Another offering from Dan Brett who returns with some post Wembley musings.
A song symbolising a club’s achievement of reaching Wembley Stadium, sung by fans’ perhaps once in a lifetime – well, for Portsmouth fans’, they’re set to be revisiting the famous ground for their fifth time in just three years, as they take on Chelsea in the FA Cup final on May 15.
‘Que sera sera’, a popular song by Doris Day in the mid-50’s, for me perfectly sums up the season for Pompey fans’, not knowing what’s happening with their beloved football club, having to install a ‘Whatever will be, will be’ attitude on every entry to football grounds across the country.
And it’s just this song, sung by the Fratton Faithful at Wembley on Sunday that shows signs of a silver lining, giving the thousands something to finally cheer about, in a season marred by financial plight and uncertainty behind the scenes at Fratton Park.
The 99th minute strike from on-loan striker Frederic Piquionne sealed a famous win for Pompey, beating Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 in extra time. A late penalty from former-Spurs midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng capped a strong performance from the South Coast side.
What has been a long season for Pompey fans’; many may have forgotten just the extent of what has happened since the turn of August 2009. A year that started off with shirt sponsors ‘OKI Printing Solutions’ failing to be able to put their name on the kits due to funding difficulties meant Pompey had to start the season with a very bare shirt.
This was soon followed by reports on October 1 that the Portsmouth players and staff hadn’t been paid, showing the latest signs of real cracks in the Portsmouth boardroom, following the firesales of fan-favourites Lassana Diarra and Glen Johnson, as well as Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar rejoining former-manager Harry Redknapp at Tottenham, who faced their former side on Sunday.
A season started under the careful stewardship of now-Crystal Palace manger Paul Hart also seemed a short-lived experience, being sacked on November 24 following a poor run of results, despite performances warranting a much higher league position.
Two takeovers from Arabian businessmen Sulaiman Al-Fahim and Ali Al-Faraj also saw to Pompey’s demise, both with the promise of unlimited funds, with the reality of unlimited lies, deceit and ultimate despair for all involved with Portsmouth Football Club.
And lately, the discovery of player’s bonuses that could result in several first-teamers not being available for the FA Cup final could prove the final nail in the coffin for Pompey fans’, with hopes of one last hurrah before returning to life in England’s second division, the Npower Championship.
However, one thing that seems certain amidst all of the uncertainty, the devotion of Pompey’s fans’ remains undiminished, despite a season that would send fans’ of many teams into depression.
A lot has been made of the fantastic support administered by the fans’ of the club, especially in the dawn of an age of booing your team if they’ve lost just a couple of games. Support that many fans’ would have been booing just on the sight of the sale of one big-name player.
It seems only fitting that a club with such history would be given the chance to compete for England’s biggest domestic trophy, giving the fans’ just another chance to showcase how great they are, in the grand scheme of a footballing future with limited sight, where money dominates the love of the game and sponsorship overshadowing all things beautiful that symbolises the sport.
We are Portsmouth, and we always will be. Whether it be away at Wolfsburg in European competition, or at home to Oxford United on a cold, wet Tuesday night. We’ll be there, because we’re Portsmouth, we love our club and it loves us.
Written by Dan Brett.
The views within this article are the views of the individual who wrote and submitted this piece, sometimes solely theirs. They are not necessarily shared by the Vital Pompey Site Journalists.
