Then there’s those who were afforded the privilege of playing at PO4 - and giving us memories to forever cherish in the process.
We’ve pulled together the words of those who’ve verbalised what a special football club this remains, in some memorable quotes summing up the fabric of Pompey.
13. Paul Merson
My Pompey debut was against Nottingham Forest at Fratton Park with a crowd of 18,910 - and I have never played in front of anything like that in my life. I’ve turned out in a stadium with a crowd of 100,000, appeared in front of 40-50,000 week in, week out, but had never performed to anything like that before. | Getty Images
14. Petr Cech
Of course, you hear the atmosphere and whether the fans are loud or not, and you hear the individual shouts that stand out during a quiet moment, but it’s mainly the overall atmosphere you feel when you are on the pitch.' After a while, you get to know the specific atmosphere of individual stadiums. I always loved to play at Portsmouth. Although it was one of the ‘worst’ stadiums in the league with the worst pitch - there was a huge bump in the goalmouth, like a hill you had to run up when a cross came from one side to the other - the atmosphere was always great. There was the drum, the fans never stopped supporting their team. It had a particular charm. Photo: Justin Setterfield
15. Richard Hughes
There are stadiums containing 50-60,000 people in which you cannot hear yourself think, but to experience that (AC Milan) in front of 20,403 at Fratton Park was extremely special. It was loud, communication was redundant. I was playing alongside Papa Bouba Diop, and there wasn’t a lot of talking with Papa anyway, but none of the players could be heard. The noise was relentless from start to finish. In general, I believe home fans can have a more damaging effect than a positive effect. From my experience, as a visiting player, you drew a lot of energy from home supporters getting on the backs on their team. Pompey was unique, however, with a good home atmosphere helping establish a good Fratton Park record most of the time. The presence of AC Milan, though, took it to another level. Just when you thought the noise was starting to relent, it would crank up again, it was perfect. | EMPICS Sport/PA Photos
16. Arjan De Zeeuw
I will never forget playing Arsenal at Fratton Park in the FA Cup in March 2004 and it wasn’t because we played really well! We got hammered 5-1. The thing that stuck out from that game were our fans. We were losing 5-0 at one stage and they were singing, still behind us every step of the way, chanting ‘We’re going to win 6-5’. Thierry Henry, who scored twice, turned to me and said: ‘Your fans are mad, they are brilliant, they keep on singing’. Looking back, those days at Fratton were wonderful and as long as the fans know I appreciated them very much, that is the main thing. As supporters go, there are not many I have met better than Pompey’s. Photo: Neal Simpson