So Portsmouth fans the best fans huh??? Sending abusive messages to billy sharp on twitter makes them good? Scratching pfc into people's cars makes em good?? Crying cause they dint understand that if a ball comes off an opposing player, even if 20yards offside, isn't actually offside makes em good?? Chanting rocha's name after slamming the ball into fans makes em good! ! I know some saints fans aren't saints but abusing a saints player about his dead child makes me sick! You can say it's minority and although I know many decent pompey fans I just need to make my point. Thanks for listening......
Someone on facebook i saw after the first goal "im going to kill you billy sharp" this is a fat ginger 15 year old. So many armchair supporters who only come out for Derby day
We dont think of ourselves as the worlds best fans, no serious, adult Pompey fans has ever claim that. The media hyped us years ago but have moved on to Stoke fans. Why do you people get so hung up on this? Its a myth. A myth perpetuated mostly by Southampton fans. Why make a thread to attack a myth? A myth which the vast majority of people already know is bunk.
It's time this died a death...some media guy does a throwaway line, the rumour spreads and gets repeated by lazy journalists, and we now use it to hit Pompey fans over the head.
It's only a certain section of idiots who get hung up on it, MAJR. Frankly, I don't know why Saints fans spend time getting all crossed up about it. Instead they should be wallowing in the enjoyment of our own team, not expending energy on anyone else. Totally agree, but then people often act remarkably like sheep, and don't pause for one moment to use their brains.
It goes both ways... not only do some Southampton fans use it as a weapon against Portsmouth, but you can't ignore the fact some particular Portsmouth fans (note: not all) also use it as a way to stroke the collective ego.
Completely agree. It may not have been a "title" the Pompey fans gave to themselves, but many of them have bought into the "myth" and thus think they're better than they actually are.
So let them. We, as Saints fans, don't have to carry on the myth, by continually referring to it. Things die in the public mind if you don't use them or talk about them. Even reputations.
Like who then on this forum? Singing Blue maybe, but who else? As for people on Twitter who hurl insults at your players, they're just idiots who don't represent Portsmouth and are not proper fans.
Where'd I mention this forum? If you've never met a Portsmouth fan who says it, then you should think about leaving the house more.
I think that Saints fans are a little bit disingenuous about Pompey fans. For years, Portsmouth were never on my radar as a Saints supporter as we were always in a division above them and having been a supporter since the mid 70's got into the game at the point when Portsmouth were at their lowest ebb and very much a joke team on the South coast. It was only in 1986 when we got turned over by Ball's revitalised Portsmouth team at the old Dell that I started to be aware of them. This also combined with the time when I went to colleg with numerous Portsmouth fans whoalways seems confident of their team's superiority. Prior to this, the rivalry wasn't really important as I got more pleasure when we beat teams like Liverpool or Man Utd. However, I now work principally in the Portsmouth area and have done so for the last 6 years and it has been in intriguing experience to understand their supporters. There is a passion for their club which goes beyond the people who attend the matches as everyone in the town is fully behind the club. You don't see the replica Man Utd, Chelsea or Arsenal kits that you get around Southampton. I also worked for 6 years in Andover where the kids all owed allegiance to London clubs. This simply does not happen in Portsnouth. I don't know how you define "passionate supporters" or indeed assess how you measure who is the most passionate. I've always felt Saints fans are pragmatic and realistic. We are probably amongst the most grounded supporters of any football club in England. We like to be entertained, are philosophical if we don't win games and generally are of middle class / middle income backgrounds. Ok, I've encountered a few idiots and morons who give the club a bad name but, by and large, Southampton is a family club that is welcoming to women and youngsters. The passion is there amongst Saints fans but expectations are always realistic and we appreciate when the game is played well. In contrast, Portsmouth is very much a "grass roots" / working class club and , I feel, is very traditional or even old-fashioned in this respect. They are like West Ham on the coast. Most of the people attending Fratton Park will have to scimp and save to follow their club which they see a very much representing civic pride. Southampton, in my opinion, takes in a very different catchment which isn't limited to the city but actually represents areas a diverse as Romsey, Andover, New Forest, Salisbury and Winchester. The civic pride element is too thinly spread for it to be similar to Portsmouth. Our support is clearly not the same as Portsmouth's. I think that the majority of Pompey fans posting on here are genuine people and I hve found this with many of my colleague who also follow PFC. Saints fans often laugh at the often slapstick predicaments of PFC and have done so right back into the 70's when Deacon run the club and they had such hapless managers as Frank Burrows and Ian St John. The problem with Portsmouth is that the club has never been run by the kind of people that the supporters deserve. I agree that the media loves to celebrate the colourful Portsmouth fans. They are resiliant, faithful and seem to have a belief that their club is superior to a team like Southampton which seems artifical or "palstic" to them and maybe more presentative of a sport that is starting to be ashamed of it's oriinal working class roots. I'm always amused by Portsmouth fans by the fact that no matter how perilous their position or whatver league they are below us, they always believe that their team is superior. There is no logic in this but it is an unshakable belief. There is a primeval passion for their club in Portsmouth which is difficult for most Saints fans to understand and I feel that their recent FA Cup success should not be seen in the light of having over-acheived and "bought" the silverware but a manifestation of what Portsmouth supporters actually feel their club should be acheiving. Historically, Portsmouth were the biggest club on the South coast but the game has changed since those days. Despite this, the expectation levels at Fratton park remain unrealistically high. Saints fans are always more realistic about their position and I think the over-riding desire is to play football in a stylish and swash-buckling fashion that puts the much-fancied bigger teams to the sword. I don't konw about being the best fans in the world, but Portsmouth has a visable and raucous support. The best atmosphere at St, Mary's is always the same against Portsmouth although the larger station doesn't create the bear pit that is Fratton Park. I think anyone who tries to argue that Southampton's support is as passionate as our rivals is correct to identify the affection and knowledge we have for the game. Saints fans do love their football. However, I think that we should tip our hats towards Portsmouth's supporters. They may wind us up and irritate by the failure of their club to bow down to a constant stream of adversities but for the social, geographical and cultural reasons I've tried to explain, I would have to admit that their support ranks amongst Liverpool's and Newcastle's as amongst the most passionate in the country. For me, yesterday's game was what English football should be about. Full-blooded tackles, wingers skinning the defenders , goal mouth scrambles and fantastic goals. St mary's never has as good an atmosphere as when we play Pompey and I hope that there is plenty more opportunity for derbies of the calibre of yesterday's match.
Very well written, but I'm not having that. Last two time's they've visited us our supposed quite support has outsung them easily even when loosing 4-1 at home. It's about sticking by your team and not when they're just winning.
Not going to quote Ian's thread again, as it takes up so much space. Some good points, and one can acknowledge the passionate support of one team or another, but just to put it all into some sort of perspective - if you go up to any random person, in any city and ask them which football team they support, the chances are they will say... I don't like football or maybe even, I don't watch sport. If you are steeped in the traditions of sport and football, you may find this hard to believe, but most people really don't care either way, and that includes those from the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton.
I resent the inference from Ian that I, or any of my fellow Saints fans are any less passionate than a Portsmouth fan. As for being a "working class" city, may I remind him that Southampton have a Labour MP, whereas Portsmouth have a Tory. The greater Portsmouth area is about a million people larger than greater Southampton, so why does SFC have a better average attendance than PFC, could it be that the Southampton public care more about their club than Portsmouth's do?
Southampton fans have historically come from a higher social class than Pompey fans but I doubt that any survey into the matter todays would find similar results. The matter of attendances, however, have to do with the current status of the the team. In the season you were relegated to League One you average attendance was 17,849, which is only slightly over half the maximum attendence of the ground, Pompey's average attendance last season was 15,751, which is about three quarters of the ground, and this season, from what I am aware of it, is around the 12,000 man mark, just over about half. Getting results on the field will increase the attendance and the longer the team wallows in the relegation zone the further the attendances will fall - with Premier League football being the exception to the rule. It has nothing to do with caring for the club more of less than rival group of fans.
Not sure you can quote attendances of grounds as a % of stadium size. The fact is that numerically we got more fans in League 1 than Portsmouth got in the Championship. Size of stadium is irrelevant.
