Sports Mail nostalgia – when Portsmouth were ‘still riding high’ after winning at Charlton Athletic 56 years ago

In the build-up to every Pompey first team fixture in 2022/23, Roger Holmes will be looking back at a corresponding match by featuring an archive Sports Mail front cover and an inside page here at portsmouth.co.uk

Roger almost certainly boasts the largest collection of Sports Mails among Pompey fans - he has over 3,000 of them.

He wrote a weekly nostalgia page in the Sports Mail for most of the 21st century, right up until the end of last season.

With the Blues travelling to Charlton next Monday, Roger turns the clock back to November 1966 …

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Goals by John McClelland and Ray Hiron brought Pompey a well-deserved 2-0 win over Charlton Athletic in front of a crowd of 9,916 at The Valley.

Former Pompey striker Ron Saunders was in the Charlton line-up while the Fratton men included two ex-Valiant players, Frank Haydock and the transfer-listed Dennis Edwards who was being watched by Third Division Reading.

The victory lifted Pompey to tenth in the Second Division. But they finished sixth from bottom, just four points above Charlton who were relegated in bottom place.

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Bobby Charlton scored both goals for Manchester United in a 2-1 victory over Southampton at Old Trafford, his first strike coming after only 35 seconds.

Saints’ consolation came from the head of Ron Davies - one of 37 he was to score in the Hampshire club’s debut top flight campaign.

In Division Three, Brighton & Hove Albion overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Bristol Rovers at the Goldstone Ground while Bournemouth & Boscombe lost 1-0 at Mansfield Town. Aldershot claimed a 2-1 win at York City in Division Four.

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Chelsea remained top of Division One following their 1-1 draw at home to Sheffield United. Liverpool moved within a point of the Londoners after thrashing Leeds United 5-0 at Anfield. Blackpool’s 1-0 home loss to Stoke City left them at the bottom of the table.

Wolves led the Second Division after winning 3-2 against Preston North End at Molineux.

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Fratton Park staged a third round tie of the English Schools Shield with Portsmouth Boys beating Havant Boys 2-1 with an extra time decider.

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In Linesman’s Review on page 2 of the Football Mail, wing-half Johnny Gordon explained how much he was looking forward to the next evening when he would appear on stage in “The Festival of Light Music” at the King’s Theatre, Southsea.

Gordon, who possessed a fine singing voice, recently went straight from training sessions to the Royal Marine Barracks, Eastney, to rehearse with the Royal Marine Orchestra.

It was reported on the same page that good progress was being made on the new Pompey Supporters’ Club headquarters at Fratton Park. It was hoped the opening would take place towards the end of January.

Organised functions for full members were to be planned while supporters of other clubs would be entertained when they travelled to Fratton to watch their team take on George Smith’s men.

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The Football Mail Postbag contained a letter from Mr Roy Magee who complained about the lack of support Pompey were receiving .

Reflecting on the crowd of 12,000 for the previous week’s visit of Bolton Wanderers, Mr Magee wrote that, for the first time in years, Pompey had the players capable of gaining promotion. But he explained that “too many people around today are buried in Pompey’s past glories and constantly compare the present squad with the Championship (winning) side.’