by Stuart Barker (5/4/24)
Above: Pompey thank their fans after their win over Rugby Borough at Fratton Park. Photo: Jason Brown.
It’s a great time to be a Portsmouth fan. The men’s team are top of League One and on the cusp of promotion to the Championship. While Jay Sadler’s Pompey Women are close to confirming their promotion to the FA Women’s Championship (FAWC).
Three points against Plymouth Argyle this Sunday will not guarantee the FA Women’s National League (FA WNL) Southern Premier Division title, Pompey would have all bar one little finger on the trophy.
Presuming that their main competition, Hashtag United, overcome Ipswich Town as well then they would remain six points adrift, needing Pompey to lose all their remaining two matches and conceding forty goals in the process.
This is the first season that the FA WNL are promoting both Northern and Southern Division winners.
In previous years, promotion would have been decided in a play-off match between Northern and Southern Division winners. However, with two teams now dropping out of the FAWC it will spare one team the heartbreak – the likely winners look to be Newcastle United, they currently have a thirteen-point lead over Burnley in second.
Beth Lumsden may well be in line for two medals this season. She began the season with Portsmouth after joining from Southampton in the summer. Sixteen goals in seventeen appearances caught the attention of the Magpies and Lumsden made the move north in January.
The last time Portsmouth came this close to promotion to the second tier was back in 2015 when they took on Sheffield FC for a place in what was then known as the Women’s Super League Two. It was Lisa Giampalma who broke Pompey hearts when she scored the only goal in added time.
After last season’s fourth-placed finish, the club clearly took notice and in June the club announced that the women’s team will be integrated alongside the men’s team under the ownership of The Tornante Company. This was part of a move that will see new investment into the women’s team, allowing many of the first team squad to sign semi-professional contracts for the first time at the club.
While Pompey have led from the front for most of the season you can forgive many fans for trying to keep their feet on the ground. After all, they say it’s the hope that kills you. Ian Chiverton from the YouTube channel Pompey Women’s Vlogs described to me the match where he really started to believe.
Ian said, “For me, the game where I really felt we had the squad to challenge for promotion was Plymouth away on 15 Oct. We won the game 3-1 but it was such a difficult match. A challenging playing surface, a large boisterous home crowd and a fired-up Plymouth side.
“We had to give everything and had the quality in the final third to win the game. It showed we could rough it in the difficult away games and get three points. A critical attribute you need to win a league.”
This is apt given that Pompey’s opponents are the same Plymouth side this weekend.
Argyle are nine places lower than their opponents and while they recently turned heads with a 2-2 draw against Hashtag United I cannot see a scenario where Pompey do not come away with a win in front of a jubilant home crowd.
Ian added, “This season we have never let the opposition dedicate how we approach a game or play out the match. We do our thing and they have to deal with us. The squad has an exquisite balance, no matter the challenges they have faced there has always been the players in the squad to overcome it.
“Bringing in experienced players like Lumsden, Rutherford. Freeman and Casley then balancing that out with enthusiastic youth in the likes of Pitman and Humphrey has given Jay Sadler the arsenal to overcome every challenge thrown at the squad.”
In the build-up to the match, Sadler told me, “It’s been a fantastic season for us so far. The consistency levels this group have shown has been remarkable. It hasn’t been without its challenges, and when faced with adversity we’ve ran towards it.
“That resilience has transferred throughout our performances and although everyone is enjoying their football right now, there still remains a focus and humility.
“We work on a game-by-game process. Plymouth have proved to be a dangerous side this season, competing with the top sides in this league. We certainly won’t be taking this game lightly.”
However, if I am right then while the league trophy will not be presented after the match, Pompey fans will not have to wait long until the team’s captain, Hannah Haughton, is lifting the trophy.
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