building will house changing rooms, medical and rehabilitation facilities, a gymnasium, administration offices, a media and presentation area and a refectory.
There will also be a three-quarter size indoor pitch for the club's Academy, who will have their own separate building. Portsmouth FC will continue to use the Wellington Sports Ground at Eastleigh.
As part of the scheme, Portsmouth FC will also dedicate two full size pitches for community use and open up the indoor facility for local schools in the Gosport Borough.
In addition to the work conducted by the club, a visitor facility for the Alver Valley Country Park will be built adjacent to the site by the Council. The club plans to work with Gosport Borough Council to enable development and sustainability of the Country Park.
Peter Storrie, chief executive of Portsmouth FC, said, "We are very excited about the new site which fits all the criteria for us to build a training facility any Premier League club would be proud of. I'd like to pay tribute to Gosport Borough Council, who have been extremely supportive of our need to build such a facility and helping us find the site. The next stage is public consultation and we hope the community are as enthusiastic about the scheme as we are. The club feels we can make a real contribution to the Borough and we are looking forward to working with Gosport in the future. Plans will be submitted within the next couple of weeks and if it meets with approval we could begin work by the late summer and complete the scheme before the start of the 2009/10 season."
Manager Harry Redknapp said: "This is fantastic news. The club desperately needs its own training ground if we are to continue the progress we have made on the pitch over the last couple of seasons. The plans for the pitches and the overall facilities look very impressive and it will make a great deal of difference to the players and our ability to keep attracting the very best to the club."
Cllr Shaun Cully, Leader of Gosport Borough Council, said, "We are delighted that Portsmouth Football Club have chosen to build their new training ground in Gosport. Their decision to do so is great because in selecting Gosport they have in effect secured the future of the Alver Valley Country Park; an area we have been working on opening to the public for some time. The club's involvement will ensure the country park is completed and opened to the public far sooner than we ever dared imagine. We thank and welcome Pompey to Gosport and hope they'll be happy here. We also thank them for their generous offer of making some of their new facilities available to our schools to help train our footballers of the future."

DEFENSIVELY POOR
Monday, 21 April, 2008

Away at Manchester United in the FA Cup, Chelsea home and away in the Premier League, West Ham away a couple of weeks ago.
There have been some fantastic defensive displays by Pompey this year.
Manchester City away was not one of them.
The Blues lost 3-1 at Eastlands and their misery was compounded by Hermann Hreidarsson’s red card for tugging down Darius Vassell.
Goal one saw a mix-up at the back between Sol Campbell and David James that ended up with Vassell opening the scoring
Goal two came about after Martin Petrov turned Lauren with ease and fired home a deflected shot.
While for goal three Benjani Mwaruwari was allowed to get the ball onto his favoured right foot and score against his former club.
It left Harry Redknapp despairing at a rare bad day at the office for Pompey’s normally superb back-five.
"For a side that normally doesn’t concede too many goals we defended poorly," said the Blues boss. "We gave away two terrible goals. Even the third goal was poor defending. We’ve let Benji come inside on his right foot when we know we’ve only got to keep him on his left side and what’s he going to do. We’ve said: ‘Come inside and have yourself a shot on goal’. For the first goal you’ve got two guys there who have had so much time in the game – one of them has got to take responsibility and clear the ball. We’ve had a couple of times this year when the ball’s been left in that right-hand channel and it’s cost us. It’s something we’ll look at in the week and make sure we sort out."
Even when Pompey were trailing 2-1 and reduced to 10 men, they still had chances to get something from the game.
"There were chances going begging all over the place," said Redknapp. "Even in the second half they had lots of chances but we had plenty of chances as well. We hit the post and went through on goal loads of times. I thought Defoe should have had a penalty – their guy didn’t touch the ball he just brought him down. There were loads of opportunities, even with 10 men. I looked at their team and I must admit I fancied us strongly before the game. We started off okay and Sylvain had an unbelievable chance with a free header but suddenly we find ourselves 2-0 down. But we’ve got to a cup final – we’ve had a fantastic year and we’ve all enjoyed it."

WORLD CUP AT FRATTON?
Friday, 18 April, 2008

The Football Association are considering offering Portsmouth financial incentives to redevelop Fratton Park as a potential 2018 World Cup venue. The FA, who are keen to have a geographical spread of stadiums, want to include plans for a minimum 40,000-seat South Coast base in the technical section of their bid document to Fifa.
"There is a desire to redevelop Fratton Park," FA chairman Lord Triesman said of Portsmouth's resolve to rebuild their ancient home or relocate nearby. Asked whether the FA would help Portsmouth financially, he replied: "Whatever we do has to be in line with whatever Fifa say are the bedrock conditions for making the bid.
"We have stadia right round the country, but we have to look to see whether other stadia further south in England can be developed."
A new super-stadium in Bristol has been discussed but the FA are now focusing on the Portsmouth option, offering "the peak of the criterion we have seen Fifa use in the past".
As for FA plans to leave Soho Square, Triesman added: "I want us to move to Wembley. The space is there. There's something very good about being at work and seeing a pitch - because that's what it's about."
The FA chairman added that the National Football Centre at Burton was coming close to reality.
Meanwhile, the Premier League's controversial plan to take fixtures overseas, known as 'the 39th step', appeared doomed last night after the 20 club chairmen acknowledged there were four major problems to overcome.
Their main concern revolved around the possibility of sanctions from Fifa and the FA. Also discussed at the Premier League's quarterly meeting was how their competition could actually retain its "sporting integrity and symmetry" with an additional round of fixtures.
A third issue was how the weekend of 10 games could be squeezed into a crowded calendar. Fourthly, there was discussion about how they could square the 39th step with "stake-holders", namely supporters who have been universally dismissive.

CUP FINAL TICKET DETAILS
Monday, 14 April, 2008

Portsmouth Football Club today outlined plans to sell its 24,789 allocation of tickets for the FA Cup Final against Cardiff City at Wembley on Saturday, May 17.
Tickets will be sold via Ticketmaster on seven separate days – from 11am to 10pm - between Monday, April 21 and Tuesday, April 29.
The club has consulted supporters' groups and will begin by selling tickets to season ticket holders stand by stand (see timetable below).
Every season ticket holder, club member and Junior Blue is guaranteed a ticket. This will be one per ticket holder. This together with tickets for commercial partners amounts to 18,000.
Supporters groups, including exiles and away ticket holders, will receive 1,800 tickets and the groups themselves will supply details of their members to Pompey.
Every fan on the database who has been to three or more matches at Fratton Park this season - nearly 900 supporters - can also purchase a ticket. This will be one per person named on the database. They will be notified of their eligibility by post.
A further 196 will be made available to those fans (excluding season ticket holders and members) who made the journey to Preston North End for the fifth round FA Cup tie. This will be one per person named on the database. They will be notified of their eligibility by post.
A total of 100 pairs of tickets will be made available to disabled supporters and another 50 pairs to visually impaired fans. These will be handled by the club's ticket office. But only postal applications will be accepted, with proof of disability and correct remittance.

Send correspondence to:

Supporters with hearing difficulties can purchase their tickets via Ticketmaster's text phone service on 0870 145 1178.
There will be 3,000-plus tickets made available for general sale after the ticket allocation for players, club staff and officials.
The 3,000-plus tickets will be on general sale to the 13,500 supporters on the club's database who have bought tickets to one or two home matches this season. Of those more than 10,000 have come to only one match. This will be one per person named on the database.
Ticketmaster will have 200 lines dedicated to Pompey and there will be only telephone bookings taken - there will be no automated service. The phased purchasing system will ensure waiting time is kept to a minimum for fans.
All Pompey's tickets are in an arc on the east side of the stadium from one side of the 18-yard box to the other. The vast majority - some 18,000 - are in the £60 and £80 categories. Other prices are £95 and £35 but the club has only a limited supply of the £95 tickets. There is a £10 discount for those aged 16 and under and 60 and over.
Ticketmaster will be applying a fixed charge of £3.50 per ticket and £4.90 for registered post per delivery. The postage fee is necessary as the FA do not issue duplicate tickets. Fans can also book coach travel at the same time as buying their tickets.

FA Cup Final ticket timetable (tickets go on sale on each day from 11am to 10pm):

April 21: South Stand Upper (220 tickets at £95 and 2153 at £80)

April 22: North Stand Upper (220 tickets at £95 and 2271 at £80)

April 23: South and North Stands Lower (3201 tickets at £80 and 1171 at £60)

April 24: West Stand (Fratton end) (3201 at £80 and 1300 at £60)

April 25: Club Members and Junior Blues (100 at £80 (Junior Blues only) and 1910 at £60)

April 28: Three home matches/ Preston (357 at £60 (Three Home Matches only) and 739 at £35)

April 29: General Sale to 07/08 database (3150 at £35)

Only call on your allocated day.

Ticketmaster can be contacted on 0844 847 1898.

Season ticket holders can order in groups with operators able to take bookings for up to eight tickets in one transaction providing they have the reference numbers of the other season ticket holders.
If they require more than eight people sitting together another transaction can be completed in the same call so long as the operator is informed at the beginning of the call.
Season ticket holders who have children as Junior Blues members can also book them at the same time to ensure they sit together.
The club would like to point out that it is a criminal offence to sell tickets to a third party and any tickets traced back to Pompey fans will result in a ban on future purchasing by both the FA and the club.
Peter Storrie, Chief Executive of Portsmouth Football Club, said: "We have tried to be as fair as we can to supporters across the board and have consulted the representatives of our supporters clubs around the country, as we did with the semi-final. They were very positive in their feedback to us and believe this to be the best way of selling our allocation. The decision to allow fans of different areas of the ground to purchase their tickets on dedicated days will mean that we will avoid the majority of supporters calling at the same time as was the case with the semi-final. The small number of £95 tickets have been made available to those supporters in the upper north and south stands who have the most expensive seats at Fratton Park. Ticketmaster has 200 lines and each operator will be averaging around 10-12 transactions a day so there should be no problem with fans getting through this time. With only seven lines and seven windows in our ticket office we could not possibly cope with the number of calls coming in. Once a fan has completed his telephone transaction he will be removed
from the database, which will also stop duplication purchases."

WHERE'S ALL THE GOALS?
Monday, 14 April, 2008

Both sides had the opportunity to take all three points from this match but ultimately both had to settle for just one.
Harry Redknapp made three changes from the side that beat West Ham in midweek with Kanu, Jermain Defoe and Sean Davis replacing David Nugent, Pedro Mendes and Arnold Mvuemba.
Obafemi Martins tried his luck with a 45-yard effort almost immediately from kick-off but his opportunistic strike was comfortably saved by David James.
But the Blues keeper breathed a sigh of relief when he came charging off his line in a race for the ball with Martins. James got their first but completely sliced his clearance and watched as the ball trickled out of play for a corner.
Pompey were passing the ball around neatly enough in the middle of the park without ever really testing Steve Harper in the Newcastle goal.
Glen Johnson and Papa Bouba Diop sent in shots from the edge of the area but both efforts drifted harmlessly past the post.
Niko Kranjcar whipped in a dangerous free-kick on 25 minutes after his path had been obstructed by Geremi but Abdoulaye Faye managed to head the ball clear before the well-placed Sol Campbell could make a connection.
Then, as Pompey started to settle down, Sulley Muntari’s hanging cross hit Kanu and flew narrowly wide after some good work on the flanks by Kranjcar and Johnson.
Referee Phil Dowd somehow missed a blatant tug on Kanu’s shirt by Steven Taylor on 39 minutes and it almost cost Pompey as Martins collected the ball and fired a 25-yard strike inches over the bar.
Dowd upset the Blues fans again just before the interval when he failed to give a penalty after Kanu’s shot was handled in the area by Taylor.
Defoe was finally given a chance on 54 minutes when he was left unmarked in the area to meet Muntari’s cross but he volleyed the ball wide.
James was then forced into a smart stop at the near post to stop Martins opening the scoring from the narrowest of angles.
Johnson went close to giving Pompey the lead on 60 minutes after a fine run down the right and a neat one-two with Kanu but his shot from the edge of the area was inadvertently deflected wide by Defoe.
The Blues then launched a quick counter-attack after a Newcastle attack broke down with Johnson marauding up the pitch before Defoe’s low shot was superbly pushed behind by Harper.
But it was the visitors who should have gone ahead on 71 minutes when Sylvain Distin sliced the ball straight into the path of Michael Owen but the Magpies skipper’s shot was saved at point-blank range by James – although the Blues keeper did not seem to know too much about it.
James knew exactly what he was doing just moments later however, flinging himself to his left to keep out Geremi’s powerfully-struck shot.
It was route one football that provided Pompey with their next chance when Defoe latched onto James’ long clearance before sliding his shot just wide.
The closing stages were frenzied with both sides eager to grab a winner but both guilty of giving the ball away too much in the middle of the park.
James made a good low save to deny Martins on 87 minutes while Diop blazed over after some fine play by Kranjcar in stoppage time but in the end a draw was probably the fair result.

CUP FINAL TICKETS
Thursday, 10 April, 2008

Pompey have been given an allocation of just under 25,000 tickets for the FA Cup final against Cardiff on May 17.
Tickets will be £95, £80, £60 and £35 for adults and £85, £70, £50 and £25 for concessions (aged 16 and under and 60 and over). But the number of £95 seats is extremely limited.
Full details of how tickets will be sold will be released by the club on Monday.
Pompey fans have been allocated the same east end of Wembley that they occupied for the semi-final win over West Brom. The seats will begin around the 18-yard line and sweep around behind the goal to the opposite 18-yard line.
Blues chief executive Peter Storrie won the toss at Wembley on Thursday to decide what strip the sides will wear on May 17.
Pompey will wear the same all-blue strip as in the semi-final, while Cardiff will be in all black.
Harry Redknapp’s side have been given the east dressing room, the same as for the semi-final.
Seat prices are the same as for the 2007 FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea.

POMPEY'S PASSING UNDOES HAMMERS
Wednesday, 9 April, 2008

It was probably the only time that Pompey fans would accept defeat.
A difficult trip to Upton Park three days after an energy-sapping FA Cup semi-final victory against West Brom at Wembley.
Harry Redknapp was expected to ring the changes but in the end he only made three – David Nugent, Pedro Mendes and Arnold Mvuemba replacing Kanu, Milan Baros and Lassana Diarra.
If there were any tired legs out there however, it did not show.
The hosts controlled the early stages but as the game progressed Pompey got into their stride and once Niko Kranjcar had put them ahead early in the second half they never looked like surrendering their lead.
Instead they wore the Hammers down with some delightful, passing football and plenty of solid – but not desperate – defending.
Redknapp was greatly impressed with how his side performed so soon after booking another trip to Wembley to face Cardiff in May.
And he revealed that he is much happier with his formation after switching to a 4-5-1 system in east London.
"It’s a system that suits us," said the Blues boss. "We’ve won 14 games away from home and that is some record – a really fantastic achievement. I’m getting people into the right position with that system. Papa played wide right at Wembley but he’s six foot five and not an outside right. On the back of a semi-final you just hope the side play well and we did. We did great. We had a couple missing who had been playing well so we had to shuffle it about a little bit. Jermain Defoe wasn’t available and Baros and Defoe had injuries, plus I didn’t want to risk Kanu on the back of Wembley, so we were a little bit short. David Nugent came in and worked hard. He did a lot of running and closing down – a lot of unselfish work. That’s why you’ve got a squad. You want people there who can come in and do a job."
Redknapp has not given up hope of catching Everton – who sit four points above Pompey in fifth place.
But he insists that whatever happens between now and the end of the season, it has been an unmitigated success.
He said: "There was a graph in the programme about the last 10 years for Pompey and it tells you everything. From struggling in the Championship every year to an established Premier League team. Look at the two centre-halves we’ve got here. Campbell and Distin were two fantastic free transfers for us. It would be lovely to get that fifth spot. You never know, we’ve got decent games to come. We’ll just have to see what happens.
Redknapp also insists that he and his side are not getting carried away despite another trip to Wembley to look forward to in a few weeks time.
He said: "We didn’t get on the coach on Saturday and start signing: ‘We’re going to Wembley’. I think I fell asleep about four minutes into the journey home. We’re not going over the top. We all came in on Monday and just got on with it. I’m a miserable old git, I think that’s it! We’re just trying to win games and see where we end up."

DEFOE OUT FOR HAMMERS CLASH
Tuesday, 8 April, 2008

Jermain Defoe will miss Pompey's Premier League clash at West Ham tonight to attend his grandmother's funeral.
The former Hammers striker flew out to St Lucia with his mother after Pompey's FA Cup semi-final win over West Brom at Wembley on Saturday.
Defoe, who has scored eight goals in seven games for the Blues, revealed a top bearing a tribute to his grandmother when he took off his Pompey shirt after scoring against Wigan in a 2-0 win last month.
His absence at Upton Park means David Nugent could be handed only his fifth Premier League start of the season.
Milan Baros, who started up front alongside Kanu at Wembley, is hoping to recover from a sore ankle to play at West Ham.
Midfielder Lassana Diarra is battling to overcome a dead leg but John Utaka remains sidelined by a hamstring injury that saw him miss out at Wembley.
Blues boss Harry Redknapp said: "I'm missing Jermain Defoe. His grandmother died in St Lucia and he's gone with his mum to the funeral, which is on Tuesday. He was very close to his nan and wanted to be there at the funeral. I'll have a think about playing Kanu against West Ham on the back of Wembley. But there's every chance he will play on Saturday against Newcastle. David Nugent needs to get a game under his belt, and he's available. Diarra's got a dead leg and Baros got a kick on the ankle, but other than that we're pretty much okay from Saturday. John's got a slight hamstring tear so I'd rather wait until he's right rather than risk it and end his season. I think he'll be fit in a couple of weeks. John at Wembley would be a big player, because he's got pace and can run. He gets on his bike and off he goes. He's strong and gives us something different."
Pompey go into Tuesday night's fixture seven points behind fifth-placed Everton with a game in hand.
But Redknapp believes catching David Moyes side, who occupy the top-flight's only UEFA Cup spot, is a big ask.
He said: "I would love to finish above Everton, but they're seven points ahead of us with a better goal difference, so it's going to be hard. But we don't want to fade away in the league. We want to finish as high as we can. And we've had a couple of good wins at West Ham in the last couple of seasons."

FA CUP FINALISTS 2008
Monday, 7 April, 2008

Pompey will play in the 2008 FA Cup Final against Carddiff City on Saturday, 17 May.
Pompey won the right to appear in the Wembley final after beating West Brom in the Semi-Final at Wembley at the weekend courtesy of a single Kanu goal.
It has been a long 69 years since Pompey were entertaining the footballing world with an against-the-odds 4 - 1 victory over Wolves. Then, Pompey were the underdogs. This time, though, they are favourites; the sole Premiership team to have made it this far this season.
Pompey have had possibly the greatest slices of luck in getting this far: The 1 - 0 victory over Ipswich in the third round after Ipswich were reduced to 10 men; they had to come from behind to beat a spirited Plymouth side in round four; a David James penalty save and a 90th minute own goal saw them dispatch Preston in round five. Then, in the sixth round, came the toughest task and the biggest slice of luck. Manchester United were beaten at Old Trafford by a 78th minute Muntari penalty after United had wasted chance after chance.
And so to the Semi-Final and West Brom.
Much of the national media were bemaoning the fact none of the so-called 'Big Four' were there, as if that was any sort of guarantee of a great match.
Pompey were favourites to win this one and, despite West Brom's possession, managed well enough without over-exerting themselves.
It wasn't a pretty game to watch, especially for the neutrals and purists, but it wasn't their team at Wembley that day.
In the end it was the oldest outfield player on the pitch (some wag suggested he might be the oldest person in the stadium) that sent Pompey on their way back to Wembley for the Final in May.

QUEING FOR TICKETS? I'D DO IT ALL AGAIN
Thursday, 3 April, 2008

So says Mike Hall who queued at Fratton Park for some of the last tickets for the semi-final. This is his tale:

I avoided the, (literally), plagues of journalists wanting quotes and interviews.

The dumbest people on show as usual were the 'organising brains' of PFC. The word shambles does not begin to describe it.

Conceptually, it's quite a simple exercise. Provide a place for people to queue. Assess how many tickets there are and of which type. Assess how many customers can be accomodated. Ensure basic security and hygiene requirements are met. Sell the tickets to the customers as quickly and efficiently as possible. At all times communicate what is happening.

Have a guess how many of these fundamental requirements were not met? You got it, it's all of them.

There is a place for people to queue, the marquee which accomodates 1,000 people each match day. It has tv, toilets, a bar and is a contained area which facilitates security, communication and hygiene. As a bonus, there is a shedload of money to be made.

So let's not do that then.

Instead, a few crash barriers 'fence off' an area of the car park, (people just move them when they want to). This area is next to a body of standing brackish water which people very quickly begin to urinate into and fill with rubbish. A few black sacks are provided, but are quickly filled and not replaced. So people simply discard their rubbish on the verge. The marquee toilets are open, but there is no water or soap for hand washing when I arrived and they were neither cleaned nor emptied at any stage over the period. We now have all the elements required to make a lot of people sick. Even the crimea had a bit more thought go into it than this.

The queue is almost entirely unstewarded. So on the first night, Monday through Tuesday an attempt is made by 20 odd guys to 'join' their mates at the front of the queue. This attempt was repelled when someone in the queue called the police who turned up and removed them. At one point on Tuesday a steward came round with a clicker counting people to number of tickets required. Great. Then he left again because no attempt was made to enable people to join the queue in an orderly fashion, registering their presence and being given a ticket or whatever, half the people he was trying to assess were off playing football, eating at McDonalds or asleep in tents. Hopeless. We were "Well in". However, wild rumours continued to do the rounds of the queue. Only £25 tickets were available. Tickets had been cut to one per person. People were hearing if they were in a certain point they had missed out, (which turned out to be completely untrue).

When asked, the steward doing the count didn't know what price tickets were on sale, didn't know about the extra 475 tickets the club had on the OS, whether we could buy them, what id was required, (the ticket office told me twice all that was required was a client id. I decided this was probably wrong and Super Timmy drive down to drop off his season ticket cards, which was a bloody good job because they did in fact require sight of them), in fact he didn't know anything that might have been useful and there was no-one who did.

That was the extent of the communication to the queue prior to Wednesday morning.

Now this lack of system obviously lead to gaping holes which some people were only too keen to walk through. The queue was asked to 'self-police' by a steward, which apparently meant we should challenge anyone trying push in, and if they didn't leave then should summon a steward. As there never seemed to be any stewards around at a casual glance I don't know what their speed of response might have been, but what would the health and safety executive say about asking groups of customers to challenge others in a highly emotionally charged
situation where both sides are likely to be drunk and stoned, in the dark, in a car-park where weapons of all kinds are in plentiful supply? The problem fortunately didn't come from interlopers in the main, although some of the 'spelling' became joining on Wednesday. However, a large group of people in woolly hats, scarves and dark coats in the dark are quite hard to distinguish one from another. Some slept in tents, some slept in cars, and some blatantly turned up, put their chair out with a couple of blankets, made themselves conspicuous, then wandered off to "McDonalds", only returning on Wednesday morning, obviously washed and refreshed having spent Tuesday
at home.

Now this was on PFC land, which makes them responsible for what happened there. The tent in front of me contained six kids, none older than 15. They were kept plentifully supplied with big trays of Carling and multi-packs of fags by one of their MUM's. The place was full of kids who should all have been at school, one told me he was in an under-12 side while sipping a can of tennants extra and smoking while his dad sat next to him. Most were drunk or drinking alcohol, most were smoking and quite a few were obviously stoned.

Tuesday night saw the group of middle aged blokes behind us, (who were consuming tray after tray of Special Brew and Stella, along with Vodka, Gin and passing round joints) deteriorated from singing and yelling the night away to what was at first a play fight, then became a serious drunken brawl where the two chief contenders hit each other in the head with folded metal camping chairs. Eventually, both were subdued and fell into a drunken slumber out in the open.

Wednesday morning saw the kids in the tent in front in a state of bitter recriminations. One had thrown up all over the inside and outside of the tent. He simply picked up his vomit strewn quilt and instead of putting it into the newly arrived skip, he lobbed it on the grass verge. No amount of pulling rank by the adults behind him would persuade him otherwise and he was clearly prepared to slug it out with anyone who persued the matter. The actual argument was over the fact that some of the kids had been cutting each others hair whilst they slept the sleep of the drunk.

Wednesday morning saw a steward come round and tell us he would be bringing round the lottery tickets which would mark our place in the queue and finally checking our credentials to be there. He turned up 90 minutes later. Still no information as to what tickets would be available and how to go about selecting particular one.

This process revealed two people right by the front of the queue who had been there since Tuesday but didn't have season tickets. They were told to sling their hook and left protesting they hadn't known. Now I think this was an easy mistake to make given the lack of communication once in the queue and the lack of clarity regarding credentials, but accept some might say 'more fool them'. There is no excuse for not telling them on Sunday, there were more than enough spare season tickets in the queue to help them out if anyone had known.

Finally we were actually ready to start queuing for tickets. No information was given, we just queued. As 9'o' clock came and went the queue began to inch forward and again wild rumours swept the queue - £55 tickets were all that was on sale, £55 tickets had sold out, it was all £25 tickets, no cash was being taken and so on and so on. A lady in front of us decided to go and ask a steward about Club Wembley seats. She disappeared and returned 5 minutes later clutching 4. Apparently, all you had to do was leave the queue and ask a steward if you wanted club wembley tickets. A few people did and most returned disappointed having been told no. Then a few minutes later a bloke who had been queuing immediately behind me returned clutching 4 £45 tickets. He had been to the window and been told he couldn't have 4 Club Wembley tickets together so they just sold him the £45 ones instead. Marevellous. There had been rumours of a fight at the front of the queue earlier but I hadn't seen it. How this completely random and unannounced policy didn't start one I'll never know.

The kid in front of us, he of the vomit stained quilt fame, had been queuing since, (literally true), his court appearance on Monday afternoon. Now he reached proximity to the front of the queue to be told that he had to buy whatever tickets were being sold when he got to the window. He only had £25, and that only because someone had told him there no concessions. Because he wanted a £25 seat he was told to go to the back of the queue, he couldn't afford the £45.

So he had queued for 2 days, followed every instruction, he had more than enough money to buy the ticket he wanted and the ticket office had this ticket within the office, but he couldn't buy it and therefore may not be going to Wembley.

He stormed to the back of the queue, but later sauntered back and checked again, this time with a different and more helpful steward. "Just stand there" he was told, "and when the £25 tickets go on sale I'll let you through".

All along the queue, frantic phone calls were being made and periodically a car pulled up and someone dishevelled handed a wad of cash to someone in the queue who had been making frantic calls to pull together enough cash to meet the unexpectedly high price. Again someone in the employ of PFC told me the policy of selling tickets in a particular order was at Wembleys' behest, something I'm told the clubs glitterati insist is untrue.

Eventually, I reached the front of the queue at about 10.15am, after 35 and a quarter hours queuing. I could buy £45 tickets only. What about Club Wembley? I could buy those if I liked. Could I buy 2 of each? No, it is strictly two person!

Some of you will be thinking that all this mindless drinking and smoking joints sounds like fun. I actually really enjoyed Monday and Tuesday nights to be honest, particularly Tuesday. It was a Pompey carnival, the strumming of an acoustic guitar, the burger van showing Man U on a small tv powered from their generator, the impromptu games of football, (I tried to control a stray ball and take it round this 8 year old, who just contemptuously took the ball off me and turned into space while his mates snorted at me), the constant choruses of 'blue army', the cheer that rippled round the queue when Sheff Wednesdays' late equaliser went in and put the scum in the relegation zone, the brave blue flags standing next to the huddled tents....... .

The beef I have is that the club could have put us all in the marquee made a lot of money, communicated precisely to avoid disappointment and ensured people were in the right queue for the right tickets and maintained a semblance of sanitation. Equally, the many kids in the queue could have been protected from themselves and what were some quite harsh conditions at times, with the rain and the cold being quite oppressive during the night and some of these kids were running round in shirt sleeves and shorts, drunk. All this is not to mention the many pensioners.

We could have had a lot more fun and the club have made a lot more money. As it was, I think every single person in that queue would score PFC at 2 out of 10 for organisation. In fact, that is generous because there was no organisation.

Eventually, the combined efforts of Tim, Shane, myself and Wino on moral support phone calls, secured two tickets for a proper Pompey boy made good and his son. My mate is a Pompey boy made good, lives in Basingstoke, Director of Sun Micro, and goes to FP with his boy a few times per season. When the club finally get round to building a new stadium they have to recognise that they can't go on like this. Us old anoraks might be prepared to put up with this crap but no way would the sort of 4x4 suburban families the club hopes to attract to a new stadium. As Daz points out, this crowd queuing contained few people from nice houses in Petersfield, and a lot of people from the heart of the inner city. Proper Pompey writ large. You remember my 'Pompey in Paris' describing a fictitious future Champs League final? This was that event. Mush central.

This event was shambolic, very risky, quite dangerous to those involved, (an HSE inspection would have shut the whole operation down right there and then for any number of reasons - games of footie in the car park in the dark while cars drove round keeping people warm and so on), and deeply unimpressive.

Please GOD give me a reason to do it again next month.

JAMES WARNS OF COMPLACENCY
Wednesday, 2 April, 2008

Out of all the players who take to the pitch at Wembley on Saturday, there won't be anyone who can speak with as much FA Cup experience as David James.
The Portsmouth and England goalkeeper is hoping that he can add a third FA Cup Final appearance to his CV by helping Pompey to victory over West Bromwich Albion but he is under no illusions as to the task which faces them.
As the only top flight club left in the competition, it seems Pompey have been listed as everybody's favourites to lift The FA Cup this year but James knows that it is going to be a hard match for them against a team who could still be playing in the Premiership themselves next season.
Tony Mowbray's team have been involved in the Championship promotion race all season long and look as though they could be contesting in the play-offs, so with bags of confidence, experience and quality in their squad, James knows that Pompey have to be on their game and can take nothing for granted.
"Without doubt, it will be a hard game for us," the 37-year-old said.
"West Brom are definitely one of the better teams in the Championship and the way they despatched of Bristol Rovers in the Sixth Round was testament to that. It obviously won't be an easy game and we know that. It's a Semi-Final, and for anybody that can be an uplifting occasion or a nervous occasion, because there are so many different parameters involved. It should make for a good game though and respect will have to be given to West Brom all the way through. I think we only need to look back at the games we've had in previous rounds against Ipswich Town, Plymouth Argyle and of course, Preston. They were three hard games and the fact that it's a Semi-Final now will bring its own individual influences. For the lower league teams to play Premiership sides is something that we can't take for granted and given the three games we've had against Championship sides, we know it will be difficult. The lads are well versed in what to expect and West Brom are one of the best teams from their division, so we will have to be more than ready for the test."

POMPEY DUO HOPEFUL
Tuesday, 1 April, 2008

Hermann Hreidarsson and John Utaka are both hopeful of being fit for Wembley despite limping off in the 2-0 win over Wigan.
Hreidarsson needed three stitches in his Achilles while Utaka was substituted after tweaking his hamstring.
Hreidarsson feared the worst when Marcus Bent landed on his ankle in Pompey's 2-0 win over Wigan at Fratton Park.
The defender thumped the turf in frustration before being withdrawn midway through the second half.
But an examination of the injury showed it was not as severe as the 33-year-old first thought.
Hreidarsson said: "We went up for a header and he came down on my right Achilles. It was totally accidental. His studs went straight through my skin. I thought it might be bad because it was my Achilles. But when we went inside and checked it out the Achilles looked all right, so it should be okay for Wembley. It's going to swell up and be a little bit sore, but it's nothing major. It was only a 10 centimere hole and only needed three stitches. I've never played at Wembley before, so hopefully I'll be picked. We're going to enjoy the day and hopefully it's going to be a good one for us."
Utaka, who was replaced with 20 minutes to go, should also be available for selection for the FA Cup semi-final against West Brom.
He said: "I felt my hamstring and didn't want to make it worse, so I came off as a precaution. I'll see how it is, but hopefully I'll be fine."