‘Heart and soul’: Rousing tribute to Portsmouth lionheart as Fratton pays homage to long-serving favourite

John Mousinho believes Fratton Park’s powerful salute to Sean Raggett was a fitting tribute to their longest-serving hero.

And the Pompey boss lauded the ‘heart and soul’ the defender has put into his football club, as he completed his mission of helping them into the Championship.

Raggett was afforded a special salute from Fratton Park, as he put in a man-of-the-match performance and then lifted the League One trophy.

The 30-year-old was a close second to Marlon Pack as he was named The News’ Pompey Player of the Season, with just one per cent between the pair in the final reckoning.

Pompey fans gave a rousing tribute to the man who arrived at PO4 in 2019 with cries of ‘Raggett for England’, as his efforts were acknowledged.

Mousinho feels it was deserved acknowledgement for a man who will now be seen as a Fratton great.

He said: ‘Everybody knows Sean has put his heart and soul into this football club over the past five years.

‘He’s come very, very close and there’s been so many occasions - and I was involved in one of them in that play-off semi-final, when Portsmouth have been close to getting out of the league.

‘There’s been brilliant starts which have faded away at the back end of the season, so for Sean to do that is brilliant.

‘Unfortunately, the long-range shot didn’t go in!

‘It wasn’t quite the shot against Fulham which went in, but Sean has that capability. He does that in training quite a lot, those who watch our training footage will know that.

‘But I think it was a fitting tribute to someone who has played a massive part in this club’s history. I’m thrilled for him.’

Pompey’s 17-game unbeaten run came to a close against Wigan, with the result failing to take the shine off a day of celebration.

Mousinho acknowledged his players were short of their best physically and mentally after celebrating winning the title against Barnsley on Tuesday.

He added: ‘We weren’t at it - but I can understand why!

‘The physical and mental preparation going into this game was far from ideal. It was very, very far away from the previous 45 games where we were properly at it.

‘But Wigan are a good side and they really showed that in the first half, they punished us. It’s one of those we put in the bin and move on to next weekend.’