Portsmouth pre-season begins to take shape but questions raised over how Championship build-up will look
The first details and Pompey pre-season dates are emerging ahead of the 2025-26 Championship season, but there’s questions about how things will look moving forward as non-league clubs embrace artificial surfaces.
Pompey’s pre-season campaign is beginning to take shape with the club’s opening warm-up games announced.
But there remains plenty of unanswered questions as to how preparations for the 2025-26 Championship will look this summer.
Hawks yesterday confirmed the Blues will send a team to West Leigh Park on Tuesday, July 29 (7pm) to take on Shaun North’s side, after they missed out on a Southern League play-off place in gut-wrenching fashion.
A Pompey XI side will also make the short trip to the John Jenkins Stadium on Saturday, July 19 at 1pm to face new boss Calum Glen’s Moneyfields, following the 28-year-old’s recent appointment as Glenn Turnbull’s successor.
But there’s potential gaps in the programme this summer, while the overall outlook of pre-season preparations for John Mousinho’s men are still to be formalised.
The regular trip to West Sussex to face Bognor is definitely off the agenda this year.
The Rocks are installing a new 3G pitch at Nyewood Lane after being given the green light for a £1.2m project, which will see them groundshare with Chichester City and likely weight their season’s start with away games as the work is completed.
Meanwhile, Gosport Borough are looking to travel a similar route, with plans submitted for an artificial surface at Privett Park. Gosport Borough Council are offering to contribute a £500,000 grant towards the cost of the work, with July 11 set as the date for a decision on the application. Hawks installed their 3G pitch at Westleigh Park in 2020.
The benefit of artificial pitches to non-league clubs is clear with the installation providing a revenue stream through pitch hire, as well as guaranteeing year-round use.
There are concerns, however, over the impact 3G pitches can have on aggravating old injuries and specifically knee ligament problems. Players have reported difficulties turning on the surface, though the British Journal of Sports Medicine have concluded there’s no evidence of a greater risk on artificial turf to grass.
The worries over 3G pitches does raise a question over the future of Pompey’s popular non-league warm-up moving forward, however, and more immediately the make-up of the Blues squad for any matches on them this summer.
Pompey to return for pre-season training on June 23
There’s now less than four weeks until Pompey report back for pre-season training on June 23.
They will travel overseas for a pre-season training camp early in July, though a destination for it has still to be confirmed.
Mousinho has expressed his preference not to play a friendly while overseas, which means the team doesn’t have to ease the intensity of their work around a fixture.
Pompey travelled to Spain in the summer of 2023 and based themselves in Mijas. An ill-tempered clash with Gibraltar side Europa FC was played out on a difficult surface at the Estadio Jose Burgos De Quintana, during a six-day camp.