I was out for a walk a couple of weeks ago and was met a man named Mervyn Cawston, who the coffee van woman said is a legend.  He was a little embarrassed by her comment, but it turns out he had played competitively against Pele.  That was when Mervyn played for Chicago Fire against New York Cosmos when Association Football was still new to the USA.

I announced myself as a Pompey fan and Mervyn perked up to tell me that he had played at Fratton Park once.  He had been sent out on loan by Norwich City to Southend United for the latter part of the 1982/83 season and played against Pompey when we had promotion from Division 3 confirmed.   I was at that game with my Golden Wonder sales colleague, John Hine, and I recalled we won 2-0.  “I think that the first goal was my fault.”  Mervyn said, before checking online for a video of highlights.  When I got home I found a ten-minute video posted from the ITV archives.

Mervyn was right, he had dropped a corner early on and the loose ball was lashed home by Kevin ‘Dead-eye’ Dillon from about ten yards.  Fratton Park nerves were initially settled by Dillon’s effort, but it took a flying header from Alan Biley at the Fratton End, late into the game to unleash the celebrations.  As the game moved toward its conclusion, the Fratton faithful edged out from terraces and lined the whole pitch.  There was no room for the ball to fully cross the line for throw-ins, but nobody encroached onto the field while the game proceeded.  The commentator, Gerald Sinstadt, became concerned that the referee was insisting on ensuing that the full ninety minutes, plus injury-time was played.  Sinstadtwondered at one point why Mr Eric Reed from Bristol, was not applying the unwritten law of common-sense to the situation.  The crowd was getting quite raucous as the clock ticked on.

Eventually, with the ball as far away from the tunnel as possible, in the corner of the Milton End and North Stand, the final whistle went and Pompey fans invaded the turf to engage in good-natured celebration.  Sinstadt’s criticism of Mr Reed was mild by modern standards, but I am sure the referee was trying to be fair to Pompey and all the other teams in Division 3 by insisting that the game was finished at the right time.  An early finish might have led to complaints about bias, or even cowardice, thus staining his refereeing reputation.  There may even have been an official enquiry, possibly a re-match that could have led to Pompey not getting promoted.  Difficult though the situation was, Mr Reed saw it through to the bitter end, ensuring fair play for all. Which is all we really want from our referees.

You can find the video by looking up ‘pompeyfanmike’ on YouTube, who has put some great material online.  Watch the Southend United highlights to the end and you will see an interview with the irrepressible Alan Biley, (who had reachedhis career highest goals in a season total with that afternoon’s header) and the club Chairman, Mr John Deacon.  It is an interview that the taxman may well have looked at twice, because when the attendance for the afternoon was asked, John Deacon said immediately and with a straight face, “Eighteen Thousand.” This crowd figure came as a surprise to me.  I had been at Fratton Park for a Division 3 match against Brighton a few years before when the crowd was 36,000 and that crowd was not much larger than for one celebrating Pompey’s promotion in 1983. Cash on the gate led to a few puzzling attendance figures being announced back then.

Mervyn was delighted to have met someonee who had been at a game he played in and I look forward to catching up with again before too long.  He’s got some great stories to share, not least about the former Pompey centre-forward, Ron Saunders, who was once Mervyn’s manager at Norwich City.

 ~

Jobsworth
 
A slip, a fall, a trip, a push
I’m the one who has to decide
Do I blow the whistle?
Should I let it ride?
 
A goal, off-side or on?
Keeping up with the back-line’s moves
Takes concentration
With the North Stand baying
 
I need a sense of humour
With these grown men playing
Though I know it’s their job
With mortgages to be paid
 
I have mine too, I‘m just saying
Me and my assistants do our best
To keep the game flowing
Come on lads, it’s only a thrown in
 
Ninety minutes plus added on time
Jobs depend on getting things right
But if that was a slip or that was a foul
Who’s made the error?
Was it the referee
Or the football player?

~

n.b This article first appeared in the Portsmouth FC v Sheffield Wednesday FC match day programme on 14th February, 2026

Chris Perry

5th June, 2026