A closer look at the Posh and London Road.
Vital Statistics
Founded: 1934
Chairman: Darragh MacAnthony
Last Season: League One - 4th (Play-Off Winners)
Nickname: The Posh
Rivals: Cambridge United, Northampton Town
Major Honours
None
Scheduled Matches
Portsmouth vs Peterborough: Tuesday, September 27th (7:45pm)
Peterborough vs Portsmouth: Tuesday, January 31st (7:45pm)
Transfers In
Paul Jones (Exeter - Free)
Nicky Ajose (Manchester United - £300,000)
Craig Alcock (Yeovil Town - Undisclosed)
Ryan Tunnicliffe (Manchester United - Loan)
Scott Wootton (Manchester United - Loan)
Josh Thompson (Celtic - Loan)
Ben Gordon (Chelsea - Loan)
Emile Sinclair (Macclesfield - £250,000)
Transfers Out
Nana (Northampton - Free)
Arron Davies (Northampton - Free)
Dominic Green (Released)
Chris Whelpdale (Gillingham - Undisclosed)
Craig Mackail-Smith (Brighton - £3 million)
Charlie Lee (Gillingham - Undisclosed)
Rene Howe (Torquay - Free)
Exodus Geohaghon (Barnet - Free)
James Wesolowski (Oldham - Free)
Nicky Ajose (Scunthorpe - Loan)
Probable Starting XI
GK: Joe LEWIS
RB: Mark LITTLE
CB: Gabriel ZAKUANI
CB: Ryan BENNETT
LB: Grant BASEY
DM: Grant McCANN
CM: Ryan TUNNICLIFFE
CM: Tommy ROWE
AM: George BOYD
CF: Lee TOMLIN
CF: Nicky AJOSE
The Manager: Darren Ferguson
Son of Sir Alex, Darren's playing career was spent in the lower divisions, mainly with Wrexham before becoming player-manager (and then just manager) of Peterborough in 2007.
Within two full seasons Ferguson had led the Posh to back-to-back promotions to the Championship but left by mutual consent in 2009 and ended up joining Preston, where he was sacked last season following a poor run of results.
Ferguson then returned to Peterborough in League One after Gary Johnson was sacked and improved their fortunes, leading them to promotion via the play-offs. However, with his star player sold, Alex's son faces an uphill battle to keep Peterborough in the Championship.
The Fans
Pompey haven't played Peterborough in the league for a long time, with a League Cup tie in 2002 being the only fixture where Pompey fans could mingle with Posh supporters.
Apparently, talkSPORT radio presenter Adrian Durham and politician Brian Mawhinney are the only remotely famous Peterborough fans.
Peterborough fan Conor on the upcoming season:
Survival is the aim. We made some massive mistakes last time at this level so we'd be delighted to finish 21st. Anything above that is definitelty a bonus.
The Ground: London Road (Capacity: 15,300)
Pompey haven't played at London Road since Paul Walsh and Alan McLoughlin were donning the royal blue. Overview and photos to come at the start of February.
