Completion of John Jenkins Stadium in Portsmouth "imminent" but more support needed to finish project

Bricks were first laid on the sports and community complex in Moneyfield Avenue in March 2022. The community pitch at the £5.2m facility has been used for training sessions, including one by the Portsmouth FC first team this winter. Clare Martin, CEO of Pompey In The Community (PITC), said progress is being made after previous challenges.

She told The News: "We’re very nearly there with the pitches. We’re using the community pitch for training and it has been a long journey to get here. Covid impacted us hugely and as everyone knows, construction costs have gone through the roof. It has been challenging, but it’ll be worth it because it is an exciting community hub. Once we're open, there will be something for all the community. Despite the problems, we are very nearly there.”

Once construction is complete, The John Jenkins Stadium is expected to host football sessions for people of all ages and abilities, disability sports initiatives, fitness classes, educational courses alongside the club itself and other community projects including café sessions for people with Dementia. A boxing gym will also be constructed. An array of solar panels being installed in November 2023 was the stadium's last major milestone.

The plan is for Wessex Premier Division side Moneyfields - whose first team is currently ground sharing with Chichester City at Oaklands Park - and Pompey Women to use it as their new home alongside PITC. Ms Martin said due to the financial ramifications of the project, it has been split into three phases. “Phase one is almost there,” she said, “That includes all the changing rooms, the referees room and the boxing and dance studio, which will be our temporary café until we open the rest of the building.

"That is imminent within the next couple of months, and that also includes access to both pitches. We’re looking at phases two and three now, and what we will need to get those finished. We’ll be looking at funding and business support. We have had some phenomenal support from local businesses. It has been incredible how the community has come together, so we’ll be looking for support."

Ms Martin believes work on the second two phases will go quicker than the first due to much of the infrastructure already being in place. She added that it was "brilliant" for Pompey's first team carrying out a training session at the stadium.

She added: "Some of the global issues we’ve had over the last three years haven’t happened in the previous 50 years. It will be fairly horrendous to imagine anything on that scale happening again. We watched the training, and to see their faces and gratitude and how much they enjoyed playing on these pitches was very exciting. It felt like a real milestone that we overcame." Ms Martin said the setbacks at the early stages of the project will be worth it once the stadium is fully open.

The community is probably frustrated," she added. "It has taken a long while. The neighbours have been living next to a building site. I’ve been speaking to people in the surrounding houses, and they just want it finished and to be able to use the facilities. We’re hoping it’ll be completed imminently."