Another action packed twelve months - in this edition, January through to June

January
You can't beat a game on New Years Day, as the hungover and the cold stagger into grounds up and down the country in search of footballing respite. Except this year; the way the days all fell meant that there WAS no football treat served up on the first day of the year! The first match came in the FA Cup against Blackpool, and with thoughts of a midweek replay looming, Yakubu knocked one in from a yard out to secure a 2-1 victory and an exciting home time against, er, Scunthorpe - themselves beaten 2-1 towards the end of the month to set up an genuinely exciting tie with Liverpool.

Yak-attack vs. Man City

League form was inconsistent; two defeats (Bolton and Villa), a win over Manchester City (David Seaman's last ever match in professional football) and a second 0-0 draw of the season against lowly Wolves. At least we finally scored away from home during defeat at Villa Park; it was the first time since the beginning of September! Dejan Stefanovic got himself sent off during the 1-0 defeat at Bolton for deciding to bodycheck the referee, never a good idea at the best of times, let alone with a big injury crisis around the club; let us not forget that at Villa things had got so bad that Alan Knight was on the bench. Quite what the completely fit Chris Tardif thought that a 40+ year old without regular training was picked over him, we'll never know!

Boris - out

Meanwhile, there were a fair few comings and goings; Eyal Berkovic signed to cries of "past it", Ivica Mornar, Richard Duffy and Petri Pasanen to the shouts of "who", and Lomano LuaLua to the strains of "showboater". The latter of the names was to have the biggest effect and earn himself a full time contract in the process. Meanwhile, Boris Zivkovic had kicked his last ball, his contract torn up after an unhappy stint at the club where he had, perhaps unfairly, becoming a bit of a whipping boy.

All in all, the month had not done much to improve general spirits; despite relatively easy fixtures, the team had dropped to 17th in the table. A lot of work to be done, and games running out in which to do it.

February
A new month, and two straight defeats; Spurs first clinching a last minute 4-3 victory in a truly topsy-turvy clash, following up by Chelsea taking three points from Fratton Park with more ease than the 2-0 scoreline suggested. Although we had no idea at the time, such was the seemingly desperate state of affairs, but no-one else would win at our gaff for the rest of the season.

Relief from the poor league form came with the arrival of a big FA Cup draw against Liverpool. There was a score to be settled; who can forget the events of the 1992 semi-final where Pompey were robbed of their chance of playing at Wembley by a late Scouse equaliser in the first game, and a penalty shoot-out in the replay? Things started poorly as Michael Owen gave the Anfield side a second minute lead, but substitute Matt Taylor had other ideas as he popped up late on to volley home an unstoppable equaliser in front of the Kop. His subsequent celebration - sprinting the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of the visiting fans - is probably remembered more than the goal itself!

Hughesy scores

Justice and revenge for events twelve years prior was completed at in the replay seven days later as Pompey recorded their second 1-0 victory over Liverpool that season, Richard Hughes scoring the only goal - his first for the club. The referee seemed determined to ruin things though, awarding one penalty for the visitors before his linesman pointed out it was actually a Liverpool handball, and then giving another spotkick for a fantastic saving tackle by Matt Taylor; even the Sky commentators were disgusted by the decision, but justice was done as Shaka saved Michael Owen's poor effort from twelve yards.

The cup success was rewarded with a home tie against unbeaten league leaders Arsenal, although the players kept their mind on the task at hand - Premier League survival. LuaLua was clearly concentrating right until the bitter end, as his 89th minute goal against his parent club Newcastle secured an unlikely point. But yet, we still ended the month as we'd begun; 17th place.

March

Celebrating another

Arsenal were in town for the FA Cup Quarter Final. The draw would not be kind - not content with Liverpool then Arsenal, if we'd got through, we would've faced Manchester United. Not that it mattered, as we were destroyed 5-1 in a ridiculously brilliant display of football from the Gunners. The fans won plaudits from none other than Thierry Henry, as he praised the non-stop chanting and singing, even at 5-0 down. Strangely, Robert Pires was "rested".

With the cup out of the way, it was time to concentrate solely on the league, and first up was a visit to Everton. The Toffees had secured a fortunate 2-1 win at Fratton Park earlier in the season, a game in which Wayne Rooney surely should have seen red, only to be spared by the gross incompetence of Uriah Rennie. Either way, there was hope we could get at least a point out of the game, some crumbs of comfort - but we lost. On the long journey back after such a depressing performance, it was now I really started to entertain the thought that we could be going down. The dreaded R word.

And then a few days later, once again on Merseyside, we drooped to a crushing defeat to the red side of the city; the fact that the 3-0 beating included the eventual Match of the Day "goal of the season" from Hamann won't serve as much consolation to those that made the midweek trip.

The bottom line was such; we'd played good football, got some decent players, and been unlucky at times - but at the end of the day, the elusive results for whatever reason, were not forthcoming. It's worth reminding ourselves, mid-March, just how things looked. 18th in the league with 24 points, only two points kept us off the bottom of the table. Meanwhile, Leicester and in particular Blackburn were building themselves a little bit of a barrier.

And then we played Southampton.

GET! IN! THERE!

Sure, it wasn't a classic. The football wasn't the best and the game got bogged down in midfield, but the 1-0 victory, courtesy of Yakubu's 68th minute strike, galvanised the club and made us realise it wasn't all over. The morale booster of beating that lot from down the road seemed to certainly spur the fans on, if not so much the players. And to think it could've all been so different, as Kevin Phillips' injury time volley deflected away to safety after crashing off the upright at the Milton End. Yikes.

And how do you follow up a home win over your deadly rivals? With your first league win on the road of the season, of course. It had only taken seven months, but finally Portsmouth FC had won a match away from home, Blackburn generously donating three points to the cause. A lovely way to end the month; even if the league position stayed the same as previously, 17th, there was more belief in the club and around the city - the escape was on!

April
This month was to be the defining period of the season. Taking ten points from a possible twelve, it was to see Harry pick up the Manager of the Month award and also all-but-secure our Premier League status for 04/05.

On the back of two straight wins, a 1-1 draw away at Charlton was certainly a good start to the month. Next, Birmingham City visited Fratton Park - what was a dour first half exploded into life in injury time, as away keeper Maik Taylor handled outside the area. Yakubu played on and scored, but the referee was having none of it; he pulled play back, sent off Taylor, and then Stefanovic scored from the free kick anyway. Eventually, a 3-1 defeat sent the visitors packing and another three points safely deposited into Pompey's Premier League account.

Stoney

And next, arguably the best game of the season. A game that caused the Sports Mail to scream, "GIANT STEP TO SAFETY!" A game that caused my driving instructor, a fan of the opposition, to refuse to talk to me for a while. A game that, despite kicking off at 12:30, didn't finish until 14:30 - if that doesn't tell you who the other side were, nothing will. Manchester United and their big spending bandwagon of prawn sandwich munchers marched into town, and duly had their bottoms spanked. Gary Neville's generous assist allowed Steve Stone to prod home, sending Fratton Park absolutely mental. A sell-out crowd nearly tore the roof off through sheer noise at the final whistle, and with 37 points, the finish line was in sight.

Leeds United sat 18th on 32 points. We were set to travel there for a Sunday 11:30am kick off; if United won, they were up to 35 points and the pressure was on. If we won, we hit the magical 40 points barrier and their relegation was all but assured, not to mention the huge mental blow to their confidence. Seth Johnson stoked the fire before the game, claiming that, "If we can't beat teams like Portsmouth, we don't deserve to stay up". Not wise words considering the 6-1 thumping they'd been given less than six months prior, and so it turned out; the tricky and pacey strike duo of Yakubu and LuaLua scored once each to set up a 2-1 win, and the second maximum haul away from home of the season. It couldn't have come at a better time.

Cue "smug mode". Unlucky, Seth.

May

Yak scores - again

After fearing for so long that this would be such an important month, in truth it was a complete non-event. With safety almost definite, every match became a bit of a party, without too much concern over the result. The pressure was off, and a good performance in the name of pride - not to mention £500,000 per league position - was the only issue. A 1-1 draw with Fulham ensured that we were now mathematically safe; no more worries about Leeds winning 25-0 on the last day and Shaka drop kicking 400 own goals, it was actually impossible for ourselves to drop down. Fan-bloody-tastic. Amidst the laid back happy atmosphere, Arsenal - on their way to the league title - paid a trip to Fratton, and they bought our old chum Thierry down; although again, Pires was "rested". A bout of mutual back-slapping ensued between fans and player, and not only that but a highly creditable 1-1 draw in a brilliant display of football between two good sides came out of the other end.

Oh, but then it's never that easy is it. LEICESTER! Sorry to scare you, but let's be honest, they are a petrifying proposition. They inflicted the worst defeat in our history, 10-0. They stopped us doing a league/cup double in 1949. They scored a ridiculously offside goal in the play-offs in 1993. They beat us earlier in the season, and the season before in a farcical water polo contest. And what's more, they smell. So after going unbeaten for nearly two months - a run of games including the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United - it was only natural they should beat us 3-1, despite already being relegated.

And yet, rumours started to fly that the reason for the defeat was more sinister; that back room issues had unsettled the players and preperation for the match. There was talk that Jim was set to be sacked, and that Harry had flown to his support. Then Milan said that Harry wanted him sacked in the first place. Then Harry called Milan a liar, live on tv. The "dream team" seemed to be falling apart, and once again Pompey had managed to slit their own throats whilst shooting themselves in the foot, all at once. If that's possible. Rumour, counter-rumour, media stirring - there was a stage where personally I was just waiting for the press conference to be called and the announcement it was all over; there truly seemed to be no way back, especially when Milan began to speak of the appointment of a supposed "European super coach".

Silkman - twat

And yet, they kissed and made up. The press didn't believe it - they wanted more blood - but the two men had obviously decided no matter how big their egos, the future of the club was more important. And what better way to end such a difficult week, than a 5-1 victory? Yakubu grabbed four goals in the process, taking his tally to 19, and it was to start even more stories that Middlesbrough wanted to drag the Nigerian away from Fratton Park. Rumours started and spread by the self-publicising money-grabbing leech of a vermin of a rectal louse of a man that is, Barry Silkman.

Pompey had finished a creditable 13th, one position below rivals Southampton. Who would've thought it just two months previously? Certainly not me - I thought it was Crewe away all over again. But I do loved to be proved wrong, and it was time to settle down for a relaxing summer. Ish.

June
Lots of rumour and chat, but little in the way of actual action.

Yakubu was persistently linked with a move to Middlesbrough, £6m the alleged fee. Journalists would continually rehash the story up until November or so, and then a month after that simply change the target club in order to fit in with whatever they saw fit. More rumours persisted over Matthew Taylor; a Tottenham fan as a child, it was suggested that the Londoners had offered £2m for his services, but a move never came.

Gone but not forgotten

Meanwhile, Alexei Smertin, Petri Pasanen and Lomano LuaLua left the club as their loan spells expired. Terry Parker and Chris Tardif joined Lee Bradbury and Courtney Pitt under Graham Rix's command at Oxford, whilst Carl Robinson - after numerous loan spells - finally found a settled home, at Sunderland. Young Polish striker Sebastian Olzsar was also released, with only one appearance and a loan spell at Coventry to show for his time at Fratton, a true panic buy if ever there was one.

The only players to sign were Andy Griffin, on a free transfer from Newcastle, and young keeper Jamie Ashdown from Reading - a fee later sorted out by a tribunal. Rumours persisted of more signings to come, and so it was proved later in the summer.

July - December to come shortly.