Bobby Kellard: I knocked down my manager Ian St John - and never played for Portsmouth again

The combative midfielder was a popular figure among the Fratton faithful and in his second spell with the Blues.

However, his time at the club ended in February 1975 following a bitter falling out with St John in the Pompey manager’s office.

And in a 2017 interview for Played Up Pompey Too, Kellard reflected on an acrimonious Fratton Park exit at the hands the former Liverpool striker.

‘Another I had words with was Ian St John, who replaced John Mortimore as manager in September 1974 – and then didn’t do one good thing at the club,’ he told Played Up Pompey Too.

‘The Scot was a nasty bloke, didn’t have a clue. What was bad about him? Everything.

‘He was a nobody, I wouldn’t even class him as a manager, he didn’t do anything. He walked around saying “I am the manager” and you were thinking “Show it then” – his team talks were never motivational.

;St John was a terrible boss and in love with himself. He kept looking in the mirror – there was only one person in his world and that was him.

‘As for his assistant Billy Hunter, he was very quiet and didn't say a word, I don’t think I ever spoke to him.

‘That pair were only present at training for the five-a-side, they always wanted to join in.

‘One day St John got the ball, I tackled him and he jumped out of the way and shouted. I said “If you can’t take it mate, you had better not play. When I train this is where I get my time in for tackling, I am not going to avoid tackling you”.

‘Pompey’s boss wanted me out no matter how I was playing, it was politics and then your confidence suffers and makes the departure happen.

‘Mick Mellows was ahead of me and, for one particular game, was an injury doubt. In front of the players, St John told me that if Mick failed his fitness test I would play. If he was okay then I wouldn’t be named as a substitute, but would still be on a crowd bonus and a win bonus.

‘Anyhow, Mick was fit, I was 13th man and the following week I asked George Graham “George, did you get your money this week? I’ve haven’t received any bonus”. He had.

‘So I went to see St John in his office and the first thing he said was “You are a cheat”. I shouted back: “What is it best to be – a cheat or a liar? You lied in front of all your players, that goes down well”.

‘Yet he had called me a cheat. People can say whatever they like about me, but I am not a cheat. I never have been. That was the beginning of the end for me at Pompey, especially when I knocked him down.

‘Upon entering the room, he got up from his seat and, by the end of it, I had shoved him on his shoulder to knock him back into his chair. It was more a push than anything.

‘His little mate Hunter was there as well and didn’t do anything. Not that I even got a fine for that. I should have bashed him up, if it had been on the field I would have kicked him around and he would have screamed.

‘I never played for Pompey again.

‘It sounds like I am a troublemaker but I’m not, I’m a good professional and say it as I see it. If I am proven wrong I will hold my hands up, that’s healthy. I won’t tell lies – and I did have a big mouth.

‘That was it for me at Pompey for a second time – and I wouldn’t have left if St John wasn’t there.’

Bobby Kellard made 176 Pompey appearances and scored 18 goals from March 1966 until July 1968 and December 1972 until February 1975.

Played Up Pompey Too, released in 2017, is still available from Amazon. While Played Up Pompey Three, which contains more of your favourite Blues players, is out in September.

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