'Absolute nightmare': Portsmouth supporters' 2,500-mile Fratton Park pilgrimage ruined after Ipswich postponement
The Blues supporter and his wife had flown over from Gibraltar for the weekend
A Pompey fan had a 50th birthday present he’ll remember for all the wrong reasons after his 2,500-mile round trip to Fratton Park descended into an ‘absolute nightmare’.
Louis Bruzon and wife Louise flew from Brympton, Gibraltar, to attend the Blues’ Championship clash with Ipswich and meet up with family and friends.
To mark Louis’ 50th birthday last month, he had been booked into the Partners’ Lounge for match-day hospitality as a group of six, while also being match-ball sponsors.
However, having turned up at Fratton Park at 11am to attend the fixture with the high-flying Tractor Boys, they discovered the game had been postponed due to a frozen pitch.
It capped a disappointing weekend for Bruzon, whose Friday flight from Gibraltar was delayed by more than two hours, while the Commercial Road-based Premier Inn where he stayed had run out of hot water.
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But the man behind popular Pompey social media character Gibraltar Monkey, was attempting to look on the bright side.
‘It has been an absolute nightmare’
He told The News: ‘My New Year’s Resolution was to accept the things I cannot change - and this is one I definitely cannot change!
‘It has been an absolute nightmare, to be frank. If this is all the bad luck I get in 2026 then that’s it, we are now good to go!
‘It was bad enough that we were more than two hours delayed coming over from Gibraltar. The bad luck didn’t stop there because our Premier Inn had no hot water on Saturday night or Sunday morning. So we had cold showers on the day of the game.
‘Then we got to Fratton Park early because we were in hospitality and, as the car pulled into the North Stand car park, the message came through on social media that the game had been postponed.
‘We’d hoped to at least get the stadium tour in. Initially they said we still could, then we went to the Frogmore Road entrance and we were told it had now been cancelled as well. There were a few other people in hospitality also disappointed.
‘It was my 50th last month and my friend Stephen’s 50th in a few months, so it was meant to be a big celebration between six of us.
‘I have sent an email to the club, I’d like to still do it on another occasion, so we'll see what happens. Stuff happens, I suppose!’
Returning to Gibraltar
Louis and his wife were joined at Fratton Park by their son Charles and his fiancee Dayla Gibbons, who travelled from Nottingham, along with Fratton End season-ticket holder Stephen Shephard and his wife Christine.
Gibraltar-based Louis is also a Fratton End season-ticket holder and expects to return next weekend to attend the FA Cup third-round clash with Arsenal.
Yet it wasn’t all doom and gloom, with the 50-year-old enjoying a Saturday evening meal at Carluccio’s in Gunwharf with friends and family.
While the Premier Inn room at Gatwick Airport, where Louis and Louise are staying before flying back to Gibraltar on Monday morning, did have hot running water.
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