After 12 years away, Portsmouth are back in the Championship this term – ready to put behind them their seasons of misery in the bottom two divisions.
Financial problems saw the 2008 FA Cup winners drop as far as 16th in League Two by 2015, but they escaped League One at the seventh attempt last season – thanks to impressive young boss John Mousinho and owner Michael Eisner, a former Disney CEO.
“Our football and player recruitment strategy started to take shape when we appointed our first sporting director, Rich Hughes, in October 2022,” chief executive Andrew Cullen explains. “Three months later, we were looking for a new head coach.”
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After Danny Cowley’s exit, in came Mousinho, then 36, for his first job in management. “I think supporters were surprised – some considered it to be a left-field appointment,” Cullen says. “But John had done his coaching badges at a young age and been chairman of the PFA – his leadership credentials were evident.
“We also saw rapid progress in our player recruitment. We’d been committing a large proportion of our playing budget to loan players but have since spent money on young talent – Kusini Yengi, for example.”
The Australian striker netted 13 goals, earning an international debut. Portsmouth roared to the title, backed by sell-out crowds at Fratton Park – since March 2023, they lost just five of 56 league games, including a club record 27-match unbeaten run.
"There was huge expectancy to get out of League One,” says Cullen. “Fratton Park is an intimidating ground for visiting teams, but it was falling down. Capacity had been cut from 21,000 to 16,000 and was fast heading towards 10,000 – our owners invested over £16m to bring that capacity up to 21,000 again. There are no safety concerns now.”
Portsmouth’s women’s team were also promoted to the second tier and are turning full-time. Both sides want to continue their progress – even if matching Ipswich’s back-to-back promotions will be a huge task.
“Everybody will be looking at Ipswich for inspiration,” he says. “We’re patient, there are going to be tough times this season – the Championship will be a tough division, it’s a big step up. We’re competing with clubs with parachute payments and far greater financial resources than we have.
“But we’re optimistic and relishing the challenge. Our goal will be to finish as high as we possibly can, be competitive and continue to take the club forward. We want to be looking up to the Premier League. We’re not just going to be in the Championship to make up the numbers.”
Cullen was speaking to FFT after being named CEO of the year at the Football Business Award. For more information about the event’s award winners, visit http://footballbusinessawards.com/
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