'You need to live in this brilliant city to truly understand it': Portsmouth boss on loving Southsea life

Not one to crave a low-key presence, John Mousinho accepts daily Southsea walks with Wendy, his Toy Poodle, may attract a little attention.

Yet these days his regular route is often greeted with playful chants of “Who needs Mourinho?” from buoyant supporters as the feel-good factor sweeps across the waterfront city.

It’s the price the 37-year-old must pay for taking Pompey to the brink of the Championship - and insisting on living in the city where he has spent the last 15 months as head coach.

Mousinho and his family switched from their Berkshire home to Southsea after landing the Pompey job in January 2023, eager to become part of the community he serves.

They have subsequently embraced life on the south coast, with their two young children attending local schools, while the Blues boss continues to work Fratton Park miracles.

And Mousinho revels living on Portsea Island, irrespective of finding himself ‘serenaded’ while walking his dog.

He told The News: ‘I’d like to think I speak to fans whenever I can. They come up for conversations on the street, which happened quite a bit last week in the build-up to Bolton.

‘They were serenading me with the “Who needs Mourinho” song while around Southsea, which was interesting!

‘I was walking the dog and usually go through Palmerston Road and on the seafront front. It’s not a problem, there’s no secret where I go. I have a coffee in the morning and do my shopping - and people come up for a chat.

‘When I first interviewed for the job, I was asked what I’d do geographically. It was an absolute no-brainer for me, I wanted to live down here.

‘It’s for a couple of reasons. Number one, it’s far too much to be sat in my car for 3-4 hours every day, particularly with the way my job goes.

‘I’m not on the phone a huge amount, I don’t speak to agents, I don’t speak to football clubs. I spend a lot of my time on the laptop looking at opposition and a lot of time preparing for coaching sessions, which I need to be out of my car for.

‘The second thing was it’s really important that somebody who purports to represent everyone in the city actually lives here and understands what it’s like to be a Pompey fan.

‘As soon as you come down, you feel how big the football club is, how big the university and the Navy are. Living here has helped massively with that.

‘It was really important to bring my family down here and relocate, go all-in, make sure we gave ourselves the best possible chance of achieving something.

‘I want to engage with the fans, I want them to know it means something to me as well. I’m not a Pompey fan, but I am a football fan and I get it. I understand it.

‘Besides, I really like where I live, Portsmouth is a brilliant place. We feel very lucky to have relocated down here, we love it so much.’

Following Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Bolton, Pompey’s team coach chose Knutsford Services on the M6 for an early stop-off point on the journey southbound.

They arrived at the same time as several Blues supporter coaches, including one from the Isle of Wight, with players and management happily posing for photographs and stopping to chat.

And Mousinho believes that fan engagement is crucial.

He added: ‘At the start of the Shrewsbury game, I had to skip a few fans in terms of autographs and pictures because we were getting late for the match.

‘I didn’t like doing that, I want to engage with all the fans I possibly can and hopefully we'll have time to do that over the next couple of games.

‘The boys, for the most part, will engage with fans who want to sign anything or take photos. I’ve never had a negative report from a player and never seen them turn down a photo or anything like that.

‘The connection is important for the football club.’