By Nick Mabey.
Despite the recent rise of AFC Bournemouth and Brighton & Hove Albion, there is only one proper South Coast Derby. Every club thinks their local derby is the most intense, important, historical, bitter, whatever. Most football pundits agree that Southampton v Portsmouth is right up there with the Manchester, Merseyside and Glasgow derbies in terms of rivalry and passion.
It’s been six years since they last met, when Saints tore Pompey to shreds in a league cup match at Fratton Park. At the time the teams were several divisions apart so it wasn’t a real surprise in terms of result. The disparity in club league position has meant this fixture has been absent from the calendar in most of the years I have been a fan. In fact in the fifty-two years since I saw my first game, the two sides have only been in the same division for six seasons. In that time we have obviously played them twelve times, winning six and drawing three. Our most recent season in the same division came back in the 2011/12 season, when two draws disguised the fact that Saints were on their way back to the Premier League, while Portsmouth were heading for a long dark spell in the lower leagues, from which they are only just re-emerging.
Our record in cup fixtures against the ‘blue few’ is even more impressive, with six victories out of seven. My only visit to Fratton Park was in January 84 for the FA Cup, when Steve Moran’s late winner sealed a momentous result. This was the season after we ended up in the semi-final of the cup and also finished runners-up in the first division – heady days indeed. It was also in the height of some of English football’s darkest days, the scourge of hooliganism running rife through the beautiful game. On that cold day at Fratton Park the Saint’s fans had to be held back in the ground for a further ninety minutes after the game ended for the streets to be cleared.
Sadly, there is still a residue of the viciousness with us these days. The police have much more control of the situation and, thankfully, fighting is more of a minority sport than it was, but some fans of both sides seem intent on recreating the battles of the past in the name of supporting their team and earning bragging rights over their neighbours. I have a couple of good friends who are Pompey fans and we enjoy the banter and ‘mock-hatred’ as much as anyone, but the glorification of, and descent into, violence is something we scratch our heads at in a resigned manner.
Back with the football, this season promises to be pretty competitive for Saints and Pompey. The Championship is a great division, where anyone can beat anyone, and both teams will have reasons for optimism. For Saints, we had a mad few days in the transfer window and could potentially and realistically field six brand new players for the derby. I’d be surprised though, and am expecting Will Still to put out a team sprinkled with players who have been around long enough to realise the significance of the fixture. For some supporters these two games are all that matters, and I think our manager gets that.
One player in the current squads has played for both clubs, our goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu, who will no doubt play. Looking back, it’s interesting to see how many of our most famous players ended up spending their later careers at Portsmouth. Ron Davies, Mick Channon, Bobby Stokes, Malcolm Waldron, Ivan Golac, Dave Beasant, all plied their trade down the M27 after time in red and white. Even more famously, Alan Ball and Harry Redknapp managed both clubs. Ball was popular in both dugouts despite playing for Saints over 100 times. Harry Redknapp is much more divisive a figure, being Pompey’s most successful modern manager, while manging to get Saints relegated in his brief time with us.
This Sunday will end up being just another result for the record books (overall Saints have won 35, Pompey 21, and 15 draws). But for the 31,000 at St.Mary’s, as well as, of course, the global TV audience of armchair and expat fans, this is one of the biggest days of the year and will ensure bragging rights for at least the next few months, until we meet again.
PS: I planned to offer an explanation of where the term ‘derby’ came from in the footballing sense but the internet/AI offers three theories involving the horse race, the place and the Earl, so you’ll have to do your own research on that.
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