We get to know a little more about Chix.
1 – Vital Pompey username?
Chix (it’s a bit of a play on my surname). I was given the nickname at school because at the age of 13 I was ‘dating’ a 17 year old. The nickname has stuck all my life so much so that a number of people I’ve known for years wouldn’t actually know my real name!
2 – Where do you come from/where do you currently live?
Born in New Road East, Copner in ’63, moved around a bit in Pompey (North End, Hilsea, Fratton) until I moved to just outside Winchester in ’96, moved to Deepest Darkest Devon in 2001, but for the last 2 years have been living in Salisbury, which means I can easily get to every home game again.
3 – How long have you been a Vital Pompey member?
Since August this year.
4 – What do you think of Vital Pompey? Be brutally honest!
I think the site is fantastic, although I wish we didn’t have all the ‘flashing adverts’ on it (but hey that’s part of the Vital Network so we’ll have to live with it I guess). The members are great and everybody feels they can contribute without getting put down or sworn at!
I particularly like repeating articles like ‘Challenge Dave’, match previews and reports, the Prediction League and the new ‘Previous Encounters’ thread, as these things are unique to us but also encourage ‘guests’ to come back time and again, and as guests eventually turn in to members this can only be healthy for the growth of the site. The more members we have the better the debate.
5 – How did you find out about Vital Pompey?
I followed a Google Alert and after looking at a number of other Pompey sites thought that Vital Pompey was by far the best. So I contacted ‘the landlord’ and made it my local – I still log onto the a few others sites occasionally, but always manage to find my way home!
6 – When did you first watch Pompey live – not on box unless this is the only way you have been able to see them? Not necessarily at Fortress Fratton though.
This is a tricky one, as I thought it was Sunderland at home in January ’75 (4-2 victory), but since looking up the details of that game for this article I’ve realised that it must’ve been earlier as I remember the Manchester United game the preceding October and I’m positive I saw Paul Went’s debut which was in December ’73 – Either way it was in the days of Phil Roberts, Norman Piper, Billy Wilson, Micky Mellows and my boyhood hero Peter Marinello. I remember my mum telling the story that she would give me 50 ‘new’ pence to go to the home games and for that I could get in, get a programme, buy a hot dog and a drink and still have enough to get the bus back to my Nan’s in North End – Happy days!
7 – How often do you get to watch Pompey?
Every home game. I travel down from Salisbury and meet my brother in the pub (the Crook or the Barn) @ 1pm… a few pints then onto the game. Don’t get the opportunity to get away much these days as I have two young daughters (6 months and 3 years) and I like to spend as much time with them and my wife as possible which is fine on the whole except when you have to spend a Saturday afternoon clock watching, (determined to get home and onto PFCtv radio for 3pm), whilst buying a new pink dress, or some nappies or whatever in Mother care – Life can be stressful sometimes!
8 – Who is your favourite Pompey Player – current and/or former?
As I said earlier my idol as a kid was Peter Marinello big time, I adored the bloke and wanted to be just like him when I grew up, for those of you old enough to understand, I still wear my socks around my ankles even now!
Latterly, it’s been Kemp, Biley, Corporal Guy, Quinny to name a few but the player who has given me the greatest pleasure to watch is Walshy he was (and still is) a legend.
As for now… It’s a bit of a toss up between Benjani for all the obvious reasons and Sol Campbell. I’ve a big soft spot for the gunners going back to their double days in ’71 (I collected Arsenal stickers and bubble gum cards ….. Pompey weren’t good enough to have anything made of their players) My Old Man is a Gooner as well.
9 – What is you favourite Pompey moment?
Anderton’s Goal – I won’t go into too much detail as I’ve written an ‘A to Z’ article about it. But anybody who was in the blazing Highbury sunshine on 5th April 1992 will know the feeling they felt when the ball flew into the back of the net … we were 3 minutes and 42 seconds away from Wembley… It still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up thinking about!
More recently Benjani’s hat-trick v Reading – What a star that bloke is.
10 – What are your realistic hopes for Pompey in the future?
Europe is a lovely thought, and something that I think will happen either this season or next, but in reality it’ll just mean a couple of games against teams we’ve never heard of from countries we couldn’t find on a map. It’s hardly the stuff memories are made of, is it?
My dream and a realistic one at that is to see Pompey win the FA Cup – Now wouldn’t that be just great.
PLAY UP POMPEY!
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