Portsmouth's pre-season plans officially on hold - makes so-called nightmare problems of 2010 North American trip appear trivial

Pre-planning for pre-season had already taken place, with a return to Ireland’s Fota Island on the cards.

Talks had been held regarding possible opposition in the build-up to a fresh new term.

But all that’s been put on the backburner as football focuses its attention on the here and now - the conclusion of the season currently at a halt, with games in England suspended until April 30 at the earliest because of coronavirus.

That’s going to take a mammoth effort to sort out when the go-ahead is eventually given, with no guarantees we’ll be back in the stands at Fratton Park or anywhere else for that matter any time soon.

It’s all part of the nightmare scenario Pompey chief executive Mark Catlin and manager Kenny Jackett are currently having to contend with as the country as a whole takes measures to tackle Covid-19.

As a result, this summer’s preparations could not be further from their minds at this point.

And it puts the nightmare problems the Blues experienced on their pre-season trip to North America back in the summer of 2010 into perspective.

Everything was supposedly meticulously planned by then manager Steve Cotterill, who was appointed Pompey boss following the club’s administration and relegation from the Premier League.

But little did he know what would unfold over the proceeding two weeks.

One hundred hours of travelling, eight different flights, lost luggage, the need to borrow a kit from the opposition, more delayed flights, injuries and embarrassing defeats with a patchwork team of youth players, triallists and a few select senior professionals - it was a pre-season trip that had it all for the wrong reasons.

The Blues’ outbound flight to San Diego – the venue for their tour-opening game against Mexican side Club America – took a staggering 42 hours.

That was after a connecting flight from Chicago was cancelled, leaving the travelling party stranded in the Windy City for 27 hours.

Then, after travelling to Canada, where they lifted the Edmonton Cup with a penalty shoot-out win against FC Edmonton - they got stranded in Chicago once again.

On this occasion, a storm had grounded their flight to Washington, ensuring the players got just four-hours sleep before their tour-ending game against DC United.

The team had also failed to train for three days prior to that match at the RFK Stadium.

Meanwhile, there was still more bad luck to come.

Fourteen bags went missing on the rescheduled flight to the American capital – including the one containing the team kit.

And after being forced to borrow DC United's second strip, they were then met with temperatures of 38C as Washington basked in it’s hottest day of the year.

On the pitch, matters worsened when keeper Jamie Ashdown collided with Joel Ward and had to be substituted – the second injury suffered by a goalkeeper in as many games after triallist Jon Stewart suffered a suspected broken leg against FC Edmonton.

Then tempers began to flare in the heat, with Hayden Mullins sent off after getting into an argument with DC United's Santino Quaranta.

Quaranta was also dismissed after appearing to spit at Mullins, before a second opposition player, Julius James, was also sent off in the last minute.

In the end, the Blues went down to a 4-0 defeat against a DC United side that was bottom of their MLS Conference at the time.

Afterwards, Cotterill said: ‘Probably that result summed up the tour for us really – it has been extremely tough.’

An understatement if ever there was one as the Blues returned home less prepared for that year’s Championship season than when they went away.

But in today’s climate, it’s a nightmare scenario we’d all happily entertain.