Portsmouth chief reveals pre-season details as plans take shape
Pompey are finalising details over their pre-season training camp and Championship warm-up fixtures.
Pompey are closing in on finalising their reshaped pre-season plans.
The Blues are set announce their build-up to the 2026-27 campaign, as they factor in their £1.5m Fratton Park pitch renovation and a new-look fixture list.
Training camp, home fixture and details on level of opposition
The News understands a training camp in Cyprus was earmarked to prepare for the club’s third season in the Championship, but tensions in the Middle East posing a security risk led to those plans being ditched.
Chief executive Andy Cullen explained a stay closer to home is now anticipated, with John Mousinho confirming there will not be a fixture as part of the training camp.
This season will also see a change to the schedule with the Carabao Cup played on August 8 and the Championship season starting on August 15.
Pompey would usually play a final warm-up game at home, but Cullen is considering a change this term on August 1 given the work taking place on the Fratton pitch. A trip to Aldershot on July 15 has been confirmed.
Cullen said: ‘We’re working on a schedule of games which will start to flow out in the next week or two.
‘In terms of the training camp, I think we’re close to announcing it - I don’t think we’re likely to travel too far now.
‘We’re also looking at what we’ll do with our final pre-season game and whether we can do it at home or not.
‘I want to give the pitch as much time to bed in as possible and not compromise it by rushing back too quickly and playing a match on it.
‘By August 1, the date of the final pre-season game, we should be fine but if we get any sort of bad weather come it that could impact on it.
‘So, at the moment, we’re open-minded about whether we play that last game at home or away - but that will be tied down in the next couple of weeks.
‘Until the contract is signed there’s always scope for change, but there will be news on it (the training camp) shortly and a range of games at different levels.
‘We’ll look to do what we did last season when we had some games against National League teams building up to games against League One and League Two opposition.
‘Then it’s the final pre-season friendly which is always important in terms of quality of opposition.
‘The start is interesting because of the Carabao Cup first round.
‘It tends to be league game then Carabao Cup, but this time it’s an interesting one for head coaches to factor in their team selections on August 1 and 8.
‘It could be a position where we’re drawn away in the Carabao Cup and then play our first league game away.
‘That would mean our first game at home on August 22 - and the groundsmen will be very happy! But I need to protect a bit and take that into consideration for August 1.’
Speaking to The News earlier month, Mousinho explained his thinking about not having a game around Pompey’s training camp.
He said: ‘I completely get the want for a game abroad, I understand how important it is for the fans. It’s my choice and although I think Andy (Cullen) has taken a bit of flak for us, it’s not Andy, it’s my choice.
‘You get to a pre-season camp and, if you have a game at the back end of it, you need to start tapering your training and looking at all the factors you don’t have control over.
‘You are at your training camp, hoping to do 2-3 sessions a day and spending 24/7 with the players. Then 2-3 days before the game, you have to start coming off the training or you’re going to risk injuries going into the game.
‘The other factor is when we went to Marbella and played Europa FC in 2023, they absolutely kicked lumps out of us. The pitch was okay, once we came off the pitch, about 1,000 kids ran on and started pitching up tents. It was just this chaotic atmosphere and you lose that control.
‘That’s a pretty dangerous thing to have unless you are playing top-level opposition somewhere. Then again, you don’t want to play top-level opposition in the second week of pre-season off the back of a really difficult training camp.
‘These are the reasons that I’m giving to you guys. I get it, I would love to see that as a fan, but that’s why I don’t want to see a pre-season game. It’s hard to find a good foreign game in the pre-season.’