Pompey Women leave Baffins Milton Rovers to groundshare with Hawks on their new 3G pitch at Westleigh Park

Pompey and Hawks officials - including respective managers Kenny Jackett and Paul Doswell, as well as Pompey Women boss Jay Sadler and some of his players - at Westleigh Park. Pic: Kieron Louloudis.

Clanfield, from the Hampshire Premier League’s top flight, will play all home weekend Senior Division games on the 3G pitch at Westleigh Park once its installation is completed at the end of this month.

And now Portsmouth Women will play their National League Southern Premier Division games on the surface on Sunday afternoons - starting with their first home league game of 2020/21 against Plymouth on October 11.

The long-term agreement means that Jay Sadler’s side will also be training at Westleigh Park as well.

Pompey have spent the last two seasons playing home games at Baffins Milton Rovers’ PMC Stadium.

But continual drainage problems led to a remarkable series of postponements in 2019/20 - with Pompey not playing a home league game after the end of September due to constant bad weather.

In all, they had 10 league and cup home games called off - ending up playing ‘home’ cup ties at Gosport Borough’s Privett Park and Langstone sports ground as a result – before their campaign was halted by the pandemic.

Pompey were keen to ideally stay on Portsea Island, but no other facilities were available.

The new partnership also strengthens the strong relationship between Pompey and the Hawks.

Pompey Women chairman Eric Coleborn said: ‘We are delighted to call Westleigh Park our home for the coming season and are looking forward to training and playing there.

‘It is exciting to be working closely with our friends at Havant & Waterlooville and we cannot wait to start the new campaign.

‘We are also extremely grateful to Baffins Milton Rovers for hosting us at the PMC Stadium for the past two years and wish them all the best for the coming season.’

Sadler added: ‘This move is one that excites everyone connected with the club.

‘Last season's issues with the weather obviously made it difficult for us to gain any momentum – both on and off the pitch.

‘The club’s main aim over the off-season was to rectify this situation and with the guaranteed use of Havant and Waterlooville’s state-of-the-art facilities, we've managed just that.

‘Not only will this help us move forward on the pitch, but off it we can grow our fantastic fan-base and hopefully continue inspiring the next generation.

‘A huge thank you has to go to our board, as well as members of Portsmouth FC, who have worked hard on this and it’s great to see our ambitions align.

‘Our aim is to be a leading club in this division and, once we move into these new facilities, we will be in that position.’

Stuart Munro, CEO of Hawks, said: ‘As a club, we have traditionally had very close ties with Portsmouth FC.

‘This partnership will only strengthen the already close-knit relationship between the two sides.

‘The board at Havant & Waterlooville have invested in this 3G pitch for community use and we are delighted to announce this partnership, which further strengthens our commitment to the local community.

‘We look forward to seeing this relationship flourish over the coming years.’

Portsmouth Women will be back at Baffins’ ground next month, though – the delayed Portsmouth & District FA Senior Cup final against Moneyfields is being held on Wednesday, October 7.