'I don't like them!': Portsmouth boss addresses pre-season plans - and the chances of a foreign friendly
The Blues spent a week at the X-Bionic Sphere, Samorin, Slovakia for last summer’s pre-season training camp
Pompey are putting the finishing touches to their pre-season schedule.
But John Mousinho insists that once again their summer training camp will not involve a friendly - and it’s entirely his decision.
The Blues head coach last week met club secretary Ally Knell to finalise plans for their summer programme, including fixtures and also the destination for a training camp.
Knell oversaw arrangements for last July’s week-long stay at the impressive X-Bionic Sphere in Samorin, Slovakia.
As has become the preference under Mousinho, there was no friendly during that time abroad, although an open training session was arranged for supporters to attend and then meet the players afterwards.
The last time Pompey were involved in a fixture during their training camp was in July 2023, when they faced Gibraltar club Europa FC at the Estadio Jose Burgos De Quintana in Malaga, Spain.
And Mousinho has once again ruled out the prospect this time around.
‘I don’t like them. It’s my choice’
He told The News: ‘We are formulating our pre-season plans now. I had a meeting with our club secretary Ally last Wednesday to firm everything up. My focus has been on the end of our season, making sure we box everything off, while Ally has been working very, very hard on our summer arrangements.
‘He’s making sure that everything’s in place so we have fixtures and we have a trip in place. But there won’t be a game during our training camp, I don’t like them!
‘I completely get the want for a game abroad, I understand how important it is for the fans. It’s my choice and although I think Andy (Cullen) has taken a bit of flak for us, it’s not Andy, it’s my choice.
‘You get to a pre-season camp and, if you have a game at the back end of it, you need to start tapering your training and looking at all the factors you don’t have control over.
‘You are at your training camp, hoping to do 2-3 sessions a day and spending 24/7 with the players. Then 2-3 days before the game, you have to start coming off the training or you’re going to risk injuries going into the game.
‘The other factor is when we went to Marbella and played Europa FC in 2023, they absolutely kicked lumps out of us. The pitch was okay, once we came off the pitch, about 1,000 kids ran on and started pitching up tents. It was just this chaotic atmosphere and you lose that control.
‘That’s a pretty dangerous thing to have unless you are playing top-level opposition somewhere. Then again, you don’t want to play top-level opposition in the second week of pre-season off the back of a really difficult training camp.
‘These are the reasons that I’m giving to you guys. I get it, I would love to see that as a fan, but that’s why I don’t want to see a pre-season game. It’s hard to find a good foreign game in the pre-season.’
Recent training camps in Spain, Croatia and Slovakia
A Colby Bishop penalty settled that Europa FC friendly 1-0 in the Blues’ favour, although Joe Rafferty collected an injury after just 13 minutes.
Since then Pompey have ventured to Medulin, Croatia, in the summer of 2024 and then Slovakia last year, without fulfilling a friendly fixture.
Regardless, last pre-season saw the Blues still play seven friendlies, including the visit of PEC Zwolle to Fratton Park in August 2025, with 8,237 supporters in attendance.
Mousinho added: ‘In 2024-25, we didn’t start the season well, yet this season we started it well. You need a good pre-season, but I don’t necessarily think it has a huge influence on results unless you have completely messed it up.
‘Speak to every single coach, every single manager, after six weeks of pre-season and what do they say? We’ve had a great pre-season, it has been really good.
‘We went through pre-season last year and didn’t concede a goal, brilliant, yet it doesn’t mean anything. When you get to the Championship, it’s a completely different kettle of fish.’