Sunday Toast Season 2 # 7

Thursday 18th September 2008 and will go down in Pompey history as the start of the great European adventure. Vital Pompey's virgins met in the Milton Arms in large numbers well before the game and they were all very excited about the prospect of the UEFA cup game. There appeared to be no stress on the fans just a sense of pride and one that the day was going to be very enjoyable.

Those who left early for the game missed the arrival of jbaker but it was good to meet you. We have a photo of the occasion posted in the albums section here.

Vitoria - final thoughts

A great occasion and one all those there will never forget especially with the game highlighted by two fantastic goals but just a few final thoughts on the game.

Firstly we were a little disappointed that the visitors did not bring more support with them. Toast had told you previously that the club would bring about 100 fans on the official trip but were hoping others would come under their own steam. Well they didn't and the small but noisy group could do little to stoke up the atmosphere. That was sad as we had heard so much about their support.

The new VP T shirts went down well with a number of comments such as 'nice shirt mate!' and 'where can you buy those?' Talking of souvenirs the badge manufacturers were doing a brisk trade especially with one not dissimilar to our own T shirt.

The six o'clock kick off was not popular with some fans but the ground was full and it did not seem to effect the atmosphere. Some had problems with traffic but mast appeared to have no trouble. Why did people still want to dash out the ground before minutes before the end? It was not even eight by then and surely they wanted to fate the team at the final whistle?

The referee's a ….German

One thing that was noticeable on Thursday was the different style of refereeing that European competition brings. Knut Kircher, a 39 year old Engineer from Rottenburg, has been on the FIFA list since 2005 but the opinions on him throughout football are varied.

On the night he did not have a bad game but the penalty against Sol was very harsh and some of the yellow cards over zealous but one thing did upset Toast. That was the fact that when he gave a free kick he allowed it to be taken from anywhere on the pitch and it nearly cost Pompey a goal. After John Utaka's foul in the corner, Desmarets moved the ball back more than five yards to give him a better angle for his inswinging effort which was blocked by Jamo`s knees.

Free kicks should be taken from the spot where the offence occurred NOT where you have the best angle - that law only exists in Rugby Union.

Birthdays

21st September Ron Davies is 66 - Ron made the trip from the Dell and the end of his career. Despite his connections he was liked by most Pompey fans for his heading ability and managed 18 goals in 59 games. Then surprisingly he moved to Manchester United in a deal which brought George Graham to Fratton Park. Ron was famous off the pitch for his caricatures of team mates which could often be seen in the Football Mail. Recently he fell on hard times living over in the US of A and an appeal was made by Southampton fans to pay for a much needed hip replacement and other surgery.

Rowan Vine is 26 - perpetual loanee eventually went to Luton Town. While on loan at Brentford, Colchester and the Hatters he played 122games and scored 25 times a feat he never achieved in his 13 Pompey appearances. After a spell at Birmingham City Rowan is now part of the QPR revolution.

22nd September Bob Salmond would have been 97. Kilmarnock born Bob signed from Dundee North End in 1930 and played for Pompey throughout the 30s. A centre half he played 141 games before moving to Chelsea. The only other thing of note is there is a photograph of Bob for sale on the internet, apparently issued by the Topical Times, worth investigating if you are interested.

Ron Tindall will be 73. Ron was signed from Reading in 1964 after service at Chelsea and West Ham. Originally a centre forward Ron had to wait until his 15 game before scoring his first goal which meant the fans lost patience with him. Manager George Smith solved the problem by turning Ron into a defender where his lack of goals was not a problem.

Tindall was a first class cricketer too playing for Surrey for many years. When he retired he took over as manager from George Smith and had three mediocre seasons in charge before John Deacon installed John Mortimore and famously wasted a fortune on players before the big slide began. In fact Ron had a week in temporary charge between the sacking of Mortimore and the appointment of Ian St John.

John Moncur will be 42 - Another perpetual loanee while at Spurs went to Doncaster, Cambridge United, Ipswich and Brentford playing a only handful of games for each. Played seven times for Pompey before moving on to Swindon and eventually settled at West Ham.

23rd September Liam Daish will be 40. Portsmouth born Liam only made one appearance for the Blues at Ipswich in 1987. Liam stepped in to replace the missing Billy Gilbert and regular replacement Kevin Ball. Pompey won the game 1-0 with a Mick Tait goal. If I remember rightly that was the games where Mick Quinn returned after a spot of porridge! Liam went on to have a long career at Cambridge United, Birmingham and Coventry he also won 5 caps for the Republic of Ireland (born in Portsmouth I said?)

Liam greatest feat however came at Wembley when Ebbsfleet United managed by Liam lifted the FA Trophy - was a good time at Wembley last May for all things Portsmouth.

24th September Mathias Svenson will be 33. Popular Swede Matt arrived from his home club Elfsborg and played 45 times scoring just 10 goals. Possibly let down by his temperament in his young days Matt then went on a tour of various clubs.

Petri Pasanen will be 28 - stylish Finnish defender played 12 games on loan from Ajax in 2003/04. Petri is currently plying his trade at Werder Bremen.

25th September Rudolphe Douala will be 30. Rudolphe played just seven times when on loan from Sporting Lisbon two seasons ago without really impressing. The Cameroon international has recently signed for Greek club FC Asteras Tripolis.

26th September John Davies 75. John was a product of the youth scheme and was understudy to Peter Harris in the mid fifties. Such was Harris' consistency he made only two appearances before moving to Scunthorpe

Alan Stephenson will be 64. England under 23 international stylish Centre back. His career started at Palace and then he moved to West Ham to partner a certain Bobby Moore in the centre of the Irons defence. He moved to Pompey in 1972 for £40,000 and played 98 times scoring just once at home to West Brom in September 1974. The Pompey caretaker manager that day was Ron Tindall!! Like a lot of Pompey players around that time Alan tried his luck in South Africa on leaving the club.

27th September Graham Gaddes will be 67. Tough one to find this but Graham was a goalkeeper who was understudy to Dick Beattie in 1960/61. Manager Freddie Cox though gave a debut to a young John Milkins however in the three games Beattie missed so Gaddes left without making the first team.

Scott Hiley will be 40. Nomadic West Country defender is now on the books of Tiverton Town and still playing but now in front of just 400 fans in the Southern Premier League.

28th September Marks the 110th anniversary of the birth of goalkeeping legend Jock Gilfillan. Jock was born in Cowdenbeath and signed from Hearts in 1928. Jock played in goal for Pompey in both of their losing cup finals of 1929 and 1934.

Next week birthdays feature will answer the question asked by a regular member - who does share my birthday of September 30th? You will be presently surprised I hope.

Getting the hump!

Older Pompey fans have always referred to the Boilermaker's Hump but where exactly in the ground is it? Toast believes it is the area under the north east floodlight tower.

The name we know comes from the group of Dockyard workers that frequented the area. Does anyone know the full story?

Finally

Are you off to Portugal next week? If so Toast has two requests, firstly remember to bring back your photos to post on the site and secondly if you pick up any interesting snippets let us have them to pass on to the masses through this column.

PUP

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