McCall keen to silence Pompey Chimes again

Billy Rafferty hit the post in the 1-0 defeat to Bradford Picture: Pompey History Society Archive

The former Scotland international’s first league goal came for the Bantams in their 1-0 victory at Fratton Park back in April 1983.

Aged 18, his 24th-minute shot trickled past Blues keeper Alan Knight and across the line to hand Trevor Cherry’s side the win.

The result came as a bit of a surprise, with Bobby Campbell’s men in a four-way battle for the Division Three title at the time.

Bradford boss Stuart McCall Picture: Bruce Rollinson

It was also Pompey’s first home league defeat since October, when they lost 2-0 to Bournemouth.

But the loss mattered little come the end of the season, with the Blues beating nearest rivals Cardiff to the championship by five points.

McCall is now set to return to the scene of his first league goal as manager of Bradford.

The visitors currently sit third in the table but have only picked up one point from their past three League One outings.

However, McCall’s hoping his side can reverse that trend with victory at a ground he relishes visiting.

Speaking to the Bradford Telegraph & Argus, McCall said: ‘We had the Junior Bantams down at training yesterday and one of the women with them actually reminded me about it (his goal at Fratton Park).

‘She was at the game and said the City fans were all blowing the ball in because it trickled over!

‘Alan Ball was on their coaching staff and I remember bumping in to him in the corridor afterwards. He gave me a little cuff around the head and was saying how lucky I’d been.

‘I still remember it well. The newspaper headline was “McCall silences Pompey Chimes”.

‘But it’s always been a decent ground to me. It was the same with Sheffield United.”

‘It’s a tight place to play and the fans really get behind them. When you get somewhere like that full, it’s something to relish.

‘But we need to start finding ways to win again. We went down to Gillingham and weren’t at our best but got a result and it was the same at Northampton.

‘Performances have deserved more than one point but we still need to get back on the winning trail, however that is.

‘Whether it be lucky, our goalie is inspired or they miss loads of chances, it’s about trying to get that win.’