It’s no secret that Fratton Park has been an absolute fortress and always has been a place where many sides hate to see coming up on the fixture list next as a place to go. The atmosphere, passion and noise all coming together to push on the team- like I said, this has always happened, but why are we noticing it just as late as now? Present manager John Mousinho forged Portsmouth out of League One, last season’s 23/24 campaign after 7 seasons of disappointment and boredom, which meant after a long awaited return Pompey were back in the Championship.
Here we are now, Present day and since November 1st- Pompey have only lost just one game in the league at home, winning 9 and drawing 2 meaning they have amassed a total of 29 points in this period of domination at home, with all of this coming together it puts Portsmouth 17th and 10 points off the drop zone. The real question is, Can Pompey’s home form help them towards survival? Well buckle in so I can now give you discreet insight on how they have already hacked down on their ways to pick up points at home!
Picking up points against top half sides at Fratton Park
So far in this 24/25 campaign Pompey have shown they are not shy of a fight at home against top 10 sides, especially given the stats.
4 wins and 3 draws against sides who have had decent seasons and what makes this even better and shows how strong they are at home is that they haven’t conceded against the top 3 runaway sides (Leeds, Sheffield Utd and Burnley) as a massive win on Sunday at Fratton Park against league leaders Leeds United made this a big achievement and looked like John Mousinho’s side were making progress in this second half of an already mind blowing season in the Championship.
But it’s not like they’re pushing teams on and attacking them with pressure with lots of the ball, they have an average of 43.2% possession so far this season- only Millwall have lower with 42.5%. On the other hand, they have the 6th most goals scored at home in the Championship so it shows they can score goals and can find ways to score, which I find amazing when they sit in the bottom half of the table.
Home form against away form
Going on to this topic I really want to show the difference between how they are at the “fortress” Fratton Park and how they are away from home. Firstly, let’s go into stats-
Home 24/25:
18 Games
9 Wins
5 Draws
4 Losses
50% Win percentage
22% Loss percentage
Away 24/25:
18 Games
2 Wins
4 Draws
12 Losses
11% Win percentage
67% Loss percentage
These stats just say it all really, there’s a massive difference between home and away form which on one hand isn’t great as it shows they struggle away from home but on the other can show how well they can adapt to Fratton Park atmosphere and gain momentum on top of it.
Colby Bishop’s superhero return.
The South-East talisman hadn’t had the best of luck going into the 24/25 campaign right off the back of a climatic title winning season with Pompey and scoring 23 goals in all competitions as he had to have heart surgery after a cardiac screening showed signs of a possible risk of a cardiac arrest. After a long time of struggle and impatience, Colby Bishop was back in a blue shirt- November 9th Bishop made an almighty appearance off the bench in a shaky game at Fratton Park against Preston North End with the score at 2-1 to Pompey. He had a chance to make his return a memory to cherish as in the short time Bishop was on the pitch, Pompey had won a penalty and I think only one man was going to step up…
Bishop stepped up with emotions running loose through the ground, he had the chance to give them their first home win of the season (I know that sounds crazy now) and slotted home which gave Pompey accreditation that they would have 3 points put on the board at the end of the day as Fratton Park erupted in passionate fashion.
That was only one game, now let’s look at his personal stats since he’s been back:
22 Games
6 Goals
2 Assists
8.02 Exp Goals
105 Touches in Opp box
As you can see since his return, he’s never wanted and looked more ready to fire goals for fun exactly like his 23/24 season with Pompey. His goal against Leeds United at the weekend in a 1-0 victory showed us that since his delayed start to the season, he hasn’t knocked any tricks out of his “magic hat”.
Pompey’s very own brick wall
A certain man has hit the headlines for his jaw-dropping performance versus Leeds United and his name is Nicolas Schmid (GK)- Keeping a clean sheet, making double saves and to finish a magnificent day off for himself; a POTM (Via FutMob) performance. The question remains can he keep up his shot stopping form until the end of the season and can he push Pompey to a mid table finish?
What I find brilliant about Schmid is that not only his shot stopping and sweeping is top class, his long balls are also very good, especially when you have a next level ball chaser like Colby Bishop in your side it gives you different options to go for.Â
Fratton Park Buzz.
Going onto my last and final segment which is the obvious reason why Pompey are so dangerous at home, Fratton Park…
After the Full Time whistle went in their win against Leeds United, goalscorer Colby Bishop and Josh Murphy were asked to sum up the “magnitude” of the performance and victory and Bishop followed the question straight to the point of the explosive after party celebrations.
Bishop said “The atmosphere is frightening, there’s no better atmosphere around England…you can hear it still”
He soon followed it on by saying a short quote “They were our 12th man today, they spur us on”
So that concludes the end of “How can Pompey’s home form help them towards survival”, with the injuries that they have been forced to deal with and delays with important players coming back- John Mousinho and his team have dealt with it brilliantly and this is what separates them from the scrap at the bottom.
