2008–09 Portsmouth F.C. season

During the 2008–09 football season Portsmouth played their sixth consecutive season in the highest tier of English football, the Premier League. Thanks to the exploits of the previous season, Portsmouth achieved European football for the first time in their footballing history, thanks to an FA Cup win over Cardiff City; they competed in the UEFA Cup. They also participated in the Charity Shield, against Manchester United on 10 August 2008, at Wembley Stadium, eventually losing on penalties. This was the first time since 1996 that a team outside of the "Big Four" had competed in the competition.

Portsmouth

2008–09 season
Owner	Alexandre Gaydamak
Manager	Harry Redknapp (to 26 October 2008) Tony Adams (to 9 February 2009) Paul Hart (caretaker manager)
Stadium	Fratton Park
Premier League	14th
FA Cup	Fourth round
League Cup	Third round
Community Shield	Runners-up
UEFA Cup	Group stage
Top goalscorer	League: Peter Crouch (11) All: Peter Crouch (16)
Highest home attendance	20,540 vs. Manchester Utd (25 August 2008)
Lowest home attendance	18,111 vs. Blackburn Rovers (30 November 2008)
Average home league attendance	19,325
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Transfer summary

In

Pos.	No.	Name	From	Fee
DF		James Hurst	West Bromwich Albion	Compensation
FW		Gaël N’Lundulu	Paris Saint-Germain	Compensation
DF	32	Djimi Traoré	Rennes	Loan return
MF		Gauthier Mahoto	Le Havre	Compensation
MF	25	Glen Little	Reading	Free
FW	26	Ben Sahar	Chelsea	Loan
FW		Nadir Çiftçi	ADO Den Haag	Compensation
FW	9	Peter Crouch	Liverpool	Undisclosed fee (estimated £11M)
FW		Omar Koroma	Banjul Hawks	Nominal
DF	3	Younès Kaboul	Tottenham Hotspur	Undisclosed fee (estimated £5M)
MF	11	Jerome Thomas	Charlton Athletic	Nominal (variable on appearances)
DF	30	Armand Traoré	Arsenal	Loan
DF	39	Nadir Belhadj	Lens	Loan
GK		Jon Stewart	Weymouth	Free
MF		Khaleem Hyland	San Juan Jabloteh	Non-contractual agreement
MF		Pablo Navas-Alors	Barcelona	Free
MF		Torric Jebrin	Hearts of Oak	Undisclosed fee
DF		Dan Bennett	Plymouth Argyle	Free
DF	2	Linvoy Primus	Charlton Athletic	Loan return
DF	39	Nadir Belhadj	Lens	£4,400,000
DF	20	Martin Cranie	Charlton Athletic	Loan return
MF	14	Jermaine Pennant	Liverpool	Loan
MF	6	Hayden Mullins	West Ham United	Undisclosed fee (estimated £1–2M)
MF	26	Pelé	Porto	Loan
FW		Omar Koroma	Norwich City	Loan return
FW	29	Theofanis Gekas	Bayer Leverkusen	Loan
MF	33	Angelos Basinas	AEK Athens	Undisclosed fee (estimated £1.2M)
FW		Danijel Subotić	Zulte Waregem	Loan return
FW		Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo	Zulte Waregem	Loan return
MF		Florent Cuvelier	Mouscron	Compensation
DF		Luke Wilkinson	Bristol City	Compensation
DF		Callum Reynolds	Basingstoke Town	Loan return
FW		Carl Walshe	Home Farm	Compensation

Out

Pos.	No.	Name	To	Fee
FW	9	Milan Baroš	Lyon	Loan return
DF	3	Lucien Aubey	Lens	Loan return
FW	34	Franck Songo'o	Real Zaragoza	Contract expired
MF	11	Sulley Muntari	Internazionale	Undisclosed fee (estimated £12.75M)
FW		Omar Koroma	Norwich City	Loan
FW		Danijel Subotić	Zulte Waregem	Loan
GK	31	Asmir Begović	Yeovil Town	Loan
DF		Joel Ward	AFC Bournemouth	Loan
MF	30	Pedro Mendes	Rangers	£3,000,000
FW		Andréa Mbuyi-Mutombo	Zulte Waregem	Loan
MF		Khaleem Hyland	Zulte Waregem	Loan
DF	2	Linvoy Primus	Charlton Athletic	Loan
MF	29	Jean-Francois Christophe	Southend United	Loan
DF	20	Martin Cranie	Charlton Athletic	Loan
MF	36	Matt Ritchie	Dagenham & Redbridge	Loan
MF		Jordan Hughes	Bognor Regis Town	Work experience
FW		Louis Castles	Bognor Regis Town	Work experience
MF		Torric Jebrin	Zulte Waregem	Loan
MF		Billy Goddard	Bognor Regis Town	Work experience
MF	6	Lassana Diarra	Real Madrid	Undisclosed fee (estimated £21M)
FW	26	Ben Sahar	Chelsea	Loan return
MF	29	Jean-Francois Christophe	Southend United	Nominal
MF	36	Matt Ritchie	Dagenham & Redbridge	Loan extension
FW	14	Jermain Defoe	Tottenham Hotspur	Undisclosed (estimated £15.75M)
DF	24	Richard Duffy	Millwall	Undisclosed fee
DF	32	Djimi Traoré	Birmingham City	Loan
MF	25	Glen Little	Reading	Loan
FW		Ryan Gazet Du Chattelier	Bognor Regis Town	Work experience
FW		Louis Castles	Bognor Regis Town	Work experience
DF		Callum Reynolds	Basingstoke Town	Loan

Statistics

Appearances

Goalkeepers

No.	Name	Position	Date of Birth	Nationality	League App.	Domestic Cups	UEFA Cup App.	Clean Sheets	Goals conceded	/
1	David James	Goalkeeper	01-08-1970	England	36	4	5	9 (+4)	55 (+16)	2 / 0
21	Jamie Ashdown	Goalkeeper	30-11-1980	England	0	0	1	1	0	0 / 0
31	Asmir Begović	Goalkeeper	20-06-1987	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2	0	0	0	2	0 / 0

Defenders

No.	Name	Position	Date of Birth	Nationality	League App.	Domestic Cups	UEFA Cup App.	Goals Scored	Assists	/
3	Younès Kaboul	Central Defender	04-01-1986	France	17 (3)	2 (1)	1 (1)	1 (+1)	1	4 (+1) / 0
5	Glen Johnson	Right back	23-08-1984	England	29	2	4	3	6 (+3)	9 (+3) / 1
7	Hermann Hreiðarsson	Left back/Central Defender	11-07-1974	Iceland	19 (4)	1 (2)	2 (1)	2 (+1)	0	7 (+1) / 0
15	Sylvain Distin	Central Defender	16-12-1977	France	38	4	5	0	0	2 (+1) / 0
16	Noé Pamarot	Utility Defender	14-04-1979	France	11 (4)	1 (1)	3 (1)	0	0	1 (+2) / 1
23	Sol Campbell (c)	Central Defender	18-09-1974	England	32	3	4	0	0	1 (+1) / 0
30	Armand Traoré	Left back/Left-sided Midfielder	08-12-1989	France	14 (5)	2 (1)	6	0	2 (+2)	0 / 0
35	Marc Wilson	Utility Defender	17-08-1987	Ireland	3 (1)	2 (1)	1	0	0 (+1)	1 / 0
39	Nadir Belhadj	Left back/Left-sided Midfielder	18-06-1982	Algeria	21 (8)	4	3 (2)	2	3 (+3)	2 (+3) / 1

Midfielders

No.	Name	Position	Date of Birth	Nationality	League App.	Domestic Cups	UEFA Cup App.	Goals Scored	Assists	/
6	Hayden Mullins	Defensive midfielder/Sweeper/Right Back	27-03-1979	England	15 (2)	0	0	0	0	1 / 0
8	Papa Bouba Diop	Defensive midfielder/Central Defender	28-01-1978	Senegal	15 (1)	0	3 (1)	0	1	5 / 0
14	Jermaine Pennant	Right-sided midfielder	15-01-1983	England	9 (4)	1	0	0	3	0 / 0
18	Arnold Mvuemba	Central Midfielder/Right-sided Midfielder	28-01-1985	France	1 (5)	2	2 (2)	0 (+1)	0	0 / 0
19	Niko Kranjčar	Attacking midfielder/Left-sided Midfielder	13-08-1984	Croatia	16 (5)	2	1	3 (+1)	3	2 / 0
22	Richard Hughes	Defensive midfielder	25-06-1979	Scotland	17 (3)	2	4	0	0	3 (+2) / 0
28	Sean Davis	Defensive midfielder	20-09-1979	England	31 (1)	2	4 (2)	1	3 (+1)	5 / 1
33	Angelos Basinas	Defensive midfielder	03-01-1976	Greece	3	0	0	0	0	0 / 0

Forwards

No.	Name	Position	Date of Birth	Nationality	League App.	Domestic Cups	UEFA Cup App.	Goals Scored	Assists	/
9	Peter Crouch	Centre forward	30-01-1981	England	38	4	5 (1)	13 (+5)	5	2 / 0
10	David Nugent	Centre forward	02-05-1985	England	13 (3)	3	0	3	1	1 / 0
17	John Utaka	Right winger	08-01-1982	Nigeria	4 (14)	1 (1)	1	1	1	1 / 0
27	Nwankwo Kanu	Centre forward	01-08-1976	Nigeria	3 (14)	0 (3)	2 (3)	1 (+1)	1 (+1)	0 / 0

Others

Includes players who have yet to feature prominently and former players.

No.	Name	Position	Date of Birth	Nationality	League App.	Domestic Cups	UEFA Cup App.	Goals Scored	Assists	/
2	Linvoy Primus	Central Defender	14-09-1973	England	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
4	Lauren	Right back	19-01-1977	Cameroon	0	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
6	Lassana Diarra	Defensive midfielder	10-03-1985	France	11 (1)	0	2	0 (+1)	0	3 / 1
11	Jerome Thomas	Left-sided midfielder	23-03-1983	England	0 (2)	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
14	Jermain Defoe	Centre forward	07-10-1982	England	17 (2)	0	4	7 (+2)	4 (+1)	4 (+1) / 0
20	Martin Cranie	Utility Defender	23-09-1986	England	0	2	0	0	0	0 / 0
24	Richard Duffy	Right back	30-08-1985	Wales	0	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
25	Glen Little	Right-sided midfielder	15-10-1975	England	4 (1)	0	2 (1)	0	0 (+1)	0 / 0
26	Pelé	Central Midfielder	14-09-1987	Portugal	0	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
26	Ben Sahar	Centre forward	10-08-1989	Israel	0	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
29	Theofanis Gekas	Centre forward	23-05-1980	Greece	0 (1)	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
29	Jean-François Christophe	Defensive midfielder	27-06-1987	France	0	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
32	Djimi Traoré	Left back/Central Defender	01-03-1980	Mali	0	0	0	0	0	0 / 0
36	Matt Ritchie	Left-sided midfielder	10-09-1989	Scotland	0	0	0	0	0	0 / 0

Competitions

Community Shield

Main article: 2008 FA Community Shield

Portsmouth lost the 2008 FA Community Shield 3–1 on penalties against 2007–08 Premier League winners Manchester United after the match finished 0–0 after 90 minutes on 10 August. It was Pompey's second game against United in the space of two weeks.

Manchester United v Portsmouth

10 August 2008	Manchester United	0–0 (3–1 p)	Portsmouth	Wembley Stadium, London
15:00 BST		Report		Attendance: 84,808 Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)[A]
	Penalties
	Tevez Giggs Carrick		Diarra Defoe Mvuemba Johnson

Premier League

Main article: 2008–09 Premier League

Matchday	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	L	L	W	W	L	W	W	D	D	L	L	W	D	D	W	D	L	L	L	L	D	L	L	L	W	D	L	D	W	D	D	W	L	D	L	L	W	L
Position	20	20	15	10	14	10	8	7	7	7	9	9	9	8	8	7	8	10	11	12	13	16	17	17	17	16	18	17	15	15	16	14	14	14	14	15	14	14

Source: WorldFootball.com
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Chelsea v Portsmouth

17 August 2008 1	Chelsea	4–0	Portsmouth	London
13:30	J. Cole 12' Anelka 26' Lampard 45' (pen.) Deco 89'	Report	James  45+1'	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 41,468 Referee: Mike Dean

Portsmouth v Manchester United

25 August 2008 2	Portsmouth	0–1	Manchester United	Portsmouth
		Report	Fletcher 32'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,540 Referee: Chris Foy

Everton v Portsmouth

30 August 2008 3	Everton	0–3	Portsmouth	Liverpool
15:00	Baines  88'	Report	Defoe 12', 69' Johnson 40'	Stadium: Goodison Park Attendance: 34,418 Referee: Mark Halsey

Portsmouth v Middlesbrough

13 September 2008 4	Portsmouth	2–1	Middlesbrough	Portsmouth
	Defoe 59', 86'	Report	Mido 24'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 19,425

Manchester City v Portsmouth

21 September 2008 5	Manchester City	6–0	Portsmouth	Manchester
	Jô 14' Dunne 20' Robinho 57' Wright-Phillips 59' Evans 78' Fernandes 83'	Report		Stadium: City of Manchester Stadium Attendance: 40,238 Referee: Alan Wiley

Portsmouth v Tottenham Hotspur

28 September 2008 6	Portsmouth	2–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Portsmouth
	Defoe 34' (pen.) Crouch 68'	Report		Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,352

Portsmouth v Stoke City

5 October 2008 7	Portsmouth	2–1	Stoke City	Portsmouth
	Crouch 25' Defoe 51'	Report	Fuller 48'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 19,248

Aston Villa v Portsmouth

18 October 2008 8	Aston Villa	0–0	Portsmouth	Birmingham
		Report		Stadium: Villa Park Attendance: 37,660

Portsmouth v Fulham

26 October 2008 9	Portsmouth	1–1	Fulham	Portsmouth
	Crouch 61'	Report	Dempsey 87'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 19,233

Liverpool v Portsmouth

29 October 2008 10	Liverpool	1–0	Portsmouth	Anfield, Liverpool
	Gerrard 76' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Anfield Attendance: 43,378

Portsmouth v Wigan Athletic

1 November 2008 11	Portsmouth	1–2	Wigan Athletic	Portsmouth
	Kranjčar 82'	Report	Zaki 45' (pen.) Heskey 90'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 18,416

Sunderland v Portsmouth

8 November 2008 12	Sunderland	1–2	Portsmouth	Sunderland
	Cissé 4'	Report	Belhadj 51' Defoe 89' (pen.)	Stadium: Stadium of Light Attendance: 37,712

West Ham United v Portsmouth

15 November 2008 13	West Ham United	0–0	Portsmouth	Upton Park, London
		Report		Stadium: Boleyn Ground Attendance: 32,328

Portsmouth v Hull City

22 November 2008 14	Portsmouth	2–2	Hull City	Portsmouth
	Crouch 20' Johnson 63'	Report	Turner 54' Windass 89'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,240

Portsmouth v Blackburn Rovers

30 November 2008 15	Portsmouth	3–2	Blackburn Rovers	Portsmouth
	Crouch 49' Defoe 53' Davis 79'	Report	Derbyshire 62' Kerimoğlu 67'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 18,111

West Bromwich Albion v Portsmouth

7 December 2008 16	West Bromwich Albion	1–1	Portsmouth	West Bromwich
	Greening 39'	Report	Crouch 58'	Stadium: The Hawthorns Attendance: 24,964

Portsmouth v Newcastle United

14 December 2008 17	Portsmouth	0–3	Newcastle United	Portsmouth
		Report	Owen 52' Martins 77' Guthrie 89'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 19,416

Bolton Wanderers v Portsmouth

20 December 2008 18	Bolton Wanderers	2–1	Portsmouth	Bolton
	Taylor 1' Gardner 3'	Report	Crouch 20'	Stadium: University of Bolton Stadium Attendance: 19,884

Portsmouth v West Ham United

26 December 2008 19	Portsmouth	1–4	West Ham United	Portsmouth
13:00	Belhadj 8'	Report	Collison 20' C. Cole 67' Bellamy 70', 83'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,102 Referee: Steve Bennett

Arsenal v Portsmouth

28 December 2008 20	Arsenal	1–0	Portsmouth	Holloway, London
	Gallas 81'	Report		Stadium: Emirates Stadium Attendance: 60,092 Referee: Alan Wiley

Tottenham Hotspur v Portsmouth

18 January 2009 21	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1	Portsmouth	Tottenham, London
	Defoe 70'	Report	Nugent 59'	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 36,011 Referee: Steve Bennett

Portsmouth v Aston Villa

27 January 2009 22	Portsmouth	0–1	Aston Villa	Portsmouth
		Report	Heskey 21'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 19,073

Fulham v Portsmouth

31 January 2009 23	Fulham	3–1	Portsmouth	Fulham, London
	A. Johnson 14' Nevland 71', 80'	Report	Nugent 84'	Stadium: Craven Cottage Attendance: 23,722

Portsmouth v Liverpool

7 February 2009 24	Portsmouth	2–3	Liverpool	Portsmouth
17:30	Nugent 62' Hreiðarsson 77'	Report	Aurélio 69' Kuyt 85' Torres 90'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,524

Portsmouth v Manchester City

14 February 2009 25	Portsmouth	2–0	Manchester City	Portsmouth
	Johnson 70' Hreiðarsson 75'	Report		Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,018

Stoke City v Portsmouth

21 February 2009 26	Stoke City	2–2	Portsmouth	Stoke-on-Trent
	Beattie 78' (pen.), 80'	Report	Kranjčar 75' Shawcross 90'	Stadium: Britannia Stadium

Portsmouth v Chelsea

3 March 2009 27	Portsmouth	0–1	Chelsea	Portsmouth
		Report	Drogba 79'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,326

Middlesbrough v Portsmouth

14 March 2009 28	Middlesbrough	1–1	Portsmouth	Middlesbrough
	King 90'	Report	Crouch 30'	Stadium: Riverside Stadium Attendance: 24,281 Referee: Martin Atkinson

Portsmouth v Everton

21 March 2009 29	Portsmouth	2–1	Everton	Portsmouth
	Crouch 22', 75'	Report	Baines 4'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,388 Referee: Peter Walton

Hull City v Portsmouth

4 April 2009 30	Hull City	0–0	Portsmouth	Kingston upon Hull
		Report		Stadium: KC Stadium Attendance: 24,802 Referee: Chris Foy

Portsmouth v West Bromwich Albion

11 April 2009 31	Portsmouth	2–2	West Bromwich Albion	Portsmouth
	Kaboul 33' Kranjčar 65'	Report	Greening 48' Brunt 62'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,376 Referee: Mike Dean

Portsmouth v Bolton Wanderers

18 April 2009 32	Portsmouth	1–0	Bolton Wanderers	Portsmouth
	Kanu 78'	Report		Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,158 Referee: Phil Dowd

Manchester United v Portsmouth

22 April 2009 33	Manchester United	2–0	Portsmouth	Stretford, Manchester
	Rooney 9' Carrick 82'	Report		Stadium: Old Trafford Attendance: 74,895 Referee: Peter Walton

Newcastle United v Portsmouth

27 April 2009 34	Newcastle United	0–0	Portsmouth	Newcastle upon Tyne
		Report		Stadium: St James' Park Attendance: 47,481 Referee: Mike Riley

Portsmouth v Arsenal

2 May 2009 35	Portsmouth	0–3	Arsenal	Portsmouth
		Report	Bendtner 13', 41' (pen.) Vela 56'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,418 Referee: Lee Mason

Blackburn Rovers v Portsmouth

9 May 2009 36	Blackburn Rovers	2–0	Portsmouth	Blackburn
	Pedersen 31' McCarthy 58' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: Ewood Park Attendance: 24,234 Referee: Mike Riley

Portsmouth v Sunderland

18 May 2009 37	Portsmouth	3–1	Sunderland	Portsmouth
	Utaka 60' Bardsley 68' (o.g.) Traoré 88'	Report	Jones 59'	Stadium: Fratton Park Attendance: 20,398 Referee: Alan Wiley

Wigan Athletic v Portsmouth

24 May 2009 38	Wigan Athletic	1–0	Portsmouth	Wigan
	Rodallega 26'	Report		Stadium: JJB Stadium Attendance: 17,696 Referee: Phil Dowd

Final league table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
12	Stoke City	38	12	9	17	38	55	−17	45
13	Bolton Wanderers	38	11	8	19	41	53	−12	41
14	Portsmouth	38	10	11	17	38	57	−19	41
15	Blackburn Rovers	38	10	11	17	40	60	−20	41
16	Sunderland	38	9	9	20	34	54	−20	36

Source: Premier League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	10	11	17	38	57	−19	41	8	3	8	26	29	−3	2	8	9	12	28	−16

Source: Barclays Premier League

UEFA Cup

Main article: 2008–09 UEFA Cup

Group stage

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Wolfsburg	4	3	1	0	13	7	+6	10
Milan	4	2	2	0	8	5	+3	8
Braga	4	2	0	2	7	5	+2	6
Portsmouth	4	1	1	2	7	8	−1	4
Heerenveen	4	0	0	4	3	13	−10	0

Source: RSSSF

Matches

Braga v Portsmouth

23 October 2008	Braga	3–0	Portsmouth	Braga,Portugal
20:15 UTC+1	Aguiar 8' Rentería 46' Alan 87'	Report		Stadium: Estádio AXA, Braga Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Darko Ceferin (Slovenia)

Portsmouth v Milan

27 November 2008	Portsmouth	2–2	Milan	Fratton Park, Portsmouth
20:05 UTC+0	Kaboul 62' Kanu 73'	Report	Ronaldinho 84' Inzaghi 90+2'	Attendance: 20,403 Referee: Serge Gumienny (Belgium)

Wolfsburg v Portsmouth

4 December 2008	Wolfsburg	3–2	Portsmouth	Volkswagen Arena, Wolfsburg
20:45 UTC+1	Džeko 3' Gentner 23' Misimović 74'	Report	Defoe 11' Mvuemba 14'	Attendance: 21,015 Referee: Ivan Bebek (Croatia)

Portsmouth v Heerenveen

17 December 2008	Portsmouth	3–0	Heerenveen	Fratton Park, Portsmouth
19:45 UTC+0	Crouch 40', 42' Hreiðarsson 90'	Report		Attendance: 19,612 Referee: Richard Havrilla (Slovakia)

Top scorers

• Jermain Defoe 7
• Niko Kranjčar 3
• Glen Johnson 3
• David Nugent 3

External links

• 2008–09 Portsmouth F.C. season at ESPN