One of the best things about being a Pompey fan is belonging to The Blue Army.  Being in the ranks for our visit to The New Den was a real honour.  Not everyone volunteers for that particular expedition, but the away end held 3,178 of us on 21st February, 2026.  Our reputation as ‘proper football’ fans was reinforced as our songs reverberated around Millwall’s concrete and steel box stadium.

Being on duty with The Blue Army means taking part in the singing and chanting, the roaring on and encouragement of the team and each other.  At 2-0 up, a teenager behind me asked his dad, “Are we actually going to win an away game today, Dad?”  His dad did not reply directly, but burst into another round of ‘Play Up Pompey’, demonstrating that winning would need us to hold strong, keep the faith and do our utmost to urge the team on.  As much as players acknowledge the positives of our support, they must be aware of anxious mewling that can emanate from the away terrace too.  The job of The Blue Army is to keep positive, especially after a goal has been conceded. Questions that spread doubt, (questions we all ask ourselves during key moments in a game), are best left unspoken. 

A Millwall fan told me after the game that he believed there was hope of a revival when his team made it 1-2, but that goal was the cue for The Blue Army to step up a gear.  We turned the volume up to Eleven and increased the intensity of our singing.  The two subsequent corners led to Marlon Pack firing the third missile of the afternoon into the net, right in front of us all.  Then we knew, we really could feel, that Millwall were done.  Not even the introduction of Barry Bannon’s left foot to the game could save The Lions.

It is said that having a sports team to follow is good for you.  Knowing there is another match next week, another season due next August, offers hope.  Anglia Ruskin University’s 2024 study of the relationship between health and sports fandom, underlines what The Blue Army instinctively knows; being an active fan, actually going to matches, is good for us.

Being in hospital, even in the QA with its panoramic views of the city, the Isle of Wight and Fawley oil refinery, is a worrying and frustrating time.  From some of the hospital rooms, being able to see the glow of floodlights on a match day is a mixed blessing.  Knowing Pompey are playing at home, but out of reach is an added pain.  This is when the Hospital Radio service is most needed, with its live match commentary from Fratton Park. 

For decades the hospital service was run by volunteer commentators, who saw Pompey’s best years, then witnessed their very worst, then the Premier League seasons, the FA Cup runs of 2008 and 2010 and so on.  When our club was fan-owned, Pompey Disabled Supporters Association initiated an Audio Description (AD) commentary service for visually impaired supporters.  This was set up in partnership with Alan Match Sports, who selected and trained the club’s commentary team.  From that first AD team, Niall McCaughan now works from Manchester, regularly covering matches for the BBC Radio 5 Live and Final Score, while Dan Shaw is a well-known voice on Express FM.  Pompey’s first AD commentary team established very high standards and the current commentators, all volunteers, now provide match coverage for the QA hospital radio as well as inside Fratton Park.  Details of how to get access to the service are on the club website. 

AD commentary is about what exactly is happening on the field of play as it happens, not opinion, or anecdote.  The listeners want to know where the ball is, where the players are and how they deal with the ball, it is as simple and difficult as that.

Pompey’s free AD service is only available in the ground and at the hospital, but is another fine example of what makes Pompey more than just a sports business and more of a football family.

Goal of The Season 2016 / 17

The loose ball is met by Burgess, 
Who half-volleys it upfield with his left.
On halfway, the bounce beats a defender 
It comes to Roberts, 12 yards inside Wycombe’s half
He nudges it down.  Was that with his arm?  Wycombe appeal.
Back to goal, Roberts has swivelled to his right
And scooped the ball left-footed towards the area
Chaplin chases

It bounces once inside the left corner of the penalty area.
Chaplin stretches with his left leg and toe-pokes the ball high
Over the defender ducking in, trying to head it out
Chaplin scurries past him
The ball hangs in the air
The keeper has come from his goal!
Chaplin slows, glances goalward, waits for the dropping ball
Then nods it over the stranded keeper
Into the far side of the Fratton End goal!

What a goal from the youngster!  What a goal from Number 19, substitute Conor Chaplin!
It is now Pompey 3 Wycombe Wanderers 2 and we haven’t even got to half-time.

~

n.b. With apologies to all professional commentators. 
I may have used some poetic licence here, it was nine seasons ago, after all. 

Here is a link to the video of the goal. The commentary is for those with full vision. 

Chris Perry

6th June 2026