Pompey v Derby: 75 years after the club's record attendance two brothers are back for the crucial clash

The News, Portsmouth

Video by Alex Shute

Transcript

00:00 Yeah, my name is Stuart. I've been a supporter of Portsmouth for over 55 years, through and

00:13 through. I am Alan and I was here in 1949 for the record crowd. My name's Colin and

00:24 I was here when the big... it was on. I'm running off my head.

00:31 So you were here for the Derby Games 75 years ago with a record breaking crowd of 51,000.

00:38 Yeah, that's right. My name's Martin and I'm a lifelong Portsmouth supporter.

00:43 So tell us a little bit more about why you guys are here today and what the relevance

00:52 of today is. Okay, well it's the 75th anniversary of the

00:56 game against Derby which was 51,865 I believe. Don't quote me on it.

01:03 In attendance. Yeah, in attendance, that's correct. And it's

01:07 like they are now playing each other 75 years, almost to the day, and it's almost, well it

01:14 is a must win game because we obviously want to win the championship.

01:17 And so the relevance of this game also is that your dad and your uncle, both here today,

01:23 were at that game 75 years ago and were part of that record attendance. So how do you feel,

01:30 you know, 75 years on, coming back to the same stadium for effectively the same tie.

01:34 How does that feel? Well, I've no idea what this looks like now

01:39 from what it was. So how long has it been since you were last

01:43 here? Pardon?

01:44 How long has it been since you were last here, since you last saw it?

01:47 Well one or two in the middle. Yeah.

01:50 And then, yeah, that's been a few years. Yeah, nothing lives so locally anymore.

01:56 Right. So it's come all the way down from Birmingham.

01:59 And we went a couple of years ago, didn't we? Yes.

02:04 So despite the distance, you're still a Pompey fan?

02:07 When they were very young, they used to travel from Bognor Regis because they were back away

02:21 from the war with their dads. And they would travel on the train and then they would beat

02:27 five uncles here. So there was eight of them together, all together, which was phenomenal

02:31 really. A whole family.

02:32 A whole family. And they would just come every other Saturday.

02:35 So how old were you both 75 years ago at the Derby game?

02:39 I was almost 12. Almost 12.

02:42 And I was 13. And they were literally carried out on shoulders

02:48 from the front of the stadium, yeah? Yeah.

02:51 From the front all the way down, all the way up.

02:53 I was leaning about 30 feet to get out because it was awful trying to get out on the stairs.

03:03 We were off the ground. Oh wow.

03:06 Just been picked up by the crowd. All the way out, just carried out.

03:11 And that was the day I was saving the number. And so I understand the club have gifted you

03:26 some tickets to the Derby game. They sorted out four tickets in a row for

03:30 us, which is hard to get these days. It's certainly for this tie.

03:33 Exactly, yeah. So we're over the moon and we're overly grateful to Paul Smith for that.

03:39 And it's a great event for our family. So it's a pretty proud day to be here with my

03:45 uncle. Two sets of brothers.

03:46 Absolutely. So and the all important question then, predictions for the score against Derby?

03:51 Where are we all landing? Hopefully 2-1 again.

03:54 2-1? Yeah.

03:55 And that was the result back then? Yes, they went 1-0 up.

03:58 Yeah. They played cups, hit the ground and they

04:01 went 1-0 up. Who's the scorer?

04:03 He's an ex-spy. I'll agree with him. 2-1.

04:06 It's the same. 2-1.

04:08 I'll go for 3-1. 3-1.

04:10 Yeah, that'd be nice. More relaxed.

04:13 Well obviously we know it's an important game for the club. So we wish them and you all

04:18 the best. Have a great time and we'll maybe see you after the game.

04:22 Thank you very much. Play up Pompey.

04:25 Play up Pompey. Pompey.

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