Best Opposition Team
Three of the "Big Four" were nominated for this award along with Blackburn, presumably for the way they took us apart at Ewood Park. Arsenal managed to turn around a 2 goal deficit and had us on the ropes at the Emirates when they levelled the score, Manchester United tore us apart at Old Trafford and should have had more than 3 but neither the Gunners or United won this award...
WINNER: CHELSEA
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There's something really irritating about Chelsea. They never play out of their skin yet their boring style always gets them the result. Mourinho's men were given a run for their money at Stamford Bridge but once again they turned up at Fratton Park and gave us our usual 2-0 defeat.
Worst Opposition Team
There were many nominees for this award. Blackburn, Reading and Everton all came to Fratton Park and got completely dominated whilst Wigan were also awful in the FA Cup and at the JJB (yet still managed to win...) Middlesbrough got a few votes for their totally inept display at The Riverside and their overwhelming negativity at Fratton Park whilst Fulham also somehow managed to get two 1-1 draws against us. Charlton were also mentioned but the winner is....
WINNER: WATFORD
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It's strange how the only team to score 4 against us this season ended up winning this award. I imagine that the voters still remember the game at Fratton Park where a team with no ability whatsoever still almost managed to take a draw. They weren't even that good against us at Vicarage Road either, but we just had to outdo them in the "awfulness" stakes.
Best Opposition Player
There were many different players voted for in this category, too many to name in just one paragraph so I shall list them instead with the players with more votes at the top (excluding the winner of course).
Emmanuel Adebayor
Didier Drogba
Ben Foster
Kevin Nolan
Petr Cech
Jonathan Woodgate
Wayne Rooney
Mikel Arteta
Cesc Fabregas
David Bentley
Arjen Robben
Ricardo Carvalho
WINNER: CRISTIANO RONALDO
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This award purely has to be based on his performances against us at Old Trafford as he did nothing of note at Fratton Park. The serial winker gave us a torrid time in the league, scoring an excellent free kick in our 3-0 drubbing whilst continuing to torment a weakened Pompey defence.
Worst Opposition Player
Similar to the previous award, there were a lot of nominees so again I'll list them in order of most votes to least.
James Beattie
Didier Zokora
Joey Barton
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
Kieran Richardson
Cristiano Ronaldo
Julio Baptista
Lucas Neill
Anton Ferdinand
Craig Moore
Paddy Kenny
WINNER: BEN THATCHER
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OK, so the winner of this award was pretty much set in stone despite the boos spurring him on at Fratton Park when Charlton beat us. Still, for a player with little footballing ability to do what he did to Pedro Mendes is inexcusable and that alone makes him the "worst" player in the minds of many Pompey fans.
Best Opposition Fans at Fratton Park
Despite how bad their team were, Watford fans really got behind their team at Fratton Park as did Reading fans even though their team were getting tonked. Arsenal and Villa fans turned up in fancy dress and made plenty of noise and someone also strangely decided to vote for Liverpool fans... All these sets of fans were outdone by one group though,
WINNER: SHEFFIELD UNITED FANS
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The Blades fans were heard loud and clear when Rob Hulse gave them an early lead as their famous song about greasy chip buttys was constantly belted out of the Milton End. Even though their team went to pot in the second half they still kept their spirits high and that deserves some respect.
Worst Opposition Fans at Fratton Park
I understand that it may be difficult to create a good atmosphere in an open top away end and that Portsmouth is a long way for some fans to travel but even then, supporters of some teams really don't do their team any justice. The journey to Pompey for Fulham fans is one of their shortest of the season yet they hardly brought any whilst Blackburn, Wigan, Middlesbrough and Bolton also failed to fill their allocation. Millwall fans were also mentioned for their part in Havant & Waterlooville's FA Cup game whilst Chelsea fans were also quite silent despite taking the maximum allocation.
WINNER: LIVERPOOL FANS
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For fans that ITV and Sky often refer to as the "best in the world", the Scousers turned up and filled the majority of the away end only to sit there in near enough complete silence. Even their cheer for Sami Hyppia's goal was difficult to hear as the Kopites didn't seem to care.
Scummer of the Year
Our final award goes to a person that the Pompey fans have a strong dislike for. There were mentions for Stains manager George Burley, James Beattie, Didier Zokora, Graham Poll, Andrew Cole and the Ted Bates statue sculptor. Leon Best received his fair share of the vote for scoring an own goal, missing a sitter and a penalty at Pride Park. Penalty hero Inigo Idiakez also took some votes and Mick Quinn also got one for apparently laughing at Pedro Mendes getting assaulted. One reader voted for "All Saints fans" and I'm sure they meant fans of Southampton and not the girl group! There can only be one winner of this prestigous award and he doesn't even play for Southampton...
WINNER: BEN THATCHER
After his violent attack on Pedro Mendes, Thatcher made himself one of the most hated men in Portsmouth, making him truly worthy of being "Scummer of the Year".
That ends the Fratton Faithful Awards 2007. Once again, thanks to all who voted!