Have boots, will travel. This summer's missing Portsmouth friendly
Pompey’s training ground has hosted friendlies in each of the last three pre-seasons
With sizeable numbers of Fratton faithful preparing to descend on Frankfurt, Blues followers have been served with the pre-season friendly they had long craved.
Yet, intriguingly, there remains one more vacancy on John Mousinho’s summer schedule - Saturday, July 18.
To date, Woking, Aldershot, Wycombe, Farnborough and Darmstadt have all been catered for, plus a Pompey XI fixture at Moneyfields which will involve Academy representation.
Meanwhile, Saturday, July 12 will mark the Blues’ return from their pre-season training camp, ending a week-long stay at a venue which is presently being kept under wraps.
That just leaves July 18 unaccounted for, with Pompey having been keen to finalise opposition for a fixture which will take place in between Aldershot (Wednesday, July 15) and Wycombe (Saturday, July 25).
Behind-closed-doors friendlies
In previous summers, Mousinho hasn’t been against holding behind-closed-doors matches as part of his friendly programme.
They include Crawley (July 2023), Wycombe (July 2024), while last summer, a trip to Crawley was postponed and instead took place at the Blues training ground, with no supporters admitted.
Curiously, Crawley also have a gap on July 18 this term, having previously announced Eastleigh, Oxford United, Reading as opposition.
And, according to their website, it remains a date they have allocated to meet ‘opposition from the Premier League and Championship behind closed doors’.
Certainly, that raises the potential for a third successive pre-season friendly against Mousinho’s men - albeit with no official word from either club at present.
‘These teams have requested to remain anonymous for the announcement, but the club will endeavour to keep fans updated with results and reports after the completion of the fixtures, should we receive permission.’
Crawley friendlies against Pompey in three of the last four years
Indeed, there is already a familiar look around Pompey’s pre-season schedule, having also travelled to non-league pair Woking and Farnborough last summer.
In July 2023, Crawley visited the Blues’ training ground for a match involving four 30-minute halves - resulting in a 9-1 victory for the hosts.
Australian newcomer Kusini Yengi registered a 22-minute hat-trick, while Anthony Scully (two), Zak Swanson, Colby Bishop, Tom Lowery and Christian Saydee were also among the scorers.
Wycombe were the visitors in July 2024, for another game consisting of four 30-minute halves and taking place behind closed doors.
It ended in a 4-0 defeat against the League One club, with Pompey changing their entire side at the halfway mark in a pre-planned move, although Tom McIntyre picked up an injury.
Instead the match was quickly switched to Copnor Road, with Connor Ogilvie grabbing the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win behind closed doors.
Brighton previous pre-season opposition
In recent years, Brighton have also provided the opposition at the Premier League club’s training ground.
The Blues won 4-0 against the Seagulls' Under-21s in July 2025, through goals from Thomas Waddingham (two), Josh Murphy and Paddy Lane.
They also fielded sides in 2019 and 2020, with all taking place behind closed doors at Brighton’s training ground.
Still, July 18 remains a glaring opening in Pompey’s pre-season schedule - and it will be intriguing to see how they intend to fill it.
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