Portsmouth make incredible season-ticket admission as another sales barrier is smashed ahead of 2023-24 season-opener against Bristol Rovers

That’s after the Blues announced they had smashed through the 14,000 sales barrier with their 2023-24 campaign still five weeks away.

Last term, Pompey sold 13,965 season tickets in total for what proved to be an underwhelming 2022-23 term. They only reached the 13,000 mark in mid-August, when the season had already started.

But with that figure now impressively surpassed with the Blues yet to kick a ball in pre-season, fans interested in claiming their seat for the PO4 side’s first full term under head coach John Mousinho will need to act quick.

The club have placed a 14,500 cap on season-ticket sales – and the thirst for tickets doesn’t appear to be letting up.

Indeed, on Monday, Pompey reported that 13,200 supporters had purchased or renewed their season tickets before the recent early-bird scheme deadline. Less than a week later, and with a new pricing structure now in place for the latest phase of sales, that figure has shot up by at least 800.

No doubt an already busy transfer window, which has seen seven new signings added to the first-team squad, and Pompey’s form under Mousinho over the second half of last season, will have encouraged the Fratton faithful.

Yet speaking to The News this week, CEO Andy Cullen admitted he was stunned by fans’ ongoing outstanding show of support amid a cost of living crisis and season-ticket prices going up.

He said: ‘We have been very humbled because it’s not the easiest time for people to invest in a season ticket.

‘We’ve had to put prices up this season after a number of years when we were able to freeze them. We couldn't go on like that any longer given increased pressures on our cost base.

‘For supporters to dig deep and make a show of support so early is outstanding. We are so thankful for that because it does make a significant difference and contributes to some of the business we’ve been able to do.’

Pompey will boast a capacity of more than 20,000 next season thanks to ongoing work at Fratton Park. The Blues’ first game of the 2023-24 campaign is at home against Bristol Rovers on Saturday, August 5.

Supporters will get a chance to see the latest work on their famous old ground before that, though, with Championship Bristol City visiting Fratton Park on Saturday, July 29, for a pre-season friendly.