By Tony Attwood
- Portsmouth v Arsenal – past games, the holders out and more on the referee
- Liverpool had no shots on target. Will Portsmouth do better?
- Portsmouth v Arsenal: Arsenal are top of the “Last Six” league
With any club that Arsenal is playing, it is important to understand where that club stands in the present day in relation to its own history. As we have seen, Portsmouth have been a club in the top league as recently as 2009/10, but then by 2013/14 they were down in League Two, and it took them four years to win that League and start the climb back up.
Of course, we are so used to hearing tales of clubs collapsing in financial ruin, that such stories stop having any impact unless told about our club (which they are not), but Portsmouth was one of the worst cases. They had points deducted several times for not keeping their records straight and went into receivership some six or so years back.
The League and FA offered no help, seemingly taking the view that it was the club’s fault, and if they did offer help, it would only encourage other clubs to be reckless. And there is a point in that, although it relates only to the relationship between the authorities and the owners. No one in such cases seems to give a damn for the supporters.
Although in this case a buyer was found. Rob Smethurst bought the club and everything in it from the Rightmove website, apparently when having had a few too many – or at least that is how the story goes. He also installed a 4G pitch, and a further story says that many clubs that don’t play on such pitches find that hard to cope with.
Of course, the story of the recovery is today overshadowed by the FA Cup holders being knocked out in the third round yesterday; I think that is called the magic of the cup, unless you live in Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth, Upper Norwood and the like.
But to return to our opposition today, they were seven years in League 1 before they won the title, and that put back them in the Championship, where they are now. This looks like steady, well-planned progress, and if the pattern holds true, they will spend maybe four or five years in that League before putting in a serious bid to return to the Premier League, which they left in 2010. A club taking its time to rise back up the league is not always popular with fans, but it can help ensure that the club won’t struggle and then slip right back down to the fourth tier. In that context, 2024/25 coming 16th looks to be part of another slow build-up.
But their current position of just above the relegation places must be very disappointing and certainly not part of the plan, in which the target this season, following the previous model, must be for mid-table security with a challenge for promotion in 2026/7.
The problem for Portsmouth is that they have had several runs this season of between four and six games without a win, and no club can secure a position in the top half of the league with form like that. And his will be particularly aggravating for a club such as Portsmouth (who were Champions of the top division in 2003, and FA Cup in winners in both 2008 and 2010).
Overall, Portsmouth have made five FA Cup final appearances (Arsenal have made 21), so Cup glory is hardly the priority for either club. For Portsmouth, it is getting up the league; for Arsenal, it is winning the title. So neither team may be targeting this match as a key element of this season, but if their gradual growth pattern continues, it could be in a few years.
Arsenal injuries are confirmed as declining, and by yesterday, they were down to three men missing: Mosqjuera, Dowman (both ankles) and Calafiori with a muscle or hamstring problem.
However, Portsmouth’s injury crisis has reached much greater proportions. Mark Kosznovszky, Hayden Matthews and Josh Knight are all out for a long spell and Callum Lang and Josh Murphy are certainly out for this month and maybe more. But in trying to restore sense to the finances, the owners are reluctant to buy instant replacements.#
But the Macclesfield story has instantly seeped into football’s dreamland, and any smaller club facing a larger club will now be saying, “if they can beat the cup holders, we can beat….” And indeed, Macclesfield suffered points deductions in their downtime, just as Portsmouth have. But at least for the moment, Portsmouth seem to be in a world of sanity rather than dreamland.
Latest from our series on 100 seasons in the top division:
