A meander through Scrapbook Lane: Part 8

Portsmouth FC Season 1989–1990 and another season of struggle for the Blues on and off the field.

Portsmouth FC Season 1989–1990 and another season of struggle for the Blues on and off the field.

A Portsmouth Evening News headline www.portsmouth.co.uk from another turbulent and frustrating season at Fratton Park.

Welcome to Part 8 of a running series entitled “A Meander Through Scrapbook Lane” and here we focus on the 1989/90 League Division Two season for the Blues and another stop/start season peters out amid recriminations on and off the field, but a strong end to the season suggests, possibly, a brighter future in the coming 1990/1991 season.

Disclaimer — All pictures contained within this blog will be almost certainly from the Portsmouth Evening News and Sports Mail as well as wholly contained within some loved, if dusty, scrapbooks of over 30 year vintage and placed here purely for enjoyment purposes and I hope that this disclaimer meets everyone’s needs. If not, thank you www.portsmouth.co.uk for entertaining this Pritt Stick and scissors wielding young child/spotty teen/tall and gangly late teenager and young adult who should’ve stopped ripping and cutting up newspapers long before he hung up his scissors!

Disclaimer II — This is far from a fully comprehensive review of the season and purely the contents and selected pages from my earliest scrapbooks. I am also a Liverpool fan born of a Manchester United supporting Mother who was born and raised in Portsmouth.

I was nicknamed by my Liverpool match going pal as “The Cutter” in reference to an Echo and the Bunnymen song and so hence, here are my cuttings.

Disclaimer III — As a cursory glance at any of my blogs will confirm, I write a lot. Here, not so. Pictures speak a thousand words apparently and from the annals of my childhood scrapbooks I think they sound strikingly eloquent on their own and with only minimal intrusion or commentary from me.

So I hope these scraps from my books jog a memory of the match concerned or the era, the city in general or your life at that time.

Human memories are a precious commodity. I hope you enjoy.

Pre-season friendly action with Bognor Regis Town and a first goal for new signing Kenny Black, August 1989.

A fan protest at the pre-season friendly with Tottenham Hotspur and action from the first two League games of the season, a 1–0 defeat away to Watford and a 0–0 home draw with Stoke City, August 1989.

L to R: Frank Burrows returns to the Blues as a coach and three consecutive draws in the League with Stoke City (0–0), Bradford City (1–1) and Hull City (2–2), 26th August through 9th September 1989.

Two consecutive September 1989 defeats, away to Newcastle United (1–0) in the League and a 3–2 defeat at home to Division 1 giants Manchester United in front of 18,072 fans in the 1st Leg of a 2nd Round League Cup tie.

Portsmouth (2) Manchester United (3), 20th September 1989. Attendance 18,072.

Portsmouth (3) Middlesbrough (1), 23rd September 1989. Attendance just 7,306.

More from the Middlesbrough victory above as well as the 0–0 draw with Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 2nd Leg of the 2nd Round of the League Cup. The Blues lost 3–2 on aggregate and were unluckily out of the League Cup.

Manchester United (0) Portsmouth (0), 3rd October 1989. Attendance at Old Trafford 26,698.

Manchester United (0) Portsmouth (0), 3rd October 1989. Attendance at Old Trafford 26,698.

L to R: Portsmouth (3) Leeds United (3), 17th October 1989 and Bournemouth (0) Portsmouth (1), 21st October 1989. New Blues goal scoring hero Guy Whittingham in amongst the goals again.

Barnsley (0) Portsmouth (1), 4th November 1989. Attendance 5,524.

Portsmouth (2) Port Vale (0), 11th November 1989. Attendance 7,708.

Portsmouth (3) Sunderland (3), 16th December 1989. Attendance 7,101.

A debut goal from Micky Hazard as the Blues get a much needed away win at Stoke City before yet another reversal on the road and a 2–0 defeat at Middlesbrough, late January into early February 1990.

Portsmouth (3) Bradford City (0), 20th January 1990. Attendance 8,643.

Old boys Micky Quinn and Kevin Dillon return to Fratton Park in a February 1990 1–1 draw in front of 14,204.

Two 2–1 victories over Hull City and Oxford United sandwich a 4 game losing streak, February into March 1990.

More from the win over Oxford United and yet another away defeat, this time on 20th March at Blackburn Rovers.

A run of 9 games undefeated through to the end of the season commences with home victories over Bournemouth (2–1) and Sheffield United (3–2) before a 1–1 away point is claimed at Sunderland in 21st April. The Blues would take 7 points from the last 9 available leaving the Blues exactly in mid table at 12th.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this brief pictorial ramble through the 1989/1990 season with the Blues of Portsmouth. If so, please do consider the other seasons (1982/83 to 1988/89) currently available and only very recently published as per the links below:

A meander through Scrapbook Lane: Part I
Portsmouth FC Season 1982–83 and the winning of the Division 3 Championshipmedium.com

A meander through Scrapbook Lane: Part 2
Portsmouth FC Season 1983–1984 and *that* FA Cup Tie in front of 36,000 at Fratton Park and the 90 seconds that changed…medium.com

A meander through Scrapbook Lane: Part 3
Portsmouth FC Season 1984–1985 and Alan Ball’s Blues come tantalisingly close to a return to Division 1.medium.com

A meander through Scrapbook Lane: Part 4
Portsmouth FC Season 1985–86. The arrival of famed striker Mick Channon and the titanic cup ties with Tottenham, Aston…medium.com

A meander through Scrapbook Lane: Part 5
Portsmouth FC Season 1986–1987 and Vince Hilaire has the last laugh as the Blues finally reach the promised land of the…medium.com

A meander through Scrapbook Lane: Part 6
Portsmouth FC Season 1987–1988 and despite taking a precious 4 points from their neighbours Southampton, the Blues are…medium.com

A meander through Scrapbook Lane: Part 7
Portsmouth FC Season 1988–1989 and as Fratton Park gets a facelift the Blues narrowly avoid a second consecutive…medium.com

The Pompey Sailor says thanks for reading and he hopes you enjoyed the pictorial journey! Picture courtesy of www.portsmouth.co.uk