The Blues last used Fota Island as a pre-season training camp in July 2018, when Kenny Jackett was manager

Positioned above the framed West Ham shirt on a congested wall along the stairway to the upstairs gym was a flashback to Pompey from yesteryear.

While the University of Portsmouth sponsorship remains a constant, the unmistakable scrawls of Ronan Curtis, Brett Pitman, Lee Brown, Matt Clarke and Louis Dennis reflected a trip back in time.

Pompey's players on their training camp at Fota Island, Cork. | None

placeholder image — Pompey's players on their training camp at Fota Island, Cork. | None

In July 2018, Kenny Jackett’s Blues side visited Fota Island in Cork ahead of a second consecutive League One season, leaving behind a shirt as a memento.

With John Mousinho now at the helm, last week they returned to the impressive five-star venue which boasts three championship-standard golf courses and, of course, highly-regarded football facilities.

Cardiff City visiting this week

Cardiff are this week’s scheduled residents, ahead of a friendly against League of Ireland side Cork City on Tuesday night at Turner’s Cross Stadium.

Yet it was their Championship rivals, Pompey, who preceded them before returning to the south coast on Saturday following a week-long training camp.

Pompey's players take a break during training at Fota Island, Cork. | None

None of the players or staff present had also been in attendance on the previous Fota Island foray eight years earlier, days when Kev McCormack and Barry Harris occupied the backroom, Joe Gallen was assistant manager and Pitman was skipper.

Still, the reputation of the resort’s facilities continues to soar, remaining a regular destination for English football clubs - including returning guests Pompey.

Multi-talented club secretary Ali Knell had identified the venue as the perfect pre-season destination, with Cheshire, Scotland and Cyprus having, at one stage, also been under consideration.

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The Blues had opted to protect the precise location of their training camp to avoid attention, allowing them to work with anonymity, with work involving two outdoor sessions a day, plus regular gym occupancy.

Pompey's shirt signed by the 2018-2019 squad on their previous visit to Fota Island. | None

The local media, consisting of The News and BBC Radio Solent, were also sworn to secrecy, having been invited into the venue for two of the days to cover the trip and interview players and staff.

Although, perhaps inevitably, the location still leaked at one point. Not by word of mouth, mind, rather Mousinho’s Strava app, which helpfully pinpointed their base courtesy of a 5k run one afternoon.

‘The facility is excellent, as good as we have been to for a pre-season’

Still, speaking to The News earlier in the week, the head coach was delighted with the choice of Fota Island as a training base.

‘There were a couple of reasons why we chose here,’ he said. ‘First and foremost, the facility has some really good pitches with a bit of space in between.

Pompey's players involved in passing drills during their training camp at Fota Island. | None

‘We are pretty much isolated, we have a lot of privacy around us and the quality of the pitches is great. The facility is excellent, as well, it’s as good as I have been to in pre-season.

‘We have the area blocked off for where we eat and have a bit of leisure time, with the boys able to play table-tennis, socialise and watch World Cup games. There's a good outdoor area.

‘The physio room, the meeting rooms and the kit rooms are all contained within one area in a very nice hotel in a nice part of Ireland.

‘The other major reason was the weather. We’ve had situations before where we’ve gone away to the continent and it has probably been too hot to train at the intensity we like to train.

‘In Cork, the weather is great, but we’re able to do very, very tough sessions and really push the boys without worrying about what that looks like with any heat exhaustion. We could do another session in the afternoon as well.

‘So it gives us that advantage. We have stayed relatively close by and have a modicum of predictability about the weather.’

Now Pompey are back on the sunny south coast after a week in Ireland, with Tuesday’s trip to Woking (7pm) signalling the start of their friendly schedule.

And following a productive training camp, now will be the time to ramp up their pre-season ahead of a third successive Championship campaign.

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