Remembering those who gave the ultimate sacrifice
Representatives of the Pompey Pals initiative and officials from the club were on hand to present a commemorative shirt to the Royal Hampshire Regimental Museum in Winchester.
Chris Pennycook presented the shirt to Lt Colonel Colin Bulleid from the historic museum, which remembers both the first and second world wars.
Also present on behalf of the Pompey Pals were Mike Hill and Paul Stone.
The football club were represented by 95-year-old John Jenkins – a Normandy veteran from the Second World War and part of the Royal Hampshire Regiment for 22 years, who went to his first Blues game in 1928 – ambassador Alan Knight and supporters’ liaison officer Johnny Moore.
The Pompey Pals shirt was launched at the start of the current season to remember the 100th anniversary of Britain’s declaration of war with Germany in 1914.
The museum were also presented with a commemorative bottle of Pompey Pals Ale, which will also become part of the museum’s impressive display.
The Pals shirt, a version of which is worn by the team this season, harks back to the 1914 version with traditional royal blue colour and original badge.
It also bears the names of the 1,400 fallen ‘Pompey Pals’, who gave the ultimate sacrifice during the First World War.
The idea for the shirt, along with a permanent memorial plaque at Fratton Park, was pioneered by Pompey fan Bob Beech, whose relatives served in the conflict.
Fratton Park was one of the recruiting centres for the First World War, signing up soldiers for the 14th and 15th battalions of the Hampshire Regiment.