September/ October International break

[Football Special]

Its going to really drag this one. 

Wrexham away on 19th September then no other games until Pompey at home 11th October 

FIFA decided to scrap the individual September / October breaks and merge them into one with international teams playing up to 4 matches across the break. 

Squads expected to be announced later this week. 

Saints will lose some key players with 

Peretz (Israel) 

Manning (Ireland) 

Azaz (Ireland) 

Larin (Canada) 

Mubama (England u21s) 

Think all the others will probably get a few days off in the first week to recharge their batteries. 

[Gloucester Saint]

Oh well, quite a few Cheltenham Town games to watch in that time. 

[Whitey Grandad]

Ridiculous. 

[Patrick Bateman]

1 hour ago, Football Special said:

Its going to really drag this one. 

Wrexham away on 19th September then no other games until Pompey at home 11th October 

FIFA decided to scrap the individual September / October breaks and merge them into one with international teams playing up to 4 matches across the break. 

Squads expected to be announced later this week. 

Saints will lose some key players with 

Peretz (Israel) 

Manning (Ireland) 

Azaz (Ireland) 

Larin (Canada) 

Mubama (England u21s) 

Think all the others will probably get a few days off in the first week to recharge their batteries. 

It'll drag and be boring as hell, but ... I'm quite glad it's just one break and not two. We can get the squad back together and focus then in a longer block. Just annoying the first game back is against that lot. 

[ecuk268]

Larin's playing in Minnesota on Wednesday 7th, so maybe back on Thursday.

Not much time to recover for Sunday.

[RedArmy]

With a bit of a thinner squad this year the 2 breaks might have actually suited us, good chance to rest up for most of the squad twice before the winter. 
 

Very annoying that we’ve been stitched up with Pompey at home after an international break again too. 
 

It’s slightly better this year with not having Will Still and it also not being the first game after the window shut. But i still expect it be a bit of a flat performance, 3 weeks of not playing together is a long time. 

[Doctoroncall]

26 minutes ago, ecuk268 said:

Larin's playing in Minnesota on Wednesday 7th, so maybe back on Thursday.

Not much time to recover for Sunday.

Three friendlies for Canada, two at home.
Ireland have four Nations League matches as do Israel. 

[hypochondriac]

What odds Peretz injuring himself in Israel and Ramsdale coming back in for the fishy few?

[Saint_clark]

46 minutes ago, RedArmy said:

With a bit of a thinner squad this year the 2 breaks might have actually suited us, good chance to rest up for most of the squad twice before the winter. 
 

Very annoying that we’ve been stitched up with Pompey at home after an international break again too. 
 

It’s slightly better this year with not having Will Still and it also not being the first game after the window shut. But i still expect it be a bit of a flat performance, 3 weeks of not playing together is a long time. 

At least the atmosphere should be better this time, that's a lot of build up and anticipation. Let's hope our international players get through it injury free. 

Would it make sense for Saints to play a friendly in the middle for the players left behind? Even if just behind closed doors.

[revolution saint]

1 hour ago, Saint_clark said:

At least the atmosphere should be better this time, that's a lot of build up and anticipation. Let's hope our international players get through it injury free. 

Would it make sense for Saints to play a friendly in the middle for the players left behind? Even if just behind closed doors.

TBH I think we massively overdid the hype for the last game.  Understandable given we hadn't played them for a long time but I'd be much happier with a more low key approach to the game.  Let our football do the talking and smash them out of sight on the pitch.

[benjii]

4 hours ago, RedArmy said:

With a bit of a thinner squad this year the 2 breaks might have actually suited us, good chance to rest up for most of the squad twice before the winter. 
 

Very annoying that we’ve been stitched up with Pompey at home after an international break again too. 
 

It’s slightly better this year with not having Will Still and it also not being the first game after the window shut. But i still expect it be a bit of a flat performance, 3 weeks of not playing together is a long time. 

Guess some teams might organise low- key friendlies?

[whelk]

I am sure suicides must increase during this period. Life becomes pointless 

[Hayling Saint]

4 minutes ago, whelk said:

I am sure suicides must increase during this period. Life becomes pointless 

Really bad taste.

[suewhistle]

7 minutes ago, Hayling Saint said:

Really bad taste.

Yep, that lass was my right back when I played in goal..

[RedArmy]

29 minutes ago, suewhistle said:

Yep, that lass was my right back when I played in goal..

I didn’t know Whelk was a lass. 

[Tommy Mulgrew]

9 minutes ago, RedArmy said:

I didn’t know Whelk was a lass. 

The clue is in the avatar.

[vectraman]

There is still another international break from 9th to 17th November, so not sure this is ‘saving’ an international break?

I definitely don’t remember having 3 breaks before Christmas. 
 

Boring as….

 

[Football Special]

9 minutes ago, vectraman said:

There is still another international break from 9th to 17th November, so not sure this is ‘saving’ an international break?

I definitely don’t remember having 3 breaks before Christmas. 
 

Boring as….

 

It is merging September and October International breaks that we've had for ages, last year example below 

 

[Tommy Mulgrew]

On 14/09/2026 at 19:57, RedArmy said:

I didn’t know Whelk was a lass. 

 

23 hours ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

The clue is in the avatar.

Also, a whelk is not a cockle.  A cockle has two, er, shells; a whelk, one.

AI tells me that a cockle is “Tender, sweet, and slightly salty” and that a whelk is “Chewy, juicy, and rich.”

I rest my case.

 

[SouthWalesSaints]

Skates have any international players?! 

[Patrick Bateman]

13 hours ago, SouthWalesSaints said:

Skates have any international players?! 

Yeah a couple I think, maybe Ebou Adams.

[Football Special]

2 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

Yeah a couple I think, maybe Ebou Adams.

Two players call ups so far, Devlin for Northern Ireland and Segecic for Croatia u21s 

https://www.portsmouthfc.co.uk/news/2026/september/15/devlin-named-in-northern-ireland-squad/

[Saint Garrett]

Might be a bit more interesting if we need to look for a new manager!! Fingers crossed thats not the case though.

Fully expecting Tonda to be banned, and Larin to be injured for the skates game.

[Paulwantsapint81]

How surprising if FA announce Tonda ban on Friday before skates?

[SNSUN]

1 hour ago, Paulwantsapint81 said:

How surprising if FA announce Tonda ban on Friday before skates?

3 week ban would be nice. Maybe just after the Wrexham game. 😁

[whelk]

On 14/09/2026 at 21:27, suewhistle said:

Yep, that lass was my right back when I played in goal..

Have I missed something?

[Turkish]

1 minute ago, whelk said:

Have I missed something?

Just Sue talking about herself as usual

[suewhistle]

That was for Hayling Saint Whelk, I think he'll get the reference.