'Embarrassing' - Portsmouth on receiving end of flak for error-strewn Fratton Park poster to commemorate moment League One title was won
Pompey have come under flak for an error-strewn marketing board to commemorate the night the Blues secured last season’s League One title.
The illustration - which is a nod to the club’s dramatic 3-2 win against Barnsley in April - was spotted by a fan on his latest visit to Fratton Park on Sunday.
A picture of it has since been uploaded onto social media, with members of the Fratton faithful left astonished by the level of inaccuracy on show.
Indeed, it appears the creator forgot a few of the all-important facts that made it such a memorable night in the Blues’ modern history.
Located under one of the kiosks inside the PO4 stadium, four errors have been identified. This includes the main wording on the poster, which reads ‘League One champions 2024/25’. The Blues were the division’s 2023/24 winners!
Another relates to the actual date of the game, which was Tuesday, April 16. Yet, according to the new Fratton Park display, the match took place on, erm, Saturday, April 16!
The attendance recorded that emotional night is also incorrect, 19,960 fans were packed inside the ground to see Conor Shaughnessy head home an 89th-minute winner against the Tykes to secure both promotion and the league title. A lack of detail on the promo board, though, says 19,906 were inside.
Finally, the all-important Pompey line-up for that historic fixture is also wrong, with former Fratton favourite Sean Raggett somehow missing from the team as the Blues supposedly took on Barnsley with just 10 men!
With emotion-filled supporters spilling onto the pitch at the final whistle to celebrate the club’s return to the Championship after seven seasons in League One, and both fans and players toasting the achievement long into the early hours of the next morning, some might be forgiven for having sketchy memories of what actually happened that famous night.
But for a piece of in-house promotion of that game to be put on display inside Fratton Park without the facts being apparently checked has been mocked by amazed fans.
Following @lewieboy’s post on X, formerly Twitter, @WebbJ96 wrote: ‘Corrr that’s honking!’ @jwldopp commented: ‘How is this even possible?’
@Richardsims1980 replied: ‘That is pretty major mistake to make’, while @xxPuReGoNxx simply described it as ‘Embarrassing’.
@jakemeyers2015’s response was ‘#DinOfTheWeek for whoever created this monstrosity’. Meanwhile, @TimMarkDavies remarked: ‘That’s appalling and so amateurish. Those types of things need to be double checked.’
@AB98pfc added: ‘The more you look, the worse it gets’, while @bobbeech commented: ‘What happens when you let the work experience kid run a project unsupervised!’
Pompey have been contacted by The News. They are currently ‘sorting’ the issue raised.