The wait is over as Portsmouth's pre-season kicks off
The Blues’ players are back at their Hilsea training ground today preparing for a new season
The season was extinguished in the rain, now two months later it reignites amid soaring temperatures.
Today sees the Blues players return to duty at their Hilsea training base ahead of the 2026-27 Championship campaign.
A second-half goal from Adrian Segecic, Pompey’s man of the moment at the time, secured a 1-1 draw against Birmingham on May 2 to signal the end of a relatively successful year.
Approaching eight weeks later and the squad will today be reunited - with John Mousinho remaining as their head coach.
Despite summer interest from Bristol City and Stoke, the 40-year-old is poised to enter his fourth full season at the Fratton Park helm, having arrived in January 2023.
Trio sign summer contracts
There will be no new faces at their Copnor Road training ground today, at least not in terms of contracted players.
However, Marlon Pack, Connor Ogilvie and Zak Swanson will be returning favourites, having signed new deals over the close season, with Swanson as recently as yesterday.
As is customary, the pre-season programme launches with two days of testing, spanning today and tomorrow.
It consists of the squad being split into two different groups and allocated a day to return to Pompey’s training ground, where they will be overseen by the medical and sports science departments.
Actual pre-season training will kick off on Monday, June 29, involving outdoor sessions on training pitches which have been relaid over the summer.
At the end of next week, Pompey will head off for their training camp, the location of which is presently being kept under wraps by the club.
However, it will be a week-long stay at the unnamed destination before returning to the south coast on Saturday, July 11.
In previous years under Mousinho, the Blues have trained at La Cala Resort in Malaga, in Medulin, Croatia, and, last summer, at the X-Bionic Sphere in Samorin, Slovakia.
Instead, Pompey have a friendly at SV Darmstadt in Germany on Saturday, August 1, marking their final pre-season fixture ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.
Six pre-season fixtures
Their first friendly takes place days after the return from their training camp, with a visit to National League side Woking on Tuesday, July 14 (7pm).
The following night they venture to Aldershot (Wednesday, July 15), a routine they also employed last summer against non-leaguers Woking and Farnborough.
It involves fielding a different starting XI in each half, ensuring every player features for 45 minutes in each fixture over successive days as match fitness is built up.
The other friendlies are Bristol Rovers (July 18), Wycombe (July 25) and Farnborough (July 29).
The Football League fixtures will be released at 12pm today, with the Carabao Cup draw taking place live on Sky Sports at 4.30pm.
The first round of the Carabao Cup will represent the 2026-27 season’s curtain-raiser on Saturday, August 8.