“This is a message for possibly the best supporters in the world. We need a 12th man here. Where are you? Where are you? Let’s be having you. Come on.’
Those were the words stuttered through a microphone by none other than Norwich Director and TV chef Delia Smith nearly three years ago.
Although in most quarters she was publicly lambasted for her comments I remember thinking at the time that maybe, just maybe she had a point. Sometimes teams need a 12th man and sometimes that 12th man can make a difference. In fact it’s something which unlike a lot of clubs Pompey does recognise. Recognise so much in fact that they’ve even retired the No.12 shirt in OUR honour.
I mention this only as a reference as having just read the ‘official site’ I can not believe that we have tickets left unsold for both the Boro and Vitoria SC games.
Now some might argue, and quite rightly, that two matches in the space of a week is a bit of a dent in the old ‘sky rocket’. Others might argue that a 6pm kick-off for the UEFA cup tie makes getting to the game a bit of a struggle, again a fair point, but there are around 1,400 seats still unsold for the Boro game and a staggering 7,000 available for our historic first game in the UEFA Cup. Add to this the fact that Pompey have reduced junior prices for the Boro match to £5 and all prices for the Vitoria game, where adults can get in for £20 and I find it hard to accept that a club whose supporters have been banging on for years about deserving a 40,000 capacity stadium can not sell 20,000 against an established premiership side or even 15,000 for our first venture into Europe.
I have no idea why these seats remain unsold but I would like to ask one question.
What has happened to the thousands of supporters who in March and May so desperately wanted or, in some of their own words ‘deserved’ a semi final or final ticket? Surely Boro are not that unattractive and surely a 6pm kick-off is not that much of a problem for everybody is it?
So I’ll use a few of Delia’s words and say ?
“We reckon we are the best supporters in the Premiership and we are the 12th man. So, where are you? Where are you? Let’s be having you. Let’s fill the ground and give our team so much support that both Boro and Vitoria will not know what’s hit them. Come on!”
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