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| Contents |
What's
Fratton Park Like?
Looking
Towards The Fratton End
(photo)
What
Is It Like For Visiting Supporters?
South
Stand (photo)
Where To Drink?
North Stand (photo)
How
To Get There And Where To Park
By
Train
Milton End (photo)
Local Rivals
Admission Prices For
Away Fans
Programme & Fanzines
Ground Layout
Fixtures 2011-2012
Disabled Facilities
Record
& Average Attendance
Fans Ground
Reviews
Hotel Accommodation
Fratton
Park Location Map
Other Places
Of Interest
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| What's Fratton Park
Like? |
At one end is the Fratton End, which
is a new looking single tiered stand. It is of a good size and is the
tallest stand at the ground. Opposite is
the recently covered Milton
End, which is all seated. Part of this stand us given to
away fans. There is a small moat
in front of this area. Both side stands
are two tiered and originally had terracing at the
front, which has now been replaced with seating. The
South Stand dates back to 1925,
and is starting to show its age. However, it still has some character
with an old fashioned
looking media gantry perched on its roof and raised team dugouts at its
front. Opposite the North
Stand looks somewhat plain and
functional. Both the North & South Stands are
two tiered and have a number of supporting
pillars. The ground is
completed with a superb looking set of tall
floodlights that were first used in 1962.
If you get chance to wander around the outside
of the ground beforehand then make sure to go
down towards the home end to look at the mock tudor facade in Frogmore Road.
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| Looking Towards The Fratton
End |
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| What
Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? |
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At long last the Club have erected
a roof over the Milton End. Although there are some
supporting pillars along the front of the stand
that may impede you view, at least you will be
in the dry. Further good news is that the roof
now means that away fans can now really make
some noise, further contributing to what is
normally a great atmosphere. However, the
facilities are not particularly great and the leg
room tight, as this area was a
former terrace that has
been converted to all seating.
However, once you put that to one
side then at least Fratton Park is a proper
looking football ground, with a great atmosphere
(which is aided by a drummer and bell ringer in
the home end). So sit back and enjoy it as such
grounds now are becoming few and far between
with the advent of new stadia being built.
Away fans are housed in the Milton End
can where around 2,000 can be accommodated. This
end is shared with home supporters. Praise
though to the home support who get behind their
team but in a non-intimidatory way towards the
away contingent. Fans were literally separated
by a netted area only three seats wide, but on
my last visit there were no problems whatsoever.
Unlike previous seasons away supporters are now
housed on the other side of this end (towards
the North Stand). Entrance to the stand is
gained by inserting your ticket into a bar code
reader.
Chris
Saunders a visiting Middlesbrough fan adds; 'It
terms of facilities the ground is light years away from
Premiership standard, but
the atmosphere is electric with the legendary 'Play Up
Pompey' echoing around the ground. The
Portsmouth fans are a great
bunch and made me most welcome.
If you are feeling hungry then there is a McDonalds
and KFC across the road from
the ground.'
Marcos Brown-Garcia a visiting Hull City fan
informs me; 'I would advise away supporters to
purchase tickets prior to travel as the
ticket booth at the ground was on our visit very
slow in selling tickets, resulting in some
fans missing the kick off.'
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South
Stand
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| Where To Drink? |
On my last visit I went to the Good
Companion pub, which is on the main A2030 about a
five minute walk away from the ground. It is a large
pub serving Gale real ales and had a good mix of
home and away support. I also noticed that it was
doing a brisk business in food. Martin Hewitt
recommends the Harvester, but advises away fans to
avoid the Milton Arms and the Newcome Arms. Whilst
Ian Pratt suggests the Brewers Arms which is 'always
popular with away fans'. Steve Yeoman a visiting
Manchester United fan informs me; 'just outside the
ground at the north east corner a large enclosed
white marquee has been erected for away fans. It has
a bar, televisions and was free to enter. There is a
handy burger van located outside'.
Derek Hall adds; 'Found a cracking little pub, about
a mile away from the ground, on Fawcett Road. It's
called (very appropriately) The Red, White and Blue.
There are also a few other pubs - and plenty of
take-aways (of all varieties) along this road.
Friendly staff, friendly Pompey fans (chiefly, of
the elder variety) and simple food fayre on offer.
To reach the pub, you just head west from the
ground, towards the Fratton Railway Station, along
Goldsmith Avenue. Just past the station, you reach a
roundabout - and Fawcett Road is immediately on your
left'.
Pete Wood a
visiting Doncaster Rovers fan informs me; 'If
travelling by train from London, then your return ticket
from London Waterloo allows you to get off at either
Fratton (nearest to ground), Portsmouth &
Southsea (best for pubs) or Portsmouth Harbour. What
we did was have a drink in the two Wetherspoon pubs
near Portsmouth & Southsea Station before
getting the train back to Fratton for the match. You
can catch a train back to Waterloo from Fratton
after the game. The trains run every 20 or 30
minutes or so'.
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North
Stand
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| How To
Get There And Where To Park |
Go
along the M27 (ignoring the M275 turn off for
Portsmouth town centre) and
continue on to the A27. At the junction with
the A2030 turn right towards Southsea/Fratton and just continue straight along the
A2030 and eventually you will see the ground in front
of you, just slightly to your left.
There is a large car park behind the TY Europe Stand,
but this is for home supporters only. So it is mostly
street parking for away fans. The
good news is that there are few parking restrictions
in place close to the ground. So if you arrive
early enough, you can park only a few minutes walk
away. When I have visited, I have parked in one of
the side streets, found on the right hand side
of the A2030 before you reach the Good Companion
pub. Alternatively Miltoncross School, which is a
five minute walk from the ground offers parking at
£6 per car. The school is located in Milton
Road (post code PO3 6RB). Derek Hall
adds; 'There is also a very large car park (for a
fiver) on the corner of Velder Avenue and Milton
Road (a couple of minutes walk behind the away
end)'.
Map showing the location of
Fratton Park (at the bottom of this page).
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| By Train |
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The
nearest local train station is Fratton, which is a
ten minute walk away. Portsmouth train station is at
least a 25 minute walk away.
On arrival at Fratton by train you pass the ground
on the left. Fratton station has a footbridge as the
only way out. At the top of the stairs from the
platform turn left onto the footbridge (from which
you can see the floodlights of Fratton Park) and
exit into Goldsmith Avenue. (Note that if the gate
on the footbridge is closed you need to turn right
on the footbridge and exit via Platform 1, turn left
as you exit the station, walk 30 metres and go back
over the footbridge to Goldsmith Avenue.) Turn left
along Goldsmith Avenue and walk about half a mile
passing straight around a small roundabout (by the
Pompey Centre). Then Turn Left into Frogmore Road
and the entrance to the Ty and South stands is 100m
ahead. For the Milton End stay on Goldsmith Avenue
for another 100m and turn left into Apsley Road. The
entrances to the Milton End are 100m ahead.
Thanks to Peter
Coulthard for providing the directions.
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Milton
End
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| Local Rivals |
| Southampton.
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| Admission Prices For Away
Fans |
Portsmouth operate a category system (A
& B) whereby the most popular games cost more to
watch. Category B prices are shown below in
brackets.
Milton
End: Adults £30 (B £27)
Over 60's/Under 23's £22 (B £20)
Under 16's £15 (B £13)
Category A games are against: Brighton, Derby,
Leeds, Nottingham Forest, Southampton and West Ham
United.
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| Programme & Fanzines |
Official Programme £3
True Blue Fanzine £1.50
Park Life Fanzine £1.50
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Ground
Layout
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| Fixtures 2011-2012 |
| Portsmouth
FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website).
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| Disabled
Facilities |
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details of disabled facilities and club contact at the
ground please visit the relevant page on the Level
Playing Field website.
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| Record
& Average Attendance |
Record
Attendance:
51,385 v Derby County
FA Cup 6th Round, February 26th, 1949.
Modern All Seated Attendance
Record:
20,821 v Tottenham Hotspur,
Premier League, October 17th 2009.
Average Attendance:
2010-2011: 15,707 (Championship League)
2009-2010: 18,249 (Premier League)
2008-2009: 19,694 (Premier League)
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| Fans Reviews
Of Fratton Park |
Alex Smith (Coventry
City) 3/12/11
Dean Williamson
(Blackpool) 24/9/11
Andrew Daffren
(Leicester City) 24/9/10
Peter Radford (Wycombe
Wanderers) 26/01/10
Lee Jones (Swansea
City) 24/01/09
Neil Harding (Hull
City) 22/11/08
Kevin McCann (Stirling
Albion Fan Doing The 92) 23/2/08
Tim Watson (Derby County)
19/1/08
Adam Bernstein (Arsenal)
26/12/07
Martin Hart (Visiting
Scottish Fan) 29/9/07
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| Hotel
Accommodation |
| If you require hotel
accommodation in the area then first try a hotel
booking service provided by Late Rooms. They offer all
types of accommodation to suit all tastes and pockets
from; Budget Hotels, Traditional Bed & Breakfast
establishments to Five Star Hotels and Serviced
Apartments. Plus their booking system is
straightforward and easy to use. Yes this site will
earn a small commission if you book through them, but
it will go to help with the running costs of keeping
the Guide going. The Hotels listing also includes
details of how far away the accommodation is located
from the football ground. Access their Portsmouth
Hotels and Guest Houses page.
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| Map Showing The Location Of
Fratton Park, Railway Stations and Listed pubs |
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Instructions for using
the map:
- Use the bar on the left of the map to zoom in /
out using the + / - keys.
- Click and drag an area of the map to move around
or use the up/down, left/right arrows
- Click the Satellite button to see aerial view
photograph.
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| Other Places Of
Interest |
Southsea
adjoining Portsmouth houses the naval base and
includes historic ships such as HMS Victory. You can
get a short boat trip around the harbour showing which
warships are in dock. Southsea itself is quite
pleasant with a small beach and funfair. In fact when
I went to the game I met a strange lady who travelled
down to Portsmouth for each game by herself from
Wolverhampton! When asked why, she replied that she
had been taken to Southsea as a child and therefore
liked to visit it before each game. So there you go it
wasn't the football that was the attraction!
Simon Eddy adds; 'there is a new development called
the Gunwharf Quays, which has opened adjacent to
the historic ships dockyard. There are a number of
bars, restaurants, plus a bowling alley, cinema and
shopping factory outlet. For more details visit www.gunwharf-quays.com'. The quays incorporate the spectacular
Spinnaker Tower, which is well worth a visit
for some stunning views from over 300 feet
up. Anyone intending to visit the City Centre,
Gunwharf Quays or the Old Portsmouth area before the
game would be better off entering the city on the M275
rather than the A2030.
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| Feedback |
If
anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail me duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide.
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