John Mousinho would have been excused for wondering what on earth he had let himself in for at Portsmouth. It was his first game in management and a plane was flying over their Fratton Park stadium with a blunt message for his new club’s American owners, the Eisner family.
“Eisners,” read the banner it was hauling across the sky. “No ambition — no plan.”
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Portsmouth had been through worse times in the previous two decades since crashing out of the Premier League, swiftly tumbling down the divisions to the fourth tier and almost going out of existence. But by January 2023, a long-suffering fanbase on the south coast had become seriously restless.
They were 15th in 24-team League One, the third tier of the English game, after one win in 15 league games and they had just appointed Mousinho, a 36-year-old player turned coach who admitted that, with no track record as a manager, he represented a “left-field” choice by a regime under growing pressure.
Tensions and frustrations were running high. If this gamble didn’t work, there would be hell to pay.
Fast-forward to last November, and Mousinho’s Portsmouth find themselves 4-0 down at home to Blackpool. That is the type of scoreline that might easily provoke mutiny from an angry fanbase, calling for the manager to be sacked and the board to resign.
But not this time. The closing stages of that game played out to a very different soundtrack from the home fans in the Fratton End: “Four-nil down, who gives a f**k? We’re super Pompey and we’re going up.”
And less than five months later, they are.
Portsmouth’s promotion back to the Championship as League One champions — and putting them in the second tier for the first time since a second relegation in three seasons this time 12 years ago — was confirmed with a dramatic 3-2 win over Barnsley that sparked wild scenes.
WE’VE GOT MOUSINHO 🎶😍 pic.twitter.com/vSPiMiEJPh
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) April 16, 2024
When Danny Cowley lost his job as Portsmouth head coach in early January last year, a wide range of potential candidates were linked with the vacancy.
They included Chris Wilder, who has since returned to Sheffield United of the Premier League and Neil Warnock, who was then 74. Portsmouth appealed to him — another “one last job”, though he ended up pulling off a typical survival mission at Huddersfield Town in the Championship that season.
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Others linked to the job included former Republic of Ireland forward Robbie Keane, then looking for his first job in management, and more young coaches, such as Anthony Barry (then on the staff at Chelsea, now an assistant at Bayern Munich), Leam Richardson (then newly-sacked by Wigan Athletic of the Championship, and who was just relegated from that division as Rotherham United manager) and Liam Manning (clubless after being fired by MK Dons of League One, and now managing in the Championship at Bristol City).
Wilder, Warnock and Keane were non-starters. Barry was a desirable candidate but immediately ruled himself out. Manning was a serious contender but chief executive Andy Cullen and sporting director Richard Hughes found themselves blown away by Mousinho, who was working as Karl Robinson’s assistant at League One rivals, Oxford United.
Mousinho displayed a detailed knowledge not just of League One but of the Portsmouth squad, its strengths and — critically — its weaknesses. He had a clearly-defined football vision, which chimed with Hughes’, and displayed the type of charisma and communication style that was deemed to be essential to energise this particular group of players at this particular club in this particular city.
Portsmouth is unique in its status as England’s only island city, largely based on Portsea Island, which is connected to the mainland by a handful of road and rail bridges. It provides the setting for a unique mentality among football fans, with its British Navy base and links to the maritime industry core to the identity of many of the city’s 200,000-plus residents.
Theirs is a club who have seen the highs of Premier League and European football and an FA Cup final win in the past 20 years as well as a drastic slide that saw three relegations in four years from 2010, plummeting from the top to the bottom tiers of the English football pyramid. Alongside it, years of financial troubles resulting in two spells in administration saw the supporters take ownership of their club in 2012 before selling to the Eisners five years later.
They are one of the many great and wronged clubs harmed by mismanagement in recent history which adds to the pressures to restore the glory days seen at Fratton Park — one of the country’s best old grounds, with a capacity of 21,100.
The ground’s fearsome reputation is well known.
Mousinho described his experience of visiting as an opposition player with Preston North End and Oxford, among others, and finding it a hostile place — intimidating for a visiting player when things were going well, potentially unnerving for a home one when things were bad.
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More than most places, he said, Portsmouth, city and club, needed a certain type of character and energy; needed a team the fans could relate to and believe in.
“An island city with an island mentality,” he has since called it — and he wanted to embrace it. Portsmouth against the world.
Marlon Pack has been a symbol of the resurgence.
A boyhood Portsmouth fan who was born in the Buckland area of the city and used to have a season ticket in the South Stand, the now 33-year-old midfielder was heartbroken when the club released him as a teenager in 2011 after two senior appearances lasting a combined 21 minutes.
Having rebuilt his career across the three divisions of the EFL at Cheltenham Town, Bristol City and Cardiff City, Pack returned as a free agent in the summer of 2022 with a feeling of unfinished business.
Pack was among those on nearby Southsea Common for the celebrations when the club were promoted to the Premier League in 2003, and when they won the FA Cup five years later. He has cited an ambition to experience that same feeling as a player and in his role as Portsmouth’s captain, lifting the League One trophy in front of a joyous crowd on that same common — a dream that is now about to become a reality.
Getting out of the third tier, as one of the division’s bigger clubs, has always been the ambition since Portsmouth came up from League Two seven years ago. That talk intensified under the guidance of Mousinho during a pre-season training camp on Spain’s Costa del Sol in July.
There were cricket matches, a padel tournament and the odd night out in the name of team bonding, but there was fiercely competitive training, two or even three times a day in the 30C (86F) heat.
Last season had ended with a run of just two defeats in 18 league matches but there had been far too many draws (eight of the 18). To challenge for the play-offs, let alone pursue one of the two automatic promotion spots, things had to change.
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There was an influx of players, including goalkeeper Will Norris from Championship winners Burnley, defenders Conor Shaughnessy, Jack Sparkes and Regan Poole from fellow League One sides Burton Albion, Exeter City and Lincoln City respectively, and on-loan youngsters Alex Robertson (from treble winners Manchester City) and Abu Kamara (from Norwich City of the Championship).
It was not the most glamorous intake, but sporting director Hughes and Mousinho felt it was an injection of quality, energy, experience and know-how. Norris, Shaughnessy and Pack were all named in the third tier’s all-star team of the year at the EFL annual awards night last week.
Even more significant, perhaps, was the new sense of purpose among some of those who were at the club: not just Pack but Joe Morrell, Joe Rafferty, Sean Raggett, Paddy Lane, Colby Bishop and others. The energy around the team was entirely different — and those within the club say it was as if Mousinho, by capturing the players’ imaginations and laying out the journey in front of them, had ignited something within the squad.
“You go through these things as a striker — sometimes you’ll go six or seven games without a goal and then one will hit your back and go in, but everything seems to fall into place after that,” says Bishop. “It’s strange, but once you get into that run of scoring it seems like you’ll score every game.
“From the moment the manager came in, I’ve enjoyed it. He’s got a lot of fresh ideas and obviously he’s a young manager so I played against him before, so we’d spoken before.
“He’s very transparent in what he wants and he has brought a lot of fresh ideas that are working. Accrington (Stanley, Bishop’s previous club, then also in League One) are a completely different team to play for than Portsmouth. I loved it, but you spend a lot more time without the ball and your chances are fewer than I get now. The numbers that I was getting were good but I always knew that I could do better.”
Bishop has improved on his 15-goal final season at Accrington, with 21 goals and three assists for Portsmouth in the league with two games to go keeping him in the race for the third tier’s Golden Boot. Alfie May tops the League One scoring chart with 23 in the league for Charlton Athletic, who are midtable and have little left to play for in their remaining two matches.
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“One of the things we were wary of at the start of the season, when we were recruiting, was wanting players who can handle that pressure (of a club with Portsmouth’s stature) — although you can never really know,” said Mousinho. “It was part of the recruitment process; speaking to players and having a subjective view on whether they would be able to handle that pressure, particularly at home. Even away — we took over 1,000 people to Leyton Orient (a four-hour-plus round trip by road to east London) for a midweek EFL Trophy game, so there’s always that pressure.
“The downside is that, if things aren’t going well, then it can get on top of you and it’s maybe not such a nice place to be, but all we can do is embrace it and harness it. When the fans get behind us, home and away, it’s an amazing place to play football. We acknowledge it and encourage the players to enjoy it, because when Fratton Park gets going it’s one of the atmospheres that is unrivalled in the EFL and above.”
Portsmouth drew four of their first seven games, but won the other three. It was a cautious start but Mousinho’s players began to embrace a more proactive, front-foot style which sparked a six-game winning run from mid-September that took them top. Portsmouth kept clean sheets in half of their first 14 league matches, and by the time Shaughnessy scored a stoppage-time winner to beat Carlisle United at Fratton Park on October 21, they were eight points clear of the play-off places.
Then came that jolt: their 16-match unbeaten run to begin the league season ended abruptly with that emphatic 4-0 home defeat against Blackpool. It wasn’t just the fans that made light of it. One of the club’s directors messaged Mousinho that evening. “Great run,” it read. “Let’s go again.”
When the former Disney corporation chief executive Michael Eisner bought Portsmouth, via his Tornante investment company, in 2017, they had just been promoted from League Two and the American billionaire pointed out that he and his family had “walked into a perfect situation”. Though fans and owners have had to be patient amid some frustrating and toxic moments as on-field progress stalled, their approach has been vindicated by appointing Hughes and Mousinho.
“I am sure this has taken longer than the Eisners wanted, but we should give them credit for being sensible and responsible owners,” says Ashley Brown, who is head of governance and supporter engagement at the Football Supporters’ Association and was chair of the Pompey Supporters’ Trust when they sold up to the Eisners.
“I know some clubs with billionaire owners have enjoyed seeing them splash the cash and win things, but we’ve seen what can happen when that goes wrong. I prefer my football to be sustainable and we can all see the gradual improvements they’ve made to the ground. Nobody wanted to be in League One for seven years but the best word to describe them is that they have been custodians. I hope they enjoy the celebrations as much as the rest of us.”
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Portsmouth won the EFL Trophy at Wembley in 2019 then got back to the final as holders before losing on penalties, both under Kenny Jackett. League form stalled after a play-off semi-final defeat to Oxford on penalties in 2019-20 and the Eisners’ second managerial appointment, Cowley, brought finishes of eighth and 10th in the third tier. These early experiences brought recognition that Portsmouth needed a clearer sense of football strategy to create an approach that is more sustainable than simply addressing the manager’s immediate needs from one transfer window to the next — enter Hughes.
The scouting and recruitment expert arrived from League Two champions Forest Green Rovers in September 2022 to oversee the football strategy, having held roles at Burnley, Everton and Wigan, among others. There was an overhaul of the medical department, significant staff turnover in other areas and investments at the training ground. None of that bore fruit immediately, but gradually a more professional environment took shape.
Hughes’ eye for managerial talent which first saw him identify and hire Rob Edwards, now a Premier League manager with Luton Town, while at Forest Green led Portsmouth to Mousinho, which now looks like a masterstroke.
That club director Eric Eisner, Michael’s son, had to take to social media to insist that Mousinho “was not picked because he was the cheap option” but because he was the best choice, now seems remarkable given he boasts the best win percentage of any Portsmouth manager in the past 120 years.
Mousinho’s winning football has stemmed from smart tactical acumen but also his ability to build trust and understanding between his players. His calmness and quick understanding of the culture and expectations of Portsmouth, city and club, have been central to the project. As someone who played his final senior game as recently as November 2022, Mousinho has created a culture of empowerment for players to set their standards while being a reassuring presence in finding the answers and resolving issues as they have arisen.
At 37, Mousinho is one of English football’s most impressive young managers and is said to work well with Hughes and with Portsmouth’s directors. The relationship with Hughes allows them to speak frankly and trust in each other to turn down players who are not right for the club.
“He knows how to put an arm around a player and ease everyone’s minds,” says an agent whose client joined Portsmouth this season told The Athletic, speaking anonymously to protect relationships. “Even during this run, everyone has kept their feet on the ground and enjoyed it without getting too high. He definitely doesn’t get the cigars out.
“When I meet a manager, the first thing I look for is how they communicate. Are they old-school? Are they new-school? Are they an aggressor? Do they try and understand their players’ minds? And straight away, I was in awe of him.”
After taking time to settle into the new season — described by Mousinho as not “the greatest of starts in terms of wins” — and following that Blackpool stinker, Portsmouth eased into a rhythm that had them back in first place before Christmas.
There was another wobble over the festive period and into the new year, as they drew 1-1 at home against Fleetwood Town, lost 2-1 at Bristol Rovers, drew 0-0 away to Exeter City, beat visitors Stevenage 2-1, and then lost by the same score at Cheltenham and 3-0 at Fratton Park against Orient.
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After one win in six league matches, their lead at the top was down to a solitary point and the gap to third had been cut to two. A chasing pack of Peterborough United, Bolton Wanderers, Derby County and Oxford were closing in and all had games in hand on Portsmouth, who had lost key players to injury and were feeling the pressure.
For the first time all season, doubts were creeping in.
Portsmouth’s fans had seen a promotion challenge collapse from a similar position in 2018-19, when they were top on New Year’s Day but won one of the next 10 league games, finished three points off the automatic places and lost without scoring a goal in the play-off semi-finals.
Six seasons of close brushes with Championship promotion including another play-off semi-final defeat, three eighth-place finishes and a 10th were enough to reignite some of the old anxieties around Fratton Park.
Teams have been setting up to stop Portsmouth playing their way rather than trying to beat them with their own methods, which presented another new challenge for Mousinho.
“We had a really good example in a league game when we played Reading (in late October),” he said. “They had played the same formation all season, we hadn’t seen them change at all, but when we played them they changed for the first time. It was difficult for us to adjust to and we went 2-0 down before half-time, which wasn’t ideal, but we came back and won the game. We’re finding that sides do that against us.
“In some ways, it’s a compliment; in others, it’s about us looking at how we break down systems and beat opposition and adapt more. There are a lot of tactical nuances, and this is a massive learning curve for me as a coach as well to be able to separate yourself from the game and know how to get the right message to the players if you decide to change formation, or do you stick with what you’re doing? The tactical side of things plays a big part in the day-to-day.”
Mousinho sensed the creeping panic and confronted it on the training ground.
There were meetings, honest conversations and a call to arms with a powerful reminder of what was at stake for this group of players and what they could do for the club and the city. People inside the club say it was powerful to witness — not just words behind closed doors but a demand for much greater drive and intensity in training.
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There followed a gutsy, gritty 1-0 victory away win against Fleetwood on January 20, then another the next weekend at Port Vale. And so began another unbeaten run, now 17 games and counting, one that has carried them all the way to promotion. Most significant of all, perhaps, was another 1-0 away win, this time at promotion rivals Peterborough on March 16, that took them to within touching distance of the Championship.
A quick glance at the League One table, with Portsmouth beaten only four times in 44 matches might suggest it has been a procession. But it has been nothing of the sort. It has been a slog, with many tight, attritional games in which their resilience, spirit and tenacity have proven the difference.
They needed some of that spirit against Barnsley as they got the job done in front of a home crowd with two games to spare with a late Bishop penalty and Shaughnessy’s 89th minute header.
As they closed in on promotion, Mousinho, his staff and the board found themselves reflecting on how much had changed in such a short time: how the near-toxic atmosphere that greeted the new manager halfway through last season has given way to such a powerful feel-good factor among players and supporters alike.
As they stormed the pitch the players lapped up the celebrations, crowd surfing their way to the home dressing-room amid the most euphoric of scenes.
“I know everyone said ‘who the hell is he’ when I took the job,” Mousinho, soaked in champagne when he spoke to the media, said. “This is beyond what I expected and is an incredible feeling — tonight was the best atmosphere I’ve experienced in the game. I knew the remit was to get back to the Championship, I just didn’t know it would happen this quickly.”
“Promotion means we are getting back to where we belong — as most Pompey fans would think that we are a Championship club at least,” says fan Brown.
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“We were stuck in League One for too long, but we’re on our way back up now and that feels pretty good. I saw a stat last week that said we have filled 91 of the 92 possible places in the English league pyramid at some point in the last 20 years. The only one we’ve missed is being bottom of League Two. I’m not sure if it’s true, but it certainly sums up what life has been like for Pompey fans.”
“You look at the club and, as a kid growing up, I remember watching Portsmouth every Saturday night on (the BBC’s Premier League highlights show) Match of the Day; the UEFA Cup and those nights,” striker Bishop told The Athletic in October. “If you sign for Portsmouth and don’t understand that they don’t want to be in this league any more, then you’re in a different world.”
And on a raucous Tuesday night at Fratton Park, the weight of expectation finally lifted. As of next season, for the first time in over a decade, Portsmouth will be in a different world. The Championship awaits.
Additional reporting: Matt Slater, Jacob Whitehead and Craig Chisnall
(Alex Davidson/Getty Images)