Portsmouth
The club
Portsmouth were founded on 5 April 1898 and play at Fratton Park in the Milton district of the city, capacity 20,867. They are Pompey, a name that also attaches to the supporters' chant, the Pompey Chimes, which traces back to the Royal Artillery club of the 1890s. The home kit is royal blue shirts, white shorts and red socks. The crest is based on the city's coat of arms, with its star and crescent. Portsmouth are the only professional English club whose ground sits on an island, Portsea Island, and one of only five English clubs to have been champions of all four professional divisions.
Recent seasons
Portsmouth spent a long spell in League One before getting out of it. They were eighth in 2020/21 with 72 points, tenth in 2021/22 with 73 and eighth again in 2022/23 with 70. In 2023/24 they won the division with 97 points, 28 wins, 13 draws and five defeats. Their first Championship season back, 2024/25, ended 16th with 54 points, 14 wins, 12 draws and 20 defeats. In 2025/26 they were 18th with 55 points from 46 games, 14 wins, 13 draws and 19 defeats, 49 goals scored and 64 conceded, a goal difference of minus 15.
Honours and landmarks
Portsmouth were league champions in 1948/49 and 1949/50. They have won the FA Cup twice, in 1939 and 2008, and the club held the trophy from 1939 until 1946 because the competition was suspended for the war. They won the Third Division in 1923/24, 1961/62 and 1982/83, League Two in 2016/17, League One in 2023/24, and the EFL Trophy in 2019. Record attendance at Fratton Park is 51,385 against Derby County in the FA Cup on 26 February 1949. The 1939 FA Cup final against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 29 April drew 99,370 to Wembley; the 2008 final drew 89,874. Jimmy Dickinson holds the appearance record with 845 games between 1946 and 1965, and Peter Harris the scoring record with 208 goals between 1946 and 1960. Record fee received is £20,000,000 for Lassana Diarra to Real Madrid in 2008; record fee paid is £11,000,000 for Peter Crouch from Liverpool in the same year.
The club's financial history is a large part of its recent identity. Portsmouth went into administration in December 1998 and again in February 2012, exiting on 19 April 2013 when the Pompey Supporters Trust completed a purchase that made it the largest fan-owned club in English football at the time. They were declared debt-free on 29 September 2014. Michael Eisner's Tornante group took control on 3 August 2017.
Notable scorelines
Record victory: 9-1 against Notts County on 9 April 1927. Record defeat: 0-10 against Leicester City on 20 October 1928. The 2008 FA Cup final, won 1-0 against Cardiff City, remains the club's most recent major trophy and its last appearance in European competition followed from it.
Head-to-head notes
Portsmouth do not publish all-time head-to-head records, and none was established for any 2026/27 Championship opponent. They open the league season at home to Queens Park Rangers, who finished 15th in 2025/26 with 58 points, three above Portsmouth. There is a recent connection between the two clubs' business rather than their fixtures: Portsmouth sold forward Callum Lang to Preston North End for £2,500,000 in February 2026, and Preston are also in the division. The cup tie is away at West Ham United, relegated from the Premier League and in the Championship this season; no published all-time record between the two was found.
Right now (2026/27)
Portsmouth are in the Championship. John Mousinho is the manager; he was in post for the League One title in 2023/24 and both Championship seasons since, but the date of his appointment was not established from the sources read for this file.
The summer has involved real money by Portsmouth's recent standards. Midfielder Odin Bailey joined on a free transfer from Stockport County on 1 July. Forward Eoin Kenny came from Dundalk for £34,000 on 6 July. Midfielder Rocco Shein signed from Fredrikstad for £2,100,000 on 13 July. Forward Marko Milovanovic arrived from Almeria for £3,000,000 on 23 July. Goalkeeper Daniel Bielica joined from NAC Breda for £520,000 on 24 July, and forward Luke Brooke-Smith from Wellington Phoenix for £400,000 on 28 July. Departures have been quieter: midfielder Reuben Swann left for Braintree Town and goalkeeper Jordan Archer was released.
Pre-season was poor. Portsmouth won one of five friendlies, beating Woking 2-1, losing 2-0 to Aldershot Town and 3-1 to Wycombe Wanderers, and drawing 1-1 with both Bristol Rovers and Farnborough.
The season opens with the Carabao Cup first round away to West Ham United at the London Stadium on Saturday 8 August 2026, kicking off at 3pm. The Championship campaign starts at home to Queens Park Rangers at Fratton Park on Saturday 15 August 2026 at 3pm.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portsmouth_F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Portsmouth_F.C._seasons https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Portsmouth_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_EFL_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024%E2%80%9325_EFL_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_EFL_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_EFL_Cup https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Preston_North_End_F.C._season
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.