Portsmouth in the play-offs: Something must change – and that includes my attitude

I’ll be honest. I’ve never liked the play-offs and probably never will.
Pompey dejected after their League One play-off semi-final first leg loss at Sunderland. Picture: Joe PeplerPompey dejected after their League One play-off semi-final first leg loss at Sunderland. Picture: Joe Pepler
Pompey dejected after their League One play-off semi-final first leg loss at Sunderland. Picture: Joe Pepler

I have been dreading the Blues’ third attempt at the end-of-season lottery ever since the defeat to Peterborough that meant we were not going up automatically, and I’m fearful of rather than excited by Thursday night’s second leg against Sunderland.

It will either be a special, memorable night under the Fratton lights, or a terrible, depressing one. It won’t be anything in between, yet I’d be happier about the whole thing if there was a chance of middle ground, the propsect of going home not having won but still in with a shout. But there’s not.

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I don’t mind watching play-off matches that involve other teams but I’d really rather Pompey were not involved. Almost, but not quite, to the point where I wish we’d finished seventh if we couldn’t finish second.

Pompey dejected after their League One play-off semi-final first leg loss at Sunderland. Picture: Joe PeplerPompey dejected after their League One play-off semi-final first leg loss at Sunderland. Picture: Joe Pepler
Pompey dejected after their League One play-off semi-final first leg loss at Sunderland. Picture: Joe Pepler

Much of my outlook is to do with Pompey’s past failures, of course. I was there for both legs in 1993 - at the away leg at the City Ground, where the Pompey fans sang along with hits of the day ‘Oh Carolina’ and ‘Sweat’ at half-time only to be silenced by a late Julian Joachim goal; then at Fratton, where the turnaround was on until that lanky Leicester striker whose name I can’t bear to mention had a blatantly offside goal allowed by the referee whose name I also can’t bear to mention.

That night really hurt - just as much as the FA Cup semi-final replay penalty shootout defeat at Villa Park 13 months earlier, maybe even more so. That took a long time to get over and I’m not convinced that Pompey team, or what remained of it in the next couple of seasons, ever quite got it out of their system.

Twenty-three years later Leicester were back in my mind as we were paired with Plymouth for a League Two play-off semi. Same results - same cruel exit - same failure even to get to the final. 

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This time it was the 2-2 draw at home first on a cracking Fratton night when the Blues couldn’t build on a super-early Marc McNulty goal and put Argyle out of sight. The 1-0 away defeat was saved for the Home Park leg and of course the game’s only goal came in injury time. That was a new way of adding Pompey play-off insult to injury - or rather injuries, some of which were directly inflicted by crude Plymouth challenges.

We’ve had a much shorter wait for play-off attempt number three and I’m afraid that for me, so far, it’s following the script I feared it would.

On the day our sensational seven-game winning run came to an end at the Stadium of Light with a 1-1 draw that took automatic promotion out of our own hands, I’ve been fearing the play-offs and expecting not to come through them.

Saturday’s first leg, which I must admit I didn’t see much of, has only intensified my near-certainty that it’s all going to end in tears. Thursday may surprise me - after all football does tend to do the opposite of what you expect much of the time - but if it’s all right with you, I’ll carry on viewing the very idea of Pompey in the play-offs with deep suspicion until I have reason not to.

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In fact my dislike of the play-offs began when the things themselves did, in the late 1980s. Right from the day they were unveiled, I voiced my opposition. I just didn’t see why clubs finishing fifth or sixth in a league should have a chance to pip a third-place finisher to promotion. I didn’t see it then and still don’t, and as much as I can see the system extends interest in the season for many clubs, you can’t say it’s not grossly unfair.

I went to a Chelsea v Middlesbrough showdown at Stamford Bridge in 1988, the second year the play-offs had been in existence. It was the second leg of the final to decide which team would be in the following season’s top division and which in div two. In those early days the four teams involved comprised three from the lower division and the one that had finished just above the automatic relegation zone in the one above. 

That day at Chelsea was one of the nastiest, most toxic afternoons I’ve ever spent at a football ground, chiefly because Chelsea’s 1-0 win was not enough to overturn Boro’s 2-0 win from the first leg and they were, as a result, relegated. It was an awful way to go down and it wasn’t long before the play-offs were changed so that only promotion seekers, and not relegation near-miss teams. were involved.

I went to plenty of other neutral play-off games in those early days and witnessed some great occasions - and even saw poor old Swindon beat Sunderland in a Wembley final only for them, a short while later, to be demoted instead of promoted because of financial irregularities. 

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Nothing I’ve seen down the years changes my view of the play-offs but I know that, between now and Thursday night, and perhaps beyond, I need to think more positively.

There are, of course, plenty of reasons for the Blues to be upbeat about their chances in the second leg. A 1-0 deficit can be turned around in the blink of an eye and even if we go 1-0 down on the night, we still only need two to take the game further. We’ve beaten Sunderland twice this season and, at our best, can do it again.

Brett Pitman’s return will be huge if it happens, Ronan Curtis has to start and has to be at the highest peak of his powers of winding up the opposition, and Jamal Lowe is due a goal. Remember, this Kenny Jackett team did not score 83 goals or win 25 games in the regular league season through luck.

Fans have a massive part to play and I’m sure they’ll do what’s required, and the more who arrive at Fratton Park with a more positive outlook than I’ve managed in the past couple of weeks or for most of this article, the better.

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If Thursday night goes to plan, maybe I’ll start to think I need to change my mind about the play-offs. Or maybe I’ll just spend the next ten days fretting again. The chance to choose would be lovely.