Every club claims to have the most committed supporters, but few have as strong an argument as Portsmouth FC – after all, the fans literally owned the club.
Now, the charitable arm of Portsmouth FC, Pompey in the Community, has launched a new video to celebrate the community of fans that saved the club and make being a supporter so special.
The film features Aaron Haggard, a life-long Pompey fan, who saved up money from his paper round to buy his first season ticket in 1997 when he was just a kid.
The video also explores the phoenix-like nature of Portsmouth as a city and as a club, rebuilding itself after the damages of the Second World War, as well as looking at the purchase of Portsmouth FC by the Supporters' Trust, saving it from collapse and beginning the march back from League Two.
Pompey in the Community was recently named as Community Club of the Year at the 2019 EFL Awards and have released this video to raise awareness of the work they do in the community, including providing positive opportunities to increase confidence, the enjoyment of learning and achieving, healthy living, employability, citizenship and support for the local community.
“Portsmouth fans are a special group. Their passion for the club and for their community is unrivalled and we wanted to celebrate that in this video.
“The work we do as a Community Trust is for everyone in the community – our youngest participant is 3 and our oldest is 101!
“Pompey have an ambition to have an activity for everyone – regardless of age, ability or gender, and we hope that this video celebrating our fans will help to raise awareness and engagement with our work.”
Aaron Haggard, life-long Portsmouth FC, fan said:
“Anywhere you live, anything you do, everyone wants to be part of something - and for me it’s football.
“I saved up with my paper round money to get my first season ticket and that was the first thing I’d ever saved for out of my own pocket. For me, I was quite proud of that.
“The fan base is known for their never say die attitude - we didn’t let the club fold and bought it.
“Portsmouth went through bad times in the Blitz and was heavily damaged, but it rebuilt, as it always has. You know there’ve been bad times within the city, it rebuilds; the club’s been through bad times, it’s rebuilt.
“There is a buzz around the city; on matchday it’s very special. You know, there’s nothing like it.”