Portsmouth behind-the-scenes documentary: What's previously been said as Blues prepare to face streaming favourites Wrexham and Birmingham City
Pompey’s next two Championship matches are against sides who have welcomed tv cameras into their dressing rooms in recent years - Wrexham and Birmingham City
Pompey travel to Championship rivals Birmingham City on Saturday, before they turn their attention to Wrexham’s first visit to Fratton Park since October 1986 next Wednesday night.
Both games will prove crucial for John Mousinho’s Blues as they look to get their season back on track following consecutive home defeats against Coventry and Stoke respectively.
They’re also games against sides currently in a similar predicament -at the lower reaches of the second-tier table and with wins hard to come by in recent weeks. Indeed, just two points separate Birmingham (15) in 15th and Pompey (13) in 18th, with Phil Parkinson’s Red Dragons sandwiched between them in 16th place on 14 points from their opening 12 games of the season.
But it’s not just on the field of play that this Championship trio compete. After all, all three are owned or partially owned by high-profile American figures.
Following former Disney CEO Michael Eisner’s takeover of the Blues in 2017, Wrexham were purchased by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in 2021. Meanwhile, in 2023, seven-time Super Bowl champion and NFL legend Tom Brady became a minority owner of Brum as he teamed up with new Birmingham owners Knighthead Capital Management LLC.
Their profiles have helped raise awareness of their respective clubs on the other side of the Atlantic. But what has also helped both Wrexham and Birmingham has been their behind-the-scenes documentaries - Welcome to Wrexham and Built in Birmingham: Brady and the Blues - which have proven huge hits on streaming services Disney+ and Amazon Prime.
Given Eisner’s movie background, a Pompey version is something many of the Fratton faithful would welcome. But up until now, it’s not something that has materialised or got off the ground.
The Blues are currently promoting 'Our Club' – a powerful documentary which tells the story of how Pompey fans saved their club from the brink on their Pompey+ channel.
But what are the chances of an intriquing behind-the-scenes look at the current operation at PO4 and what goes on within the confines for the Blues’ famous Fratton Park dressing room?
Well, this year alone, Eisner, chief executive Andy Cullen and head coach John Mousinho have all spoken about that very subject. Here’s a reminder of what they’ve had to say.
Pompey: behind-the-scenes documentary
Pompey chairman Eisner outlined plans for Pompey to deliver behind-the-scenes content to supporters back in May.
He confirmed the club are looking at the prospect of documenting life back in the Championship - something he even implied would begin this season, with cameras on hand to track the progress of Mousinho’s team.
Eisner told Sportico.com: ‘We’ll be copying them (Reymolds and McElhenney to a degree. It’s complicated, you have to think hard about how you want to invest.’
Despite this vision, nothing of this nature is understood to have been actioned this term.
Perhaps Mousinho’s take on such a project has proven influential. When asked about the prospect at the BBC Solent Fans’ Forum at Fratton Park back in August, he replied: ‘No, thanks you!’
However, according to Cullen, it’s a prospect the club continues to explore.
He told the same fans’ forum: ‘There are a lot of documentaries at the moment, we’ve probably all been watching one in the last seven days (Built in Birmingham), which is interesting.
‘I think you would probably need a point of difference and to do things differently. It’s something we’ve not discounted and we are exploring different ways that would do it, perhaps in a slightly different way to what we’ve seen.
‘We’ve probably seen enough behind-closed-doors and underneath into dressing rooms - that’s not something I feel particularly comfortable with and probably John would say the same.
‘There are different things you can do that can raise the profile and importantly to that international market that we spoke about. ‘