'Great tackle': Defender on infamous Portsmouth moment which sparked Arsenal fury, Uruguayan threats and upset Piers Morgan
The Gunners last faced Pompey in an FA Cup fifth-round fixture in March 2020
It was branded a ‘red card’ offence in a social-media storm led by a furious Piers Morgan, attracted threats from angry Uruguayans and saw him catapulted into a hate figure among Arsenal supporters.
But, approaching six years later, James Bolton remains bemused by the ferocious backlash which greeted his infamous challenge on Lucas Torreira.
And, irrespective of the adverse reaction at the time, the former Pompey defender is adamant the January 2020 incident was actually a ‘great tackle’.
The Gunners return to Fratton Park on Sunday (2pm) for the first time since claiming a 2-0 FA Cup fifth round triumph over a Blues side managed by Kenny Jackett.
Bolton was in Pompey’s side that Monday evening, partnering Christian Burgess in the centre of defence, and, in the 12th minute, produced a strong covering challenge on Torreira which drew applause from an appreciative Fratton faithful.
Regrettably, the Uruguayan international’s right ankle was broken in the process, requiring him to be stretchered off, much to the disappointment of Bolton.
Yet while referee Mike Dean didn’t even award a foul, the subsequent backlash towards the Pompey man was fierce.
‘I knew it was a great tackle’
Bolton, who now plays for Fleetwood, told The News: ‘In December, I was in Dublin for our team Christmas Do and I had a couple of Pompey fans come up to me mentioning that Arsenal game and that tackle on Torreira, which took me right back!
‘It’s never nice to hurt anyone and, afterwards, it was playing on my mind during the game, hoping he was okay. But I knew it was a great tackle.
‘I still look at it sometimes, people tag me in on videos of it, and I don’t know what anyone’s complaining about.
‘Torreira broke through down their left wing and I had to run a long way to get there, but, for me, it was perfect. My run, the timing of the tackle, I managed to get the ball with a good tackle.
‘I was lucky, I got it bang on, but I suppose if I was half a second later then it could have been a really bad tackle because I was going at some pace.
‘It wasn’t given as a foul, I didn’t get a yellow, Arsenal didn’t even appeal for a foul. Their players didn’t say anything. Everyone’s reaction on the pitch was that it was a good tackle. It was only when he went down and stayed down that people became concerned.
‘Unfortunately, Torreira got hurt in the process, I didn’t want that, and after the game I asked the lads how he was. I knew I was never going to be able to get in contact with him, he was a superstar.
‘Then I began to get a few threats from Uruguayans, it was a bit of a mad one. They were messaging me directly on Twitter, saying all sorts. I definitely didn’t expect that!’
Covid outbreak
Just 11 days after that 2020 FA Cup match, the Premier League and Football League postponed fixture programmes until April 3 as coronavirus began to escalate.
The decision centred on Arsenal manager Mikel Artena having contracted the pandemic - and immediately his presence at the preceding Fratton Park fixture came under scrutiny.
Subsequently, Bolton, Andy Cannon, Sean Raggett, Ross McCrorie and Haji Mnoga tested positive for Covid - with a number of them believing it could be traced back to that evening against the Gunners.
Bolton added: ‘We didn't know what it was at the time, but I shook Arteta’s hand afterwards and, not long after, I was diagnosed with Covid. There’s a theory he got it against Olympiakos in a Europa League match four days before they played us.
‘I recovered and later got it again when we were training for the League One play-offs, so I spent another couple of weeks isolating, which wasn’t great timing for me.
‘It turned out that I was retested within 90 days, which we later found out you shouldn’t do. At the time, I had the University of Portsmouth ringing asking if they could do tests on me as I was one of the few people who had caught Covid twice. No!’
Your Next Pompey Read: How Pompey can solve their 25-man squad headache - the eight big decisions