The teenage footballer whose promising career was saved by Portsmouth players and a city's community

It was with optimism rather than expectation when a crowdfunding campaign was launched to contribute towards the £8,100 operation to repair Josh’s devastated right knee.

A highly-promising centre-half with Moneyfields under-18s and long-time member of Pompey in the Community’s development team, the 16-year-old suffered anterior cruciate ligament damage during a match in August.

The serious injury not only threatened the Fratton Park season-ticket holder’s playing days, but left him facing giving up his two-year college football coaching course.

Then came the Farlington family’s GoFundMe campaign plea. What transpired was strangers, Blues footballers past and present, and chief executive Mark Catlin uniting to lend assistance.

A staggering £5,334 has so far been raised towards Josh’s costs, enabling him to undergo surgery at Spire Southampton last weekend.

Among those who contributed were Sean Raggett, Ben Close, Jed Wallace and Cameron McGeehan.

In addition, there were donations from Mark Catlin and his son, James, former Blues keeper Nick Jordan, ex-Academy head of recruitment Dave Wright, and Jamie McInnes, the son of former chairman Iain.

Without their help – along with more than 100 of the local community – Anthony is convinced his son would have been denied the career-saving procedure.

He told The News: ‘Those people who donated money have kept my son’s career alive, without any doubt.

‘Had he not undergone that operation, Josh would have been forced to give up college, while his route into non-league football through Moneyfields’ system would have stopped.

‘Perhaps he would have started playing again in two, maybe three years' time, when he’d got to the top of the NHS waiting list. You just don’t know.

‘As it is, we’re looking at a summer return and Josh can continue his studies. The support has been unbelievable and we are so grateful.

‘To see an NHS consultant would have taken 37 weeks alone, that’s before judging whether he would actually require surgery on his knee.

‘While looking at their website, it was apparent you are talking two-and-a-half years waiting to get the operation.

‘That is partly due to current circumstances with coronavirus, but also it’s an injury not considered an essential operation.

‘You can actually carry on as normal, without needing crutches, but can’t play any sport whatsoever. If you want to continue playing football, you need an operation.

‘We paid a private consultant to have a look and he recommended surgery. When the invoice came through, it was for £8,100.

‘At that point I thought “How are we going to do this?”. We’re a family of five, Josh has two younger brothers, the only way would have been to get a credit card or loan to pay for it.

‘Then it occurred to me to create a GoFundMe page to raise £200 or £300 to help with costs. I’d seen it work before with other people.

‘I couldn’t believe the response, we’d raised a couple of thousand in three days, mostly from people we didn’t even know. Sean Raggett was among the first to donate, with £100.

‘It just shows how close the club are to the fans and the city, wanting to do a good thing for the community.

‘The support has been unbelievable. Thank you to each and every one of you.’

For last Saturday’s operation at Spire Southampton, Josh was accompanied by two Pompey teddy bears handed to him by younger brothers Elliott and Noah.

The family remain proud supporters of their football club, particularly when entering enemy territory.

A North Stand lower season ticket holder, Josh has been a regular attendee, while last year followed the Blues to Bolton, Gillingham, MK Dons and Shrewsbury.

He has also twice led his beloved team out at Fratton Park as a mascot, while the family were present at the March 2019 Checkatrade Trophy final penalty shoot-out victory over Sunderland.

Then, in the youngster’s time of need, Blues players stepped forward to lend their assistance.

The former Springfield School pupil added: ‘I’d never had a knee problem before, it was a complete accident.

‘I was training with Infinity when a ball was played over the top. I jumped to head it clear and, as I landed, my heel just pushed into the floor and the right knee buckled underneath me.

‘There was no-one near me, no challenges, and the St Mary’s walk-in centre assured me it was just a sprained knee ligament.

‘Then, after 3-4 weeks, I came back and in a Moneyfields under-18s friendly against Fleur De Lys tried to clear the ball and a striker pushed into me. The knee went again, it was clearly more serious than we thought.

‘The response from people has been so overwhelming, even footballers.

‘It has not just been about the physical donation of money, people have been genuinely concerned for me, enquiring about my mental health, which is also important at this time.

‘One of my coaches did a lot of work with Cameron McGeehan during lockdown when they were delivering supplies to people in the summer and had mentioned my injury to him.

‘McGeehan then got in touch with my dad through Twitter and asked for my number. We spoke on the phone for almost an hour, he was seeing how I was, talking about his own injury experiences and his time at Pompey, which he loved.

‘We’ve remained in touch, he even messaged me a few days before surgery.

‘I was there when he broke his leg at Fratton Park while with Luton – then he was on the phone to me, helping with my injury recovery.

‘I know Ben Close through Moneyfields, while Harry Kavanagh is often in touch to see how I am.

‘Being a massive Pompey fan, it means so much and shows what a strong community we have in Portsmouth.’

Having been at Moneyfields for the last four years, the club have also rallied around Josh, organised a fundraising walk to help the Hughes family reach their target.

Dad Anthony will be involved, along with Kat Close, a board member and volunteer at the Copnor-based football club who is also the mum on Ben Close.

The pair are scheduled to set off from Brighton’s training ground in Lancing, with the two-day trek consisting of visits to non-league clubs Worthing, Little Hampton, Bognor, Chichester, the Hawk, Baffins and Moneyfields.

The 43.9 mile route will be completed at Fratton Park on Saturday, a venue so special to both sets of families.

Anthony, who is assistant manager to Ben Close’s dad Malcolm with the under-18s, added: ‘It was actually Kat’s idea to raise money by doing a sponsored walk, she talked me into it!

‘The family are really nice, they would bend over backwards to help anyone, it wouldn’t matter who the player was.

‘Should we beat our £8,000 target, we are going to donate the extra to Moneyfields’ youth set-up and Pompey in the Community, to help others who need it.

‘Josh is looking at a June return for full contact, so should be ready for August/September, when the season starts.

‘We are so grateful, he couldn’t have had the surgery without the support and wouldn’t have been given the chance to get back playing football again.

‘And when he has recovered, I'm going to invite all those people to watch Josh play. They made that happen.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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