'Dangerous, absolutely dangerous. The referee was a disgrace' - The infamous Portsmouth underwater clash with Leicester

Momentum impeded, Pompey’s substitute would subsequently shoot into the side netting, signifying another farcical moment amid playing conditions branded ‘dangerous, absolutely dangerous’ by team-mate Steve Stone.

Saturday’s trip to Charlton was scrapped an hour before kick-off following a second pitch inspection by referee Bobby Madley.

Surface water may not have been apparent on the sodden Valley pitch, yet the ball’s inability to bounce or even travel across the floor fluently was undoubtedly conclusive.

If only such a sensible approach had been applied in November 2002 for the infamous Division One’s top-of-the-table clash between Harry Redknapp’s Pompey and Leicester.

Despite taking place in vicious south-coast weather, puzzlingly, referee Andy Hall granted the go-ahead for the fixture.

For many of the 19,107 present, it is unrivalled in terms of the worst Fratton Park conditions in which Pompey have completed a match.

Leicester would claim a 2-0 victory, with goals from James Scowcroft and Matt Elliott netted in the first half.

Yet it wasn’t defeat which irritated those who took part in a season which earned promotion to the Premier League regardless.

‘Early on during my time at Pompey, we hosted Leicester City in November 2002 for a match which should never have taken place,’ Steve Stone told Played Up Pompey Too in 2017.

‘Over my career, I didn’t play in anything half as wet as that, the surface water on the pitch was dangerous, absolutely dangerous, horrendous.

‘The referee, Andy Hall, should have called it off, he was a disgrace.

‘I was a nightmare with refs and told him at half-time “You are a joke. This is not right, somebody is going to get hurt”.

‘Even in the middle of the park, whenever you tried to pass the ball it stopped. I was taking the mickey in the corner, stopping the ball and telling the referee I couldn’t move it. It was unbelievable.

‘On the day it actually suited Leicester, they were a side which liked to get the ball forward quickly, to put it into the box, whereas we were a passing team. We lost 2-0, but fair play to Micky Adams’ side.

‘I know what the referee was thinking: “I’ve travelled this far, I’m just going to keep going, there is no way I want to come back here and do it all again”. Without a shadow of a doubt he thought that.

‘In today’s game, serious questions would have been asked about the referee.

‘As a football club, you could put in a formal complaint against the match official for endangering the players. Referees have a duty of care for the safety of the players, it’s a huge thing and he didn’t carry that out.

‘We still won the title ahead of the Foxes, though!’

Pompey and Charlton will now meet at the Valley on Tuesday (7pm).

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