Next we head south, way on down south, as low as you can go - Portsmouth. This may come as no surprise to anyone but the city derives it's name from the Old English Anglo-Saxon name, "Portesmuða", which in itself is derived from port (a haven) and muða (the mouth of a large river or estuary). Less well known though is that in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, a warrior named Port and his two sons killed a noble Briton in Portsmouth in 501. And even less known, Winston Churchil in A History of the English Speaking Peoples wrote that Port was a pirate who founded Portsmouth in 501.
Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island off the south coast of England in the Solent making Portsmouth the only city in England not located primarily on the mainland. The city is home to the first drydock ever built. It was constructed by Henry VII in 1496. That dock no longer exists but Portsmouth is still the home of the world's oldest dry dock "The Great Stone Dock"; originally built in 1698, rebuilt in 1769 and presently known as "No.5 Dock". Number 5" refers to its sequential order in the series of dry docks at the naval base. By the early-19th century, Portsmouth was the most heavily fortified city in the world. During WW2, the city was a pivotal embarkation point for the D-Day landings and was bombed extensively in the Portsmouth Blitz. It was also the departure point for the Falklands fleet in 1982. "Seven Tears" by the Goombay Dance Band occupied the top spot in the charts that week.
Portsmouth FC were formed on 5 April 1898, at 12 High Street, Old Portsmouth as "The Portsmouth Football and Athletic Company". Work started the following year on their new ground, Fratton Park after the nearby and convenient Fratton Railway Station. Portsmouth began their early history in the Southern and Western leagues, before being elected into the English Football League and newly formed Third Division in 1920.
They achieved success as league champions in 1948–49 and 1949–50; FA Cups in 1938–39, 2007–08; EFL Cup 2018–19; and the much valued Hampshire Senior Cup 1902–03, 1912–13, 1951–52, 1986–87. Portsmouth are one of only five English football clubs to have been champions of all four tiers of the professional English football.
Portsmouth are nicknamed Pompey, a local nickname used by both His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth. The origins of the nickname are unknown. One theory is that "Pompey" is derived from the name of the famous Roman General Pompey the Great, reknowned for his military victories at sea, including defeating pirates and King Mithridates. Another theory is that "Pompey" is simply a shortened or altered version of "Portsmouth," evolving over time through local dialects. This is a common phenomenon in language where longer names are shortened for ease of speech.
Portsmouth fans sing the "Pompey Chimes", originally known as the 'Town Hall Chimes' during matches. The song is synonymous with the club and is regarded as one of the oldest football chants still in use today. The unique rhythm of the chant is designed to imitate the sound of the bells of Portsmouth’s Anglican Cathedral, which are heard across the city. We can't be certain of the original wording but records suggest the following were in use as early as 1900-01 - Play up Pompey,Just one more goal! Make tracks! What ho!Hallo! Hallo!!
Portsmouth's mascot really is Billy the Fish, or to be more accurate Billy the Piranha. The piranha is a nod to Portsmouth’s local history and maritime heritage, unlike the character in Viz magazine. Southampton fans call Portsmouth supporters “skates”, a reference to presumably apocryphal tales of Royal Navy sailors relieving their sexual frustrations using fish.
Celebrity fans include
Will Ferrell
Cricketer, Anya Shrubsole MBE
Fred Dinenage
Penny Mordaunt
Mason Mount
Ian Darke - whoever he is
The Sea God, Neptune
Pompey the Great
The Ace fighter pilots of RAF Tangmere
Head to head, there's not much between the two clubs. Leeds have won 23, drawn 18 and lost 18. The last meeting was the season opener which ended in a 3:3 draw. Our current run is WWWWD, whereas Pompeys is LWWWL. We are top and they are 17th. Portsmouth are suffering a bit of an injury crisis. Top scorer, Callum Lang is out, so are most of their CBs including Hayden Matthews, Rob Atkinson, super Conor O'Shaughnessy and Ibane Bowat. Full Back Jacob Farrell is out. Winger Paddy Lane is out. It's more a question of who plays - Andre Dozzell is a decent midfielder but with those injuries, I can't see Portmouth surviving our barrage of attackers. 3-1 to Leeds.
Anyone up for a skate supper?
Another terrible ref/linesman comedy duo!-
-JP classy goal disallowed
-How Joe Bryan didn't get at least a booking for 2 or 3 cynical fouls on Dan James
-ref also missed a 2 arm push to the chest in the area or just outside.
We dominated and should have put the game to bed sooner.
Firpo & Tanaka had great games,Firpo was everywhere,I'd love to see his heat map.
Rothwell impressed as well,very positive on the ball.
Aaronson had his best game in a long time.
Big 3 points after Bumley & Blunts drew.
Well done Mouseman, looking forward to you taking us to the premiership this year.
Think Tanake was the MOTM tonight.
Not a vintage performance and certainly not working/firing on all cylinders.
Rodon (tower of strength again) & Firpo the pick of the defenders.
Rothwell & Tanaka looked decent in the first half and both got better in the second half.
James well off it.
Back on top!
Farke out-managed again
Leeds 2-0 Millwall
Farke playing too narrow again, crap team selection
Leeds 1-0 Millwall (3 mins)
FWIW, in head to head, Leeds have won 15, Millwall 13 and 4 draws. Millwall’s current run is DDWLW.
I fancy us for this match. 3-0, Piroe, Arransin and James.
Well Farke is certainly loyal....or fkn mad!
He will be slaughtered at the final whistle if we put in a WBA or Pompey performance and haven't won....
Just don't understand why he's not rotating the players who are going to be rusty on the bench because of 10mins here and there....they are quality players and would get in any other Championship side!
I certainly wouldn't give him stick but am purely saying others will....prove yourself correct Farke! 👍⚽🙏🙌💛💙
MOT ...
Well the rest of the chasing pack had a trip up last night.... a win tonight to get revenge for 2 defeats this season and we're back at the top with it all in our hands
CMON LEEEDS!
No mdt so posting this here.
Think DF should have rested BA but good to see Rothwell back in midfield
It really simple. The result is because Farke was out managed by their manager who basically set up his team to nullify our teams key players thus making us unable to play.
You know this reminds me of last season too of the world and league after e fantastic stuffing of Leicester
And then thinking they could cruse to the title
What a crap way to lose your winning streak so who’s up for it ?
How "very disappointing" with what was the worst all-round performance this season.
The whole team without exception had a mare. In particular Tanaka should have been hooked at half time along with Aronsen who for too long now has been playing like he did in our relegation year and needs benching. The thing about him that annoys me most is his total inability to battle and win the ball in 50 50 situations with his feeble token non-physical attempts especially in the air.
I do like Farke as a person but I don't understand his team selection, tactics or substitutions, nor his stubbornness to make make tactical changes when it's blindingly obvious they're needed. Recently he's been lucky with his subs but dare I say it, over the season it's been hit and miss.
On Sunday the writing was on the wall by half time with them pressing us hard and using the long ball over the top. Strikers were $h1t and we were disjointed and ineffective in mid-field.
With no tactical change at half time Farke was way too late making subs and hoping for a repeat of the previous games. That's not tactics, that's just close your eyes and hope !!
And just to make things worse we had other Meslier f**k up entirely of his making (unless someone can show me Rodon calling for him to leave the ball) he needs to be sold as he's just full of mistakes and just not good enough even at this level.
So all in all we might scrape home but promotion ain't nailed on like it was 10 days ago !! ...maybe the international break will help (usually has the opposite effect!).
Apologies for the rant, but honestly !!!
MOT
It was a great run Smurf but sadly it's over. I also had a bad feeling ahead of this game based on the team’s performance against WBA and playing our games as the last of the weekend fixtures. Going into yesterday’s game we needed a result after the chasing clubs had all won their matches. I likened it to a penalty shoot-out where the pressure is always on the team going second to score. Also the heightened tension and euphoria of scoring late winning goals against Sunderland and Sheff Utd looks to have taken its toll on the team mentally. Farke needs to address this and solve it before we face Millwall on Wednesday.
Sobering thought, after Tuesday's games we could be 3rd in the league!!. 2 weeks ago, we were 8 points clear of 3rd and 5 points clear of 2nd!.
We're all on a downer, me included, and we're top of the league.... weird feeling.
We just didn't get going and didn't play any fast flowing football but could have won by 4/5!
Subs should have been made by the 60th minute at the latest and we have good players to come on to rest and rotate....it could even have been changed at half time!
I'm so piissed off with Farke that he doesn't change formation DURING the game and could have played FOUR players behind a front 2 and pushed right on earlier....we have the best players in the division so why not take the game to an inferior team with a depleted squad!?
I must admit they did keep closing us down at the back and we couldn't play out....
Well done Smurf with quality MDT's and I pity the poor person having to follow you....fkn Millscum next!!
Unlucky smirf. I knew it would be an early kick off that would end your run. We aren't very good at them.
Unlucky Smurf, could have been 4 or 5-1 to us today! Great run tho Sir!!
I sincerely hope this isn’t the start of us bottling it again?!!
Well that was dogsh*te. Tanaka was woeful, Aaronson ( as I previously suspected) is now a busted flush for the rest of the season, Struijk was poor, both full backs were pretty clueless in defence and Meslier was inept with decision for their goal.
Yes, it was a stonewall penalty, however we missed 3 sitters afterwards to take all 3 points. The commentary team were stating that Leeds remaining fixtures are not with those in the top 6, well to be honest I wish they were!.
Sh1t result.
Pompy wanted it more.
Ref was terrible,nailed on penalty for the foul on James missed.
Had enough chances to win it.