In a normal year, July is usually a relaxed month for football supporters, a time to kick back, relax and look forward, not back.
This year, though, things are very different. And nowhere more so than in Portsmouth, who are haunted by a play-off past they would rather forget.
Kenny Jackett’s side meet Oxford United in the first leg of their League One semi-final at Fratton Park on Friday evening.
They’re not just searching for an advantage over their opponents from up the A34, they’re also seeking to end a 27-year record that is the envy of no side in the Football League.
In six matches in the play-offs, dating back to 1993, Portsmouth have drawn three and lost three, exiting at the first hurdle on three occasions.
Back in May 1993, it was Leicester City who got the better of them, in a clash that is still raw for many of the 25,000 who were there to witness the second leg at Fratton Park, following a 1-0 defeat to the Foxes in the opening game.
“You still can’t mention the name Ian Ormondroyd,” says John Kimbell, a former board member when the club were owned by the Pompey Supporters Trust. “He scored a goal that should never have been given. Never. It’s not his fault obviously. But the face still haunts me.”
The referee, Roger Milford, also became something of a pantomime villain for his role that night.
“He was offside, there was one defender on the line and he was beyond Alan Knight [Portsmouth’s goalkeeper],” says Guy Whittingham, the club’s former striker who will be at Friday evening’s game for BBC Radio Solent. “It was Roger Milford who endeared himself to the Fratton faithful for ever more.
“That was a very good Portsmouth side. We had a great mixture of youth and experience, with players like Paul Walsh, Andy Awford, Kit Symons and Alan McLoughlin. If we had gone up I think we would have stayed in the Premier League for a long time.”
As it was, Jim Smith’s side drew that game 2-2, going out 3-2 on aggregate. The team fell apart soon after and the club’s long-suffering fans would have to wait another 23 years for a further stab at play-off glory.
“We haven’t had a lot of luck over the years,” Kimbell sighs. “We had that goal in 1993 and then against Plymouth [in 2016] we didn’t have a recognised goalkeeper. We had to get Ryan Allsop in on loan from Bournemouth for the only two games he ever played for us.
“We drew 2-2 in the first leg at Fratton Park and then lost in injury time at their place. It was long, long drive back home.”
Worse was to follow against Sunderland last season, when Portsmouth again went out by the odd goal, losing 1-0 at the Stadium of Light before playing out a dire 0-0 draw at Fratton Park. In this strangest of seasons, though, could the football gods finally be smiling on them?
“I don’t think players will look back now and think they’re not going to win because Pompey haven’t got a very good record in the play-offs,” says Whittingham.
“It’s going to be really interesting to see how players cope in a semi-final in front of no supporters. Are they going to be match fit and sharp? No one knows that, not even Kenny Jackett.”
Fratton Park is traditionally known as one of the most raucous in English football but the Pompey and Oxford players will be greeted by an eerie hush come kick-off this evening.
“It might feel like a home game for Oxford because they struggle to fill their ground at the best of times!” laughs Kimbell. “Can we do it? I’m a Portsmouth fan so I’ll probably say ‘I don’t think so’, while desperately hoping we can.”
Pompey fans would that argue it’s long overdue.
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