Portsmouth July 2021 review - Pride, joy and heartbreak during Euro 2020 final and throughout the month

Tears rolled down peoples faces across packed Portsmouth pubs after the Three Lions were defeated by Italy on penalties.

Even with the vehement frustration and England falling at the final hurdle, their performances filled the nation with pride.

‘Local hero’ and Purbrook-born midfielder Mason Mount was a regular fixture in a side which reached their first ever European Championship final.

The people of Portsmouth felt mixed emotions throughout July.

It was a time of life changing events and highs and lows for many.

Six lucky residents were left ‘gobsmacked’ after they each won a £30,000 fortune on the Postcode Lottery.

Paralysed former paratrooper Jon Noble, from Havant, was fitted with a new robotic arm and finally able to feed himself after 17 years.

Thanks to the support of six military charities, the 38-year-old is no longer shying away from friends and family and is finally socialising again.

These extraordinary moments can happen from nowhere, which is what deliveryman and former Havant and Waterlooville footballer Perry Ryan found out.

He lived up to his job by helping a screaming woman give birth at her home in Kent Street.

‘I was shaking – it was mad what happened,’ Perry said.

Sandra Cale’s world also changed when her daughter, Tina Gurd, helped find her four long lost siblings after 76 years of not knowing them.

She simply described as ‘incredible.’

A 500-year-old navy shop – Arthur Beale – also opened its doors at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.

Residents were left stunned after a teenager was stabbed in the chest at Southsea Common.

The-15-year-old was thankfully in a stable condition, and the police and crime commissioner, Donna Jones, was left ‘shocked’ and vowed to tackle knife crime.

All of us were affected by one defining moment – the easing of lockdown restrictions on July 19.

The government’s decision divided many at the time.

Passionate clubbers at Astoria celebrated their new found freedom, while others – including Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson – slammed this easing as a ‘huge mistake.’

People basked in this new found liberty by flocking to Portsmouth’s beaches to enjoy the hottest weather of the year.

This sunny weather would soon turn into a nightmare.

Storms, lightening and heavy wind and rain covered the city on July 27, but the aftermath was felt the most in Cosham.

Intense rainfall lead to flooding on Salisbury Road, with the pavement and drives filled with toilet paper, human excrement, and dead rats.

Residents and politicians, including Conservative MP for Portsmouth North Penny Mordaunt, piled enormous pressure on Southern Water.

The often vilified company was ordered to ‘clean up its act’ by Stephen Morgan, Labour MP for Portsmouth South.

He said: ‘I’ve seen first-hand the flooding in our city this week which underlines that Portsmouth’s sewage system is not fit for purpose.’

Hundreds of shoppers in Fareham town centre were evacuated in a bomb scare.

Bomb disposal experts from the Royal Navy scrambled to West Street and cordoned off 100m of the shopping district.

July was an emotional month with so many life-changing event, for better and for worse.

Some people responded to adversity and sadness to create lasting tributes.

Family and friends of Barry Jackson, an ‘outgoing’ dad who tragically died of Covid-19, made a memorial garden in tribute of his life.

It was a symbol that no matter what happens, any moment of sorrow can be turned into one of happiness.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.