Tonight we play Swindon.

Tonight Pompey play Swindon Town and I am hoping Crouch has a part to play in this game.

A bit about Swindon.

Swindon Town Football Club was founded by Reverend William Pitt between 1879 and 1881, with the club officially using the latter date.

Confusion over the original date arose in the mid-1990s and continues to arouse controversy, with the club accepting the earlier date and then reverting back to the original during the late 21st century.

Former club statistician Paul Plowman researched the early history of the club during the period 1990 -95 and discovered newspaper reports of a game in 1879 between Swindon Association Football Club and Rovers F.C.. The report and team photos show William Pitt playing for the team.

Reverend Pitt, who was 23 at the time, was the curate of Christchurch; Swindon's central church. He was appointed Rector of Liddington Church in 1881 and severed his ties to the club.

Plowman was given the role of Swindon Town Retail Manager in 1995 and the kit for the 1995-96 season carried an "Est. 1879" tag, since removed.

Exeter 1-1 Pompey

Pompey had to settle for a draw in their first pre-season friendly of the summer after Exeter struck early in the second half to cancel out Jermain Defoe’s ninth-minute penalty.

Well I listened to this one on the radio and it sounded ok. And Little sounded like he played well for the first 45 so thats the first pre-season out the way.

Pompey: James (Trialist 46); Lauren (Duffy 46), Campbell (c) (Primus 46), Pamarot (Distin 46), Cranie (Traore 46); Mvuemba (Subotic 80), Davis (Hughes 46), Mendes (Mendes 46), Little (Nugent 46); Trialist (Christophe 69), Defoe (Sahar 46)

Goals: Defoe (pen) 9

Subs not used: Ashdown, Begovic, Crouch

Exeter: Jones (Marriott 46); Tully (Sercombe 77), Taylor (Bishop 77), Seaborne (c) (Bennett 87), Friend (Martin 87); Basham (Green 87), Harley (Tasker 87), Gill (Panther 66), Edwards (Cozic 66), Logan (Stewart 55); Stansfield (McAllister 77)

Goals: Edwards 47

Sub not used: Bassett

Referee: P Gibbs

Attendance: 5,359

Tonight Pompey play Exeter City in a pre-season friendly at St James Park 7.45 pm.

A little bit about City, City were founded in 1904 and began playing on an old field used for fattening pigs. Exeter remain at St James Park to this day. The club is nicknamed The Grecains. City's home kit consists of red and white shirts, black shorts, and black socks.Exeter City FC was formed from two predecessor clubs: Exeter City United and St Sidwell's United. Exeter United were a football club from Exeter, Devon, who played between 1890 and 1904. In 1904, Exeter United lost 3-1 to local rivals St Sidwell's United and after the match, it was agreed that the two clubs should become one. The new team took the name Exeter City and continued to play at Exeter United's ground,St James Park where Exeter City still play today.

TRAINING GROUND!!

From The Pompey Site

Pompey have been granted planning permission for their new training ground at Lee-on-the-Solent.

Gosport Borough Council’s planning committee unanimously approved the proposals for the state-of-the-art facility on 35 acres of land in the Alver Valley.

Pompey hope to have the training ground open in time for the start of pre-season training in July next year.

Blues chief executive Peter Storrie heralded Tuesday night's landmark decision which means the club will at last have a training ground of its own.

Storrie said: “This is a training ground any Premier League club would be proud of.

“It’s the next big step for the club – fantastic facilities in a lovely location.

“We’ve been improving the team no end as well as the facilities around the ground, with the new megastore and offices.

“But this training ground is one of the two final pieces in the jigsaw – the other is the new stadium.

“After the disappointment of the previous application at Fareham it’s been nice to have been involved with such a superb council like Gosport.

“They wanted us to be involved in their future and have given us nothing but support.

“It’s great that the training ground is in Gosport with a PO postcode – it keeps everything where we want it to be.”

Manager Harry Redknapp said: "This is fantastic news. The club desperately needed its own training ground to continue the progress we have made on the pitch over the last couple of seasons.

"The plans for the pitches and the overall facilities look very impressive. It will make a great deal of difference to the players and to our ability to keep attracting the very best to the club."

The site will house 10 full-size pitches, two mini soccer pitches, a three-quarter-size pitch and a dedicated goalkeeping area.

The club's main building has been designed by Richard Marshall, the architect behind Arsenal's London Colney training base.

The 18,000 sq ft building will accommodate changing rooms, medical and rehabilitation facilities, a gymnasium, administration offices, a media and presentation area and a refectory.

There will also be a three-quarter-size indoor pitch for the club's Academy, who will have their own separate building.

The club will continue to use the Wellington Sports Ground at Eastleigh, where they currently train.

As part of the scheme, Portsmouth FC will dedicate two full-size pitches for community use and open up the indoor facility for local schools in the borough of Gosport.

The club plans to work with Gosport Borough Council to enable development and sustainability of the neighbouring Alver Valley Country Park.

It's good to see Pompey training in the PO post code again I look forward to seeing it. Play Up Pompey!!

The Belgian's are comming!

Pompey have established an historic link with top Belgian side Zulte-Waregem.

Director of Youth Operations Paul Hart travelled to the West Flanders region of the country to officially cement the alliance between the two clubs.

In doing so, Pompey follow in the footsteps of their Premier League colleagues Manchester United and Arsenal, who both have Belgian feeder clubs: Royal Antwerp and Beveren.

As a result Pompey’s academy stars may well prosper from a spell in the Jupiler League, the Belgian equivalent of the English Premier League.

Zulte-Waregem Web site

Peter Crouch!!!!

Peter Crouch has completed his move to Portsmouth from Liverpool in a deal that could be worth up to £11m. At last it's time for the little and large show at the park. The 27-year-old returns to Pompey six years after leaving and will work with boss Harry Redknapp for the third time in his career, and that's with a successful stint getting scum relegated Play Up Pompey!!!!!!

Ha Ha Sahar!!!!

Portsmouth have signed Ben Sahar from Chelsea on a six-month loan deal. So that's another one in.
Play Up Pompey!!!!!!