spyinthesky

Putting the stadium funding for increased capacity to one side for the minute, any one know how much the Section 106 costs would be to facilitate stadium expansion and whether the City Council would actually agree to the change in current planning arrangements for the stadium?

I was at Goodison for a 1-0 cup defeat one evening in the late 70's early 80's Many years before I saw Everton beat Burnley one Easter in from of 72,000 fans in a Div 1 game Everton had a great team at the time and the astmosphere was fantastic in a ground that was miles better than the competition at the time They have had a number of false dawns on ground relocation to Kings Dock, Speke and Kirkby, the latter to be underwritten by Tesco who's ex Chairman, is a keen Evertonian I have been in the corporates at Goodison Park a few times when Saints have played up there but it was hardly bigger than those at the Dell and this is where the club falls down in comparison to others in the Prem as the revenue streams are far less Of course the sensible option is to develop a joint new stadium with Liverpool on Stanley Park but this will never happen Interesting that Derek Hatton the ex left wing head of Liverpool Council (and a real champagne socialist) is the commentator on the video

If you look at the relative league positions from both clubs entering the League in 1920/1, over this period Saints average position has been higher than Pompey's if you take the past 60 years ie the lifetime of almost all supporters, Saints are so far ahead on so many fronts, league position, average attendances, European competition etc etc I'm pleased to say we have never enjoyed the benefits of the old fourth division but quite a few of your fans get all misty eyed about this. I have to say though that the wonderfully elaborate story about the Soton Company of Union Men was a wonderful jape and hid the strike breaking of Pompey Dockers back in the mid 70's a treat!!

The first year Pompey played in Div 4 ie 1978/9 their average crowd was 10,123 which was less than Barnsley at 11,048 To be fair this avearge had increased to 15,850 which was similar to Sheffield utd when they were promoted from Div 4 two years later History is certainly something to be proud of just as the likes of Huddersfield, Blackburn,Preston, Derby and Preston (in the League) and Wanderers and Old Etonians (in the FA Cup) can celebrate their comparatively higher achievements than Pompey However I have yet to find a reason why Pompey's highest average gates never got beyond 37,000 in their title winning seasons in a stadium with a capacity of over 50,000 and, at a time when football crowds were at record levels following WW2 and there were thousands of servicemen in Pompey at the time to swell the population Interestingly altho Pompey have won more silverware, Saints actually have the better overall league record since both clubs entered the League in the early 20's and, of course, Saints have played far more times in Europe and produced many more 'home grown' players

See he has landed at Preston via Plymouth, Cardiff, Leeds etc Thought he would have been a shoe-in at Pompey but a chance missed, I guess

Yes, both for U18 and U 16

I went along for the Pompey game and it was fairly eveident that our team was, on avearge, a year or so younger than the Pompey lads. This is why you will get some 'odd' results in this competition as the U 18's will often include U 16's or triallists Best indicator is the Youth Cup where all teams should field their strongest line ups

Wonder if the receipts from the 'well attended' friendly against Rostov went to the advertised cause or were the proposed recipients left feeling short changed? There must also be a number of local businesses (the owners of Pompey's training field at Stoneham amongst them) who will be very nervous of their invoices being honoured as will those who recently purchased half season tickets at Fratton.

Bestest fans? - Mr Westwood and cronies Those who wanted a knighthood for Mr Redknapp Those who wanted some sort of formal recognition for Mr Storrie Those fans who draped a banner over a pedestrian bridge in Portsmouth welcoming a 'well heeled' Arab owner Those fans who were running around outside of Fratton Park trying to get said owners autograph Those fans who rioted in their own city after a home derby win And those fans who were unable to respect a minutes silence to honour one of the games longest serving managers

Bill grew up in Bursledon and was at the Dell from an early age,possibly 14 He had 2 brothers, as I recollect, one of whom Steve, ran the Park Inn, with his family, until his untimely death a couple of years ago. Both Bill and Steve were actively involved in the Ex Saints and Bill still turns out. Bill only played a few games for Saints and then did the rounds here before going out to the States to play, I think, for Washington Diplomats(with Eric Martin?) and there are pictures of Bill playing against the likes of Pele. The Diplomats signature was .. 'Football, just a kick in the grass'. On returning to the UK Bill worked for Vospers in Woolston for a number of years, ending up as their groundsman in Portsmouth Rd As has been said, Bill was often to be seen, front of house at the Dell and then St Marys. Think he now looks after the Terry Paine Suite. A real character and Saints enthusiast with a repertoire of pretty cheesy jokes

Thanks for picking me up on this Once you get to a certain age your memory is no so acute Irrespective of the actual wording hopefully you get the drift of the analogy

Some suggestion that a group of Somali Pirates are keen to invest a wodge of cash in Pompey

Made me smile last night Just finished thumbing through the bit on Ground Regulations in the programme ie spectators having to sit down and the like and looked up to see the banner 'United We Stand' in the centre of the Kingsland.

Apparently Bristol City suffered a trading loss of £11.5m last year, a similar deficit the year before and £6.5m the year before that. Primarily down to high wage earners and the ongoing cost of delayed move to a new £90m!!! (30,000 seater) stadium held up by a bunch of Stoneham type protestors!! Makes you wonder how keen City's owners will be to keep Maynard (and others) post January, as a fair few of the City players are out of contract in the summer. Interesting to see if we continue our supposed interest

Would love to be proved wrong but think Lee is a decent, hard working but limited, League 1 player who probably does not meet our current criteria, and certainly not the standards required if we were to progress to the Prem

They were on before the game

Undoubtedly there will reamin many twists and turns along the way Meanwhile I feel sorry for the genuine Pompey fans who love their football and their club They have been badly let down As for the significant minority of mindless morons, recent bandwagon jumpers, and those who rejoiced in our problems a few years back, I do hope you suffer fully from the ridicule and shame being heaped down on your shambles of a club

I think they could be better but overall more positive than negative A couple of friends from outside the city have commented on the 'obvous pride of the city in the football club' Nice to get such plaudits

Corps Ho? Westwood? Fred Dineage?

CEO's and their Finance Directors normally work on (well paid) short term contracts linked to decent bonuses. They seem very adept at manipulating targets and reaching them, triggering massive bonus payments, then swanning off leaving the next incumbent to pick up the pieces, probably on better terms Of course some do a crap job but still seem to be able to be rewarded by a golden goodbye When I started out, within the company i worked for some of the men on the shop floor (aided by very militant unions) earned more than the boss due to their fabricated overtime etc That wasn't right then just as the enormous rewards for Chief Execs (and others) is not right now

We all get frustrated with their performances but I wonder how many supporters in the stands have actually officiated either with the whistle or with a flag? I have done it a few times at adult and junior level and its not easy. There is a call for more 'professional' officials but I honestly can't think of anyway performances can be improved Even the pundits with the advantage of slow motion cameras often can't agree on decisions. Many years ago there was a ref with one arm who used to be in charge of the occasional Saints game at the Dell and, back in my youth, quite a few local league refs would hardly move out of the centre circle as they tended to be quite portly in those days

Our away support was 3,008 a very tidy following However were the numbers restricted or was the the allocation requested by our Ticket office? Notice that West Ham took 6,000 which is well in excess of the normal 10% of capacity guideline

Doesnt seem that long ago that the Pompey News was campaiging for a Knighthood for Sir Henry Redknapp and his loyal right hand man Peter Storrie and Fratton Park was being touted as a potential World Cup venue along with Home Park All down hill since then

I am no fan of Pompey but this is a reasonable effort for a middle of the table Champiuonshiop club with an average home attendance of 14,000

Didnt realise Cortese wasnt going to Kenya lots of kidnapping over there these days!!!!!!!!!!!!!