Heaven's light issue 5 by Official Pompey

THE OFFICIAL DIGITAL MAGAZINE OF PORTSMOUTH FOOTBALL CLUB

HEAVEN’SLIGHT EDSPACE / WHAT POMPEY MEANS TO ME / OUT OF THE SHADOWS STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW / JOHNNY MOORE / TICKET NEWS

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CONTENTS 05 Edspace 07 What Pompey Means To Me

09 Out Of The Shadows 11 Stakeholder Interview 14 Johnny Moore 25 Ticket News DESIGN The Graphic Design House, www.tgdh.co.uk Designers Chris Dale, chris@tgdh.co.uk Andrew Sanders, andy@tgdh.co.uk PHOTOGRAPHY Colin Farmery, SJ Maskell, Matthew Sankey, Simon Hill, Pompey Press, The News

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WE ARE NOW ENTERING THE LAST MONTH OF THE SEASON, WITH VITAL POINTS TO PLAY FOR ON THE PITCH TO SECURE LEAGUE 2 FOOTBALL AT FRATTON PARK NEXT SEASON

} Welcome to the April edition of Heaven’s Light. We are now entering the last month of the season, with vital points to play for on the pitch to secure League 2 football at Fratton Park next season. This issue of Heaven’s Light is packed with news about life off the pitch at Pompey. There is an out of the shadows feature on the club’s secretary, a stakeholder interview with Covers, another one of Johnny Moore’s favourite years and the latest ticket news. John Jenkins MBE is the latest fan to say what Pompey means to him. The 94-year-old has been involved with the club for more than 50 years and shared some of his favourite Pompey memories. If you want to be in a future edition of Heaven’s Light saying what Pompey means to you, then please do get in touch. You can email me on tomwhite@pompeyfc.co.uk and you can also send any comments, ideas or suggestions for our publication to that email address. Yours in Pompey, Tom White Heaven’s Light Editor Guy

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W H AT D O E S

POMPEY MEAN TO ME?

JOHN JENKINS MBE, 94, FROM MILTON TELLS TOM WHITE WHAT POMPEY MEANS TO HIM

} Can you tell us a bit about yourself? Football has always been the love of my life. I’ve worked for the club now for about 58 seasons. I’ve been a turnstile man, and eventually I was asked by Paul Weld if I would go in the boardroom. I took over as boardroom steward about 30 years ago now. When I retired from my job I used to come up to Fratton Park and volunteer and help with clearing all the mess up. I was also in the Army in the Second World War.

a day to remember and one I shall never forget. There were also the two First Division titles and the game when we beat Southampton 4-1 at Fratton Park.

} Do you have any favourite players? Jimmy Dickinson was outstanding. Next to him I would say Duggie Reid was one of my favourites, and of course Peter Harris. Those players in those days were all outstanding. Pre-war Freddie Worrall was my hero.

} What does Pompey mean to you? As my wife said to me once, ‘you better take your bed to Fratton Park.’ And I said ‘well I tried but it wouldn’t go through the turnstiles.’

} Can you remember when you started supporting Pompey? I was lucky enough to have four uncles who were absolutely mad on Pompey so as I got a bit older I saw one or two of the reserve games, but I always wanted to go to one of the big games. I saw my first game in 1928 when Pompey played Sheffield Wednesday and we won the match that day 3-2. It was that match that set me on my way to being a true supporter of Portsmouth Football Club.

} Do you have any favourite goals? Duggie Reid scored a free kick against Everton which was just the other side of the halfway line. That was one of the most wonderful free kicks I’ve ever seen. A recent goal was the one that Matt Taylor scored against Everton. Another goal I remember is one that Jimmy Scoular scored against Manchester City.

} How did you feel when the Trust bought the club? If we’re getting good gates and we can get the finance coming in then I think it’s a good thing. We all want promotion but if we have another year in this league with that kind of income coming in then I think that the club will be on a better footing.

} Do you have a highlight from your time supporting the club?

} What are your hopes for the future for Pompey?

The 1939 FA Cup final. To see Pompey beat Wolves that day was wonderful. And then of course the FA Cup final in 2008. I had my 1939 FA Cup final ticket and E.ON were looking for people who had been at the 1939 FA Cup final, so I was a guest of E.ON at Wembley. It was

Portsmouth should be in the Premier League, no doubt about it. My ambition is to see us climb up the leagues, like we did years ago when we were in the Southern League and we went right up to the First Division.

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OUT OF TH E

SHADOWS P O M P E Y ’ S S E C R E T A R Y,

A N A B E L R O M A N,

TA L K S TO S J M A S K E L L

} Club secretary Anabel Roman has ridden the PFC rollercoaster since 2008. She started as PA to club secretary Paul Weld in the week before the FA Cup final. Since then she has seen relegation through the leagues and two administrations. She says during those days everyone was: “In the unknown. We didn’t know if we’d have jobs for much longer – we just got on with it as best we could.” Anabel learned the club secretary’s job working alongside Paul. She says she was lucky with her timing, as she got to go on the brief European tour of 2008. As a Spanish speaker her skills were useful. Anabel says: “Paul’s 37 years at the club gave him a lot of knowledge. It was a steep learning curve for me.” She became acting club secretary on Paul’s retirement in 2010 and has carried on ever since.

WORKING FOR THE CLUB KIND OF GETS YOU, I CAN’T EXPLAIN IT

The role makes her the chief intermediary between the football authorities and the club. She needs to be aware of all the rules and regulations in operation, most importantly in the area of player contracts. There are standard terms that have to be met, as well as the personal terms negotiated with the CEO and manager, before a player can be recognised as eligible to play. Anabel’s role is to ensure everything is correct so that the club does not incur fines or point deductions by fielding an ineligible player. This includes arranging international clearance such as that required from Wales for Daniel Alfei. It requires a painstaking attention to detail and a high level of confidentiality. There was a lot of pressure on her during administration last season with players all on monthly contracts, all with different renewal dates. She also remembers the day in 2012 when the club signed ten players at once, resulting in a two-foot high stack of paper on her desk and an urgent need to meet the registration deadline. “The work is intense and continuous,” she says. Fortunately there is no need to rely on a fax machine anymore she informed me, wryly, remembering the problems with Liam Lawrence’s registration in 2010, with all interested parties being in different countries. The job also makes her responsible for all matchday liaison with the Football League, including the organisation of the match officials, arranging pitch inspections and filing match reports, recording any red or yellow cards. Anabel enjoys the intricate detail of the job. She had been a PA in telecoms and worked in marketing before coming to Pompey. This job seems to have her hooked. “You are always learning,” she says. “Working for the club kind of gets you, I can’t explain it.”

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STAKEHOLDER INTERVIEW STEVE WESTON TO M W H ITE I NTE R V I E W S STE V E W E STO N, C O V E R S’ S A L E S D I R E CTO R } You are a local company, so was that one of the reasons why you decided to sponsor Pompey? We’ve sponsored the club in some way, shape or form since I’ve been with Covers over the last 14 years. We’ve had numerous hospitality deals and we’ve sponsored the North Stand for three or four seasons. The main reason for the current sponsorship deal was that there was an opportunity to do something for the club. Our customers are fans of Portsmouth Football Club and some of them have put their hard-earned money into the club and bought shares, so we wanted to do something. We got a phone call from the chief executive giving us an opportunity to be the back of the shirt sponsors, which we grabbed.

He approached us and said that he wanted to get loyal supporters and loyal sponsors who have supported Pompey through thick and thin to stay with the club. I think we were one of the first names he thought of so it was a fantastic opportunity for us. } Have you noticed any changes since the fans bought the club? I think this season has changed dramatically compared to the last three or four seasons because we’ve got more of an understanding of where we are and there’s a bigger focus on supporting the club. We’ve been given fantastic support from the club and it has been a two-way venture. We’ve been trying to look after each other, which is the community spirit that we’re all trying to achieve.

} Do you think the community club model could be the way forward?

sometimes but we have to say that coming out of the recent recession we’re in good stead going forward.

Assuming that other clubs have got the same sort of support and the same sort of interest as what we’ve got, coupled with some backers and some dedicated directors and staff like what we’ve got, I’m sure it could absolutely be a good model going forward.

} Are there any new projects at Covers?

} Have you found any particular benefits from being associated with Pompey? At Covers we’re seeing supporters of the club that probably wouldn’t normally come to us as customers. Our footfall seems to have increased since we’ve done the sponsorship. It’s obviously very difficult to quantify but we have a hunch that the increased footfall is due to the sponsorship deal.

} How are things going at Covers?

At the moment things are generally very good. Obviously the weather dictates how busy we are

We made a decision a few years ago to get into eco products and green products and we have an eco centre where we supply anything from rainwater harvesting to solar panels. I think there will eventually be a specification from architects to introduce these products into the new projects, especially for social housing and larger developments because the country is looking to improve its carbon footprint. We’ve also committed to a kitchen and bathroom showroom in our Portsmouth depot to accommodate the builder, the DIY and the retail customers.

} Are you optimistic going forward? Yes I’m optimistic going forward. We’ve put champions in place for our key product areas and we’ve invested in quality staff to look after all our

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A proud supporter

different product areas that we deal with. For instance if you want an eco product we have an eco specialist and if you want doors and windows we have a doors and windows specialist. I’m very optimistic we can grow the business and that will help us support the club with sponsorship and any projects that go with it, like the fans day, because we want to make this a long-term relationship. At the fans day we had these goody bags and as we’d never done it before we thought we’d have about 500 goody bags with a water bottle, a mug, a cap, a pen and a pad. I think we could have given out at least three times that amount. It was absolutely incredible.

THE MAIN REASON FOR THE CURRENT SPONSORSHIP DEAL WAS THAT THERE WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE CLUB

} Are many of your employees Pompey fans and what would you say about the fans? I would say the majority of our Portsmouth and Gosport employees are Pompey fans and there are also a few Pompey fans in our Bognor, Chichester and Alresford depots. I think the attendances speak for themselves and we must have the most loyal fans in the country. It’s outstanding how the brand of Portsmouth Football Club stays so prominent and it’s all credit to this community that they saved the club when I’m sure most other teams would have failed.

} Do you have a highlight from your time sponsoring the club? Personally being a local lad and a Pompey supporter myself the highlight is seeing the Covers name on the back of the Pompey shirt. I’ve got friends and family who have supported the club for 40 to 50 years and they’re quite proud to see the business on the back of the Pompey shirt.

} What are your hopes for the future for the club? I think continued stability first and foremost so the fans have got football to go to every other Saturday afternoon, and hopefully taking it in bite-sized chunks so we can creep back through the divisions and get back to where we belong.

} Is there anything else you would like to add? I think having Covers on the back of the Pompey shirt has been nice for our staff. We’ve also invested in all the Covers and Pompey merchandise which the customers have really liked.

WE’VE BEEN GIVEN FANTASTIC SUPPORT FROM THE CLUB AND IT HAS BEEN A TWO-WAY VENTURE

1982-83 S

} In my first 15 years as a Pompey fan I learnt gradually that much like life, football fortunes occur within cycles. In fact it perhaps accounts for my unique bond with Pompey that our cycles have usually changed hand in hand. The 1970’s at Fratton Park began in mid-table mediocrity before spiralling downwards resulting in relegation from two leagues down to the basement along with financial crisis. Similarly life in the 70’s began with my entering secondary school, leaving with no qualifications and similarly spiralling downward to unemployment, drink and ill health. As much as I constantly reminisce about the magical time that was the 1970’s it was in fact a decade where both Pompey and I lacked any direction or hope and were both in danger of spiralling out of control. Ironically as Abba chimed out 1979 with Happy New Year and the immortal lyric ‘who can say what we’ll find, what lies waiting down the line, at the end of 89’ little could I realise how the cycle was changing as I took it in from a hospital bed. Not long after 1980 would see my first witnessed promotion of Pompey from the old Fourth Division leading to seven years later where Alan Ball’s side would complete a incredible journey by clinching promotion to the top league in the country to contest with the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool. Hand in hand with this uprising of fortune I followed suit by embarking on an Open University degree which resulted in a degree with honours in Social Sciences and a journalistic appointment around the same time Bally was uncorking the champagne on the Fratton Park pitch.

Quite frankly it had been the end of an era with both Pompey and I reaching the depths of despair where only we could look deep within ourselves to transform it. With Pompey though Frank Burrows took over in sad circumstances after the heart attack of the legendary Jimmy Dickinson, his astute purchases of the likes of Joe Laidlaw, Terry Brisley and Alan Rogers aided by the sale of Steve Foster to Brighton for £150,000 paved the way for a new beginning. Burrows had looked at the club’s downward spiral, seen the stature of the place, brought experienced players from the league above and in doing so halted the plummeting, creating in its place a winning mentality long lost. He had decided Pompey deserved better. I too had literally woken up one morning and decided not only was I doing a gross disservice to myself but that I owed it to my self esteem and family to prove it. Like Burrows I assessed my downward spiral, knew I had so much more to offer and began plotting my own path to halt the plummeting and replace it with a purpose. We looked at the big picture, made the conscious decision that only we could transform our own fortunes and thus 1980 became the year where the winds of time shifted from failure to achievement. There are many seasons I could select in this golden period but it was perhaps 1982-83 that epitomised the upward progression. Bobby Campbell’s Division Three championship side of this season in my opinion was as exciting and fluent as the Harry Redknapp side which 20 years later would storm the old Second Division. Despite a wonderful last day at Northampton, Frank Burrows’ 1980 side would eventually emerge triumphant from the basement league in fourth

position on virtue of a result between Peterborough and Bradford City. While Alan Ball’s 1987 second-placed promotion to Division One was likewise decreed by Oldham defeating Shrewsbury on a night that Pompey weren’t even in action. Neither detracted from the achievements rather than ever so slightly took the gloss off them. From day one Campbell’s 1983 champions swaggered their way to the title clinching it on their own terms on another dramatic 1980’s final day at Plymouth. Three debutants, the charismatic Alan Biley, the enigmatic Neil Webb and the functional Ernie Howe all plundered goals on their debut along with the tried and trusted Mick ‘Yosser’ Tait as Pompey made light work of highly-fancied Sheffield United 4-1 on a sun drenched opening day at Fratton Park. Having never seen a championship-winning Pompey side one was at a loss to describe what one would look like, but this team sure gave a good impression of what that would be. In particular the flowing fair hair of Biley coupled with his shirt sleeves hanging over his fists gave Pompey their first pop-like idol - whose proven goal-scoring ability endeared him even further. And though Neil Webb was lesser known his pedigree as an 18-year-old at Reading along with undoubtedly silky skills further caused the pulse to race in a way unheard of in many years.

WE LOOKED AT THE BIG PICTURE, MADE THE CONSCIOUS DECISION THAT ONLY WE COULD TRANSFORM OUR OWN FORTUNES AND THUS 1980 BECAME THE YEAR WHERE THE WINDS OF TIME SHIFTED FROM FAILURE TO ACHIEVEMENT

There was an equally perplexing FA Cup exit at the hands of lower league Aldershot at Fratton Park and three consecutive goalless draws followed by a 1-0 defeat at Gillingham as ominously March kicked in. There was also a penalty epidemic of being awarded 17 penalties, eight of which were missed by six different players come April Fools’ Day. Bobby Doyle, Steve Aizlewood, Alan Biley, Neil Webb, Trevor Ross and Colin Sullivan all conspired to fire blanks from the spot.

There were lows as the season unwound from a five match unbeaten start which began with 12 goals scored and only three conceded.

Yet given the barren runs and the penalty misses Pompey would still end the season on 91 points scoring 74 goals, which was purely a measure of what they had in reserve.

A 5-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers crowned a sorry week which had begun with the death of Jimmy Dickinson, the club’s greatest one man servant who will ever grace Pompey.

Fittingly Alan Biley who notched Pompey’s first goal of this memorable season against Sheffield United crowned a unique hat-trick by also scoring the last one at Plymouth to clinch the title, having already headed the second against Southend which consequently sealed promotion. He and fellow striker Bill Rafferty, very much an unsung hero, hit 45 goals between them with Biley’s tally 26 in a campaign he played every game which also earned him Pompey player of the season. This really was the jewel in the crown of Pompey’s swinging 80’s, a decade which marked a change in direction for us both. Four years later in the summer of 1987 as Pompey were contemplating life in the top flight for the first time in 28 years, I was at Wembley for the graduate award of a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours. As Abba had asked at the start of this ten-year journey ‘who can say what we’ll find, what lies waiting down the line, at the end of 89?’ Both of us had risen from the depths of the late 1970’s to provide an emphatic early answer to their question.

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