Portsmouth's German opposition revealed as club confirm eagerly-anticipated pre-season friendly abroad
The Bundesliga 2 club finished fifth last season as Schalke capture the title
John Mousinho’s men are to travel to SV Darmstadt, a Bundesliga 2 club situated in the south-west of the country, near Frankfurt.
Darmstadt posted a fifth-placed finish last season, albeit eight points adrift of Josh Knight's former club Hannover 96, who claimed fourth spot.
The Blues will visit the 17,810-capacity Merck-Stadion am Böllenfalltor on Saturday, August 1, representing their final friendly ahead of the 2025-26 season’s start a week later.
Kicking off at 2pm local time (1pm UK time) it will mark only the third time in 56 years that Pompey have played in Germany, with the Uefa Cup 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg in December 2008 their previous encounter.
Before that was in September 1970, when Ron Tindall’s side faced MSV Duisburg as part of 20th anniversary celebrations to mark the twinning of both cities.
On that occasion, the Blues lost 4-0, before returning the hospitality at Fratton Park the following month in front of a 4,414 crowd - and slipping to a 2-0 defeat.
Pompey have announced a flurry of pre-season fixtures this week to join the trip to National League Aldershot (Wednesday, July 15) in the summer schedule.
Mousinho’s troops are to face Woking, managed by former striker Jermain Defoe, on Tuesday, July 14 (7pm), while National League South Farnborough will be the opposition on Wednesday, July 29 (7pm).
With five fixtures now in the diary, that leaves Saturday, July 18 as vacant. It is understood Pompey are currently exploring opposition options over that free date.
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