Portsmouth recently announced the transition to a full-time professional playing model for the 2024/25 season after securing their promotion to the Championship last season.
This is the cherry on top of what has been an incredible climb for the squad, not only for their performances on the pitch, but the work and development behind the scenes. Here is a brief look back in time of how Portsmouth got to this stage.
The FAWNL is renowned for being competitive. Many teams end up ‘stuck’ in the third tier as a result of the structure of the league and Portsmouth are no strangers to this.
After the formation of the Women’s Super League as the first tier of women’s football, Portsmouth found themselves dropping down into the third tier in 2011, before being promoted to the second tier the following season.
2013/14 saw the development and launch of the Women’s Championship, a new league which replaced the previous second tier. Teams had to bid for their place within this league. Portsmouth were amongst the bidders but failed to claim their place and therefore were stuck with third tier football once again.
The layout of the leagues meant the top two teams from the North and South divisions of the third tier came together to play in a playoff for the only promotion spot in the third tier.
Portsmouth reached this playoff game in the 2014/15 season and missed out after Sheffield United beat them 1-0 in the dying stages of the match.
The club has been on the rise since then and so many important milestones in Pompey’s history have been hit.
Current manager Jay Sadler took over at Pompey in 2017 and has worked incredibly hard to ensure the success and stability of this team. The team turned semi-professional in June 2023 after making steady progress and the team moved to the same ownership as the men’s squad under the Eisner family’s The Tornante Group. It was also announced that the Development side would transition into an U23 team and compete in the FAWNL Reserve Section.
In January 2024, Portsmouth received their first transfer fee for a player. Fully professional Newcastle United swooped in for forward Beth Lumsden who had put in some impressive performances during her short, 18 game stint with Portsmouth.
A month later, Pompey faced Newcastle in the Semi-Final of the League Cup at St James Park with a record attendance for Portsmouth. 22,307 saw them narrowly miss out on the final 2-1 after a last minute goal from Newcastle.
In a fitting occurrence of events, captain Hannah Haughton became the first professional player for Portsmouth FC, with her contract being announced in late June.
“This is an amazing achievement, it’s a new statement for the club as well and I couldn’t be prouder to be the first ever one.”
She adds:
“when I transferred to Pompey, I knew there was something special here, but I could never envision this… it’s a dream come true!”
Transition is a huge part of signing a first professional contract. Most of the players at Portsmouth had a full time job on the side whilst playing football.
Haughton explains:
“It’s going to be difficult, there’s obviously been some tough decisions to make.”
Many players struggle with the work, life and football balance and there is now less stress added onto these players with the work aspect taken out of the picture.
Portsmouth have already tied down many of their crucial parts to their FAWNL South winning side, including Riva Casley, Emma Jones, Jazz Younger, Sophie Quirk, Ava Rowbotham, and many more.
Pompey are keen to make an impression in the Championship with many fans excited about the season ahead and already arranging plans to follow their team up and down the country.
The future of women’s football is looking bright with many lower tiered teams converting to a full time professional model. It shows that with hard work and investment, the women’s game can grow, and girls up and down the country can have many more role models to look up to and aspire to be like.
Photo – https://pompeynewsnow.com/2022/08/18/pompey-women-everything-you-need-to-know-for-the-new-season/
