Book Description
When Portsmouth were promoted to the Premiership for the first time in May 2003, after a glorious championship-winning first division campaign, their manager Harry Redknapp famously said that staying among English football's elite would be more of an achievement than in getting there. This book charts the progress, some of it good, a lot of it bad, of Redknapp's Pompey as they embark on their great Premiership adventure. From the moment Redknapp stepped off the open-topped bus which took his players on a lap of honour around a deliriously celebrating city, he was planning for the days when Pompey must take on Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea - far wealthier clubs - as equals. In a summer of player turmoil, Redknapp brought in 13 new players so that his team could at least look the rest of the Premiership in the eye. Redknapp had been in the top flight before as manager of West Ham but for American-based chairman Milan Mandaric, who had pumped vast quantities of money into what had been an ailing first division club, and for success-hungry supporters, these were crazy days when the full passion of the Portsmouth cause took light. Where once Portsmouth struggled to fill ancient Fratton Park with 10,000 fans, now there were 15,000 season ticket holders alone in a ground holding not many more than 20,000. This book looks at every game Pompey played in 2003-04, the players, the fans and the men who ran the famous old club which last won the league championship way back in 1950 before the Premiership was so much as a twinkle in a money-man's eye. There was the romance of victories over Liverpool (twice) and Manchester United, the low points of losing twice to old rivals Southampton and the ecstasy of beating Saints at Fratton Park at the start of the final, late-season haul towards safety. It was a narrow, close-run battle, a succession of brilliant and appalling days for fans and it is all here in this book: every goal, every managerial utterance and everything that mattered in a year in which Portsmouth Football Club came alive.
About the Author
Pat Symes has been covering Portsmouth's matches for national newspapers, radio and television for 25 years. Photographer Mike Walker, Portsmouth-born and bred, has been visiting Fratton Park even longer. He remembers being passed over the heads of sailor-hatted supporters to the front as a small boy during the 50s when Pompey were still a major power. Contributors Peter Simm, Alex Crook and Jim Baldwin have all seen the best and worst of Pompey in journalistic capacities. All the above were responsible for the highly-acclaimed and best-selling Sleeping Giant Awakes - The Story of Portsmouth’s Rise to the Premiership.
