Neil Ayrton
Full Name: Neil John Ayrton
Born: 11 February 1962, Lewisham
Nationality: British
Transferred from: Maidstone United, December 1979
Previous Clubs: None
Pompey Debut: 06 September 1980 v Brentford (L 0-2)
First Pompey Goal: n/a
Games: 2 (League)
Final Game: 29 March 1981 v Oxford Utd (D 1-1)
Transferred to: Released
Subsequent Clubs: Maidstone United
Profile:
Highly rated 17 year old winger Neil Ayrton signed for 4th Division Portsmouth from Alliance Premier League Club Maidstone United in December 1979 but had to wait until Pompey had gained promotion to the 3rd Division before making his debut (replacing Terry Brisley) in a 2-0 defeat v Brentford at Fratton Park the following September.
Opportunities with high flying Pompey were few and far between and over six months passed before a one match absence by Alan Rogers allowed manager Frank Burrows to provide Ayrton with his full debut as Pompey drew 1-1 with Oxford United in a sodden Sunday afternoon fixture at Fratton Park.
As it transpired that match accounted for Ayrton’s one and only start as a Pompey player and his substitution during the game (replaced by Jeff Hemmerman) also marked the end of his brief spell as a professional footballer, as having struggled to make the grade he was released at the end of the season and returned to Maidstone United.
Having retired from non-league football Ayrton converted to Athletics where he is now an established veteran runner with Blackheath & Bromley Harriers Athletic Club
Links:
Season by season games played via PompeyRama
Vital Pompey Author Chix
Statistics provided by: PompeyRama.com
Additional resources: Portsmouth: A Complete Record – C. Farmery
Date: May 2009
