Portsmouth Football Club (FC) is a professional soccer club located on the southern coast of England. Their home is Fratton Park stadium, which has stood since the club's founding. The team is known as the Pompeys or, occasionally, the Blues. Their main rivals are neighboring club Southampton and, more recently, Tottenham Hotspur.
Founding and Early Years
Portsmouth FC was founded in 1898 when they joined the Southern League. The club enjoyed reasonable success in its first few decades, earning promotion to the top division of the Football League and winning the FA Cup in 1939.
The 1950s
The early 1950s put Portsmouth on the map as a soccer power. In the 1948-49 season---the club's 50th, or Jubilee, year---the team set attendance records and won the Football League title. The next year they won the title again, making Portsmouth FC one of only five English teams to win back-to-back titles since World War II. The team performed respectably through the first half of the decade, but by 1959 they had been relegated to the second division of the Football League.
Decline
Portsmouth remained a second and third division team for the next several decades, and attendance fell to just 5,000 fans per game from a peak capacity of 50,000. By 1976, the team was near bankruptcy. They were saved by a campaign to garner supporter contributions, but the team slipped to the fourth division shortly thereafter.
The Premier Years
Portsmouth staged a slow but steady climb back into the top division over the next few decades. It flirted with success in 1986, reaching the first division for one season before being relegated again. The club would not return to the top flight until 2002. At this time Portsmouth managed to hold onto its spot in the Premier League for seven seasons, and even earn an FA Cup win in 2008 before being relegated again in 2010.
Financial Woes
The 2010 relegation to the second division was precipitated by yet another financial crisis in which key players, staff and debt-holders were not paid their wages and earnings. The club once again came perilously close to declaring bankruptcy, and disbanding entirely before a new ownership deal was forged in October 2010.
Notable Players
The legend that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle played goalkeeper for Portsmouth is false, although he did play with an amateur team in the area before the club's official founding. However, several noteworthy players have been a part of the Portsmouth squad throughout its history. Peter Crouch, a lanky starting forward for England's national team, played for the club in the 2008-09 season. David James, England's starting goalkeeper, played from 2006 to 2010. Alan Knight played for the club for over 25 years, from 1978 to 2000, and has been dubbed "The Legend." Jimmy Dickinson, known as "Gentleman Jim," is easily the club's most celebrated player. He played during the club's glory years in the 1950s and went on to manage the team in the 1970s. His image is now enshrined in Fratton Park's seating.
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