'Portsmouth released me, but I'm renewing my season ticket. You don't stop being Pompey'

Situated five rows from the front of the South Stand, Jack Fox was perfectly positioned to launch his pitch invasion.

Dad Jamie may have opted to remain in the seats which house the Pompey season ticket holders, yet the 18-year-old was comfortable going it alone. After all, he was among friends.

The Blues’ 3-2 triumph over Barnsley signalled promotion with a flourish as the League One title accompanied them to the Championship - and the former Bay House School pupil was among the first to storm the sacred Fratton Park turf.

Barely four weeks earlier, a heartbroken Fox had been informed there was no first-year professional contract upon graduation from Pompey’s Academy.

Following a decade on the books of his beloved Blues, the central defender and under-18s captain was among 11 second-year scholars to depart on a bleak day for the youth set-up.

Yet Pompey remains ingrained within his soul, and, on that memorable April evening, Fox joined his fellow Fratton faithful in toasting John Mousinho’s men’s special season.

‘I’ve had a season ticket for the last 13 years, even when I was playing for the Academy. I will renew it for next year as well,’ Fox told The News.

‘I’m a Pompey fan, I’ll always be a Pompey fan. Even if I’m not playing for them, I’m still a supporter. I’ve been going down there since the age of three - and I’ll keep going.

‘Me and my dad moved from the Fratton End to the South Stand this season, dad prefers to watch a game from a different angle. That also helped with getting onto the pitch against Barnsley, I was probably one of the first ones on it.

‘We’re level with the 18-yard line and, by the end, there was a massive queue of us waiting to get on. As soon as the final whistle went, everyone raced on. Me and my mate Stan Pilgrim even held up a Pompey flag saying “We are going up” in front of the Fratton End.

‘It felt weird considering I see those players every day at training, so I have to find the balance between knowing them and being a fan. That night against Barnsley, though, was one of the best days of my life.

‘Well, other than when we beat Cheltenham to take the League Two title on the last day in May 2017. We were in the North Stand that season, but straight onto the pitch! I still have those photos.

‘This has been my dream. As a Pompey fan watching them on a Saturday, playing for them is all I wanted. I managed to do that.’

As a three-year-old, Fox’s first Fratton Park match was a 1-1 draw with Fulham in October 2008, with Peter Crouch netting for the Blues.

From an early age, he also showed immense promise as a footballer and, while with Gosport Borough Youth, had trials at Bournemouth and Reading. Unsurprisingly, he gravitated towards Pompey to join at under-9 level.

Rising through the ranks as a talented central defender, Fox fulfilled his ambition of playing at Fratton Park in November 2022, when he appeared as a second-half substitute in a 5-0 win over Three Bridges in the FA Youth Cup.

Later that season, in March 2023, the defender came off the bench for a Hampshire Senior Cup quarter-final tie at Bournemouth. The number 44 shirt he wore is now framed and hangs on a wall at his Gosport home.

Then last month he skippered Pompey’s under-18s in the Youth Alliance Cup final against Preston, representing a maiden Fratton Park start, a moment he cherishes, irrespective of the 3-1 defeat.

He added: ‘Michael Doyle was the assistant coach at the start of this season. What a really nice guy, although I wouldn't advise getting the wrong side of him!

‘As part of his interview, he coached a session and all the lads thought “Who’s this?”. I knew exactly who it was! I got a bit excited and was straight on the phone to my dad.

‘I got Michael to sign that famous photo of him overlooking the fans after winning the League Two title and gave it to my dad for Father’s Day. Dad was well chuffed about that.

‘From that Paul Cook team, I really liked Ben Davies, Christian Burgess and Matt Clarke. Erik Huseklepp was my first hero, but my biggest idol was Adam Webster, who’s a proper defender and has done so well for Brighton.

‘I actually had interest from Brighton when I was in the under-13s, they wanted to sign me. It was up to me whether I left - I chose to stay because I’m a Pompey fan.

‘To be honest, it was quite a tough decision at the time considering Brighton’s facilities. Most boys would have said “Yes” straight away, but I was thinking about my club and the amount of travelling my family would have to do if I joined Brighton. Plus I didn’t feel I was ready for a move at that time.

‘Pompey matched Brighton by offering a scholarship two years early, which tied me to the club from the under-14s until the under-18s, basically guaranteeing me to be there for the next four years, which was a no-brainer.

‘Things do change, though. I was actually an early developer and really tall for my age, then suddenly they started catching me up in Year 9. Everyone shot up - and I hadn’t.

‘I’m now 5ft 10in and I don’t think I’ll grow taller, so I’ve had to adapt my game. Look at Lisandro Martinez at Manchester United, it can be done. Nowadays centre-halves don’t have to be 6ft 3in plus, it’s about reading the game.

‘Still, I’m happy I stayed at Pompey. I’ve experienced stuff I always wanted to do as a kid, playing at Fratton Park, captaining the under-18s, representing my boyhood club.

‘Despite now having left, I definitely don’t regret staying.’

Marlon Pack concluded his coaching session overseeing members of Pompey’s Academy with a few words of advice to the devastated youngsters - and the insistence his door was always open.

The previous day, on March 18, Fox and his fellow second-year scholars had each been separately informed they wouldn’t be offered professional terms upon graduation.

With eight matches remaining of their Merit League campaign, plus cup competitions, it represented a long goodbye, yet there is no bitterness from the Gosport lad, who never managed a first-team appearance.

‘I’m quite a slow burner, so it took me quite a long time to adjust to it and realise what had happened, but it was obviously heartbreaking,’ said Fox, who had three loan spells with Baffins Milton Rovers this season.

‘Everything happens for a reason and I’m not going to let the opinion of one or a couple of coaches affect my future in football. Some coaches really like you, some coaches don’t.

‘I was expecting it, I had a gut feeling it was going to happen. Part of me still thought “What if I actually get something?” - yet 70 per cent of me knew I wasn’t. That’s the reality of football.

‘All the second-year scholars are given a time slot for those meetings, I took my mum and dad with me, and you sit down with the Academy manager and under-18s manager. When they released me, they asked whether I wanted to know more about why. I told them I didn’t.

‘Looking back, perhaps I should have. Learning what I could have done better as a player may have helped, but, at that moment, I didn’t want to hear it.

‘I was surprised no-one was kept on from my year. I thought Koby (Mottoh) might have got one considering he’d had the most opportunities with the first-team and was with them a lot. But clearly not.

‘Of course it raises questions about the Academy, but the fact there isn’t an under-21 side at Pompey doesn’t help our situation whatsoever.

‘For an under-18 player trying to break into the first-team environment, with no development group that makes it ever harder. At least an under-21s set-up gives you an extra couple of years to develop, we need time.

‘We don’t even have the facilities for an under-21s at the training ground at the moment, instead second-year scholars are expected to go straight into the first-team or leave. Every club needs an under-21 side.

‘It’s even harder for a defender to break through. Those that normally do are wingers and strikers, players with pace that you can introduce from the bench to try to affect a game. You’re not going to put me on for Sean Raggett if we’re winning or need to get a goal.

‘Despite that, Pompey do have a good Academy, it has definitely improved during my 10 years at the club. There’s more of a structure now, it’s far better than when I first started at under-9s level.

‘It just didn’t work out for me at Pompey. They’re going up to the Championship and are focusing more on the foundations for that, which is fair enough.’

Also departing Fratton Park were Harvey Laidlaw, Mitch Aston, Sam Folarin, Brian Quarm, Bastian Smith, Malachi Osei-Owusu, Maxwell Hurst, Kevin Bosaka, Dan Murray and Koby Mottoh.

In addition, third-year scholar Destiny Ojo, who had spent loan spells with Poole Town, Sholing and Lancing this season, was also released.

It leaves Toby Steward as the last remaining Academy graduate of recent years, with the highly-promising goalkeeper recently pledging his future to Fratton Park by signing a new two-year deal.

Fox added: ‘To be fair, Pompey have helped us the best they can. We receive player care, people involved in American scholarships have spoken to us, there are life after football plans. They have also helped us get trials.

‘The other week I travelled to Kidderminster with my team-mate Dan Murray for exit trials. We went up on the Tuesday night and played the next day in matches involving other boys who had just been released.

‘You are put into an 11 v 11, 60-minute game, it’s a chance to showcase you with loads of scouts watching. Fortunately, I managed to play the whole game as there weren’t many defenders.

‘I thought I played well. They’ll get in contact with you if anything comes up. If not, at least I tried.

‘I had trials at Eastleigh for their under-19s, which went really well. They operate a 12-month programme, which also involves a personal trainer course. That really interests me, it’s something to stay fit and you can put on your CV.

‘I’m open to anything, I’m prepared to see what there is and try new things, but ideally I want to stay in football

‘At the moment I’m keeping my options open, it’s still quite early days so I’ll see what’s about. Ideally I will try to play men’s football, like I did with Baffins, when I went on loan there.’

Last Friday marked Fox’s final day as a Pompey player as the class of 2024 broke up.

The farewell consisted of a five-a-side tournament between the first and second-year scholars, comprising four teams, with the defender’s side losing in the final.

With the first-team players and staff having long since departed for their holidays, the training ground was eerily quiet, except for the boisterous presence of assistant kitman Kev McCormack.

The youngster cleared out his locker one final time and was allowed to keep his training gear, branded with 59, the number he chose this season simply based on being the largest available.

Then it was over.

He said: ‘Me and Maxwell Hurst had been at Pompey since the under-9s, the only two which had lasted. I’m proud of myself for making it all the way through to the under-18s.

‘That Friday I sat in the changing room on my own for a bit, recalling memories and having one last look around, getting a few photos. It was like finishing Year 11 at school.

‘It will probably sink in in a couple of weeks. When you’re there from Monday to Saturday every week for two years, it’s going to be weird no longer being around the place, very weird.

‘It’s a massive achievement, I’m glad I was there, I was happy, I wouldn’t change anything. As a Pompey fan, I’ve captained my club, I even skippered us for our 125th Anniversary match against the Royal Artillery.

‘It has been full of ups and downs, but definitely a good journey. It's a shame it’s now over - but I’m still a Pompey fan. That will never change.’