All the stats you need before Pompey’s Premier League top of the table clash with Manchester City on Sunday.
The headline may confuse a few but Manchester City have a good record and Fratton Park and have amazingly scored on their last 18 visits. The last time they failed to score was in April 1955 when Pompey won 1-0 and went on to finish 3rd in Division One.
In total the two sides have met 36 times at the Park since their first meeting on New Year’s Day 1927. Since they have often been in the same Division, with only one large gap following City’s promotion to the top league at the end of 1965/66.
Pompey have won 18 times, City 10 times with 8 draws. The largest Pompey win was 4-1 in 1954 and the highest aggregate game – popular at the moment – was seven goals in 1959; City winning by the odd goal.
The two clubs have similar histories. After they first met in 1926/27 Pompey were promoted by a tiny margin over City. City were promoted the next season. In 1949/50 Pompey won the Championship, City were relegated but bounced straight back the following year. Pompey were relegated in 1958/59 City in 62/63.
Under Alan Ball Pompey and City fought out promotion on the last day of the 1984/85 season. Pompey won at Huddersfield 2-0 but City beat Charlton 5-1 and just piped us. Two years later Pompey were promoted but passed City who were going in the other direction.
In the Premier League we have met 4 times at home winning three and losing the other. Of those four games three have special memories. The 4-2 win in January 2004 was David Seaman’s last game after he retired with a shoulder injury. In November that year a Shaun Wright-Phillips inspired City tore Pompey apart on a freezing night winning 3-1. That was HR’s last game in his first rein.
Of course the third game was the 2-1 victory on 11 March 2006 when the Great Escape was launched by a last minute winner past a hapless David James. Can’t remember who scored the winner but I am still certain to this day that the City goal scored by Richard Dunne should have been disallowed for offside. If that had happened, would we have gained the momentum to escape and would the goal scorer have attained such hero status?
The most famous meeting between the two clubs was the 1934 Cup Final when City triumphed 2-1 and Pompey had to wait five years before captain Jimmy Guthrie received the famous trophy from King George VI. After being third time lucky of course we kept the cup for seven years!
Written by eastneydave.
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