Soccer

‘You could feel the hatred’: inside the Portsmouth-Southampton derby


David Norris

Portsmouth midfielder, 2011-12. Scored a 94th-minute equaliser at Southampton in April 2012

It goes off on my social media every year on the anniversary of that goal. I remember it quite well – probably because I have seen it 1,000 times at least since! It is the single greatest feeling in my career. Going to Southampton, we had a police escort and we were getting abuse from five miles out, from five-year-olds to grandparents. They scored in the 90th minute and we were devastated. But we had one last chance. The ball was lobbed towards the box, two of our players [Dave Kitson and Karim Rekik] went up for it and one of theirs [José Fonte] and it fell outside the penalty area and I thought: “Whack it, see what happens.” It flew in. I loved it, because it was so volatile and there was that much hatred, you could feel it and it spurs you on. Michael Appleton, our manager, played a blinder in a way. Just as we pulled up outside St Mary’s, with our bus surrounded by their fans, he put on a motivational video of some of our better bits of the season. We were in administration, we were not getting paid, but we came off feeling 10ft tall.

Portsmouth’s David Norris celebrates scoring in injury time against Southampton at St Mary’s on 7 April 2012.



Portsmouth’s David Norris celebrates scoring in injury time against Southampton at St Mary’s on 7 April 2012. Photograph: Michael Steele/Getty Images

Michael Appleton

Portsmouth manager, 2011-2012

With it being on David’s left foot you just wouldn’t expect him to produce that. I remember having a little bit of a Mourinho moment, running down the touchline screaming, shouting and punching the air because I had been getting stick for 90-odd minutes from the Southampton fans to the right of me. I had to give a little back. It was a fantastic moment. In the first game [a 1-1 draw in December 2011], it felt like football was almost the sideshow. I didn’t realise how big a rivalry it was. I’d been to watch Old Firm games, Manchester derbies, Merseyside derbies and was involved in Midlands derbies, West Brom v Wolves, but I found out about it in a big way, five games into my reign.

Alan McLoughlin

Played for Southampton (1990-92) and Portsmouth (1992-99) and was a Portsmouth academy coach (2011-13)

I knew [after leaving Southampton for Portsmouth] that coming up the steps at Fratton Park I was going to be met to met with a barrage of “Scummer”. Plenty of lads and older pros thought I was mad to make the move as Southampton’s £1m record signing at that point. I knew I had to do the business and, thankfully, it worked out. It didn’t matter whether it was playing Southampton in an FA Cup game as I did in 1996 or a FA Youth Cup game, which I was part of as coach, there is always that edge and spice. I remember going down with Portsmouth’s under-16s and under-18s and beating Southampton. We were in the depths of the second division, in administration, and going there and turning them over meant a lot.

Matty Taylor

Portsmouth midfielder, 2002-08

I have a couple of pictures on the walls at home from the games, but I had a relatively bad experience in the FA Cup at St Mary’s. I remember the ball coming into the box, I was left-back and I leant into it and it hit my chest. The referee gave a penalty and I was livid. It was in the last minutes of the game and Peter Crouch put it away and we lost 2-1. It was a really difficult thing to deal with. I was lucky to be involved in such a fiercely contested game. It’s not as bad as playing for West Ham at Millwall and the coach getting bricked; this one is tame compared to that, believe me. But you realise it is a different feel because of the increased security and police presence. Even the intensity and atmosphere around the warm-up is taken up a level.

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Ricardo Rocha

Portsmouth defender, 2010-12. Played in the clubs’ last meeting, in 2012

When I was at Benfica, we had Sporting and Porto as big rivals but the Portsmouth v Southampton rivalry is totally different because it runs deeper – it’s not all to do with football. It’s about the history in the cities, the ports and the passion. You have to put everything on the line. One of the first things [then manager] Michael Appleton said was about the rivalry and how important those games are against Southampton. Fratton will be rocking.

Rickie Lambert

Southampton striker, 2009-14. Scored in the last meeting at Fratton Park, a 1-1 draw in 2011

It was a Danny Fox free-kick, I managed to beat Pearcey [Jason Pearce] in the air and it was right in front of our fans, and I went absolutely berserk. It was one of the best feelings I had in a Southampton shirt but there was that bitter taste at the end because it should have been the winning goal. When you first sign for a club, pretty much straight away you find out who your derby is and ask questions. I remember Alan Pardew and the staff there telling us a few stories, how much hatred there is. They told me about Harry Redknapp going from Portsmouth to Southampton and then back to Portsmouth. When I joined Southampton in 2009 they were in League One and Portsmouth were flying high. The staff told me that when Southampton had last played Portsmouth away in the Premier League [in 2005], with Southampton on the brink of getting relegated, Portsmouth fans were rubbing it in to say the least. It’s ironic the way things have turned again.

Southampton’s Ricky Lambert heads in the opening goal against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on 18 December 2011.



Southampton’s Ricky Lambert heads in the opening goal against Portsmouth at Fratton Park on 18 December 2011. Photograph: Ben Hoskins/Getty Images

Lomana LuaLua

Portsmouth striker 2004-07. Scored twice in 4-1 win at Fratton Park in 2005

Harry Redknapp had left [for Southampton] and he was like an enemy. He had his reasons for going but we felt betrayed. I love Harry – the best manager I played under – but at that time I just wanted to kill him, to destroy him. That day was the best day of my life, even though I pulled my hamstring and had to go off after 27 minutes with us winning 4-1. I played in Olympiakos v Panathinaikos and I experienced Newcastle v Sunderland but this was on another level. That game I had to prepare myself and I think it was the first time that I slept before midnight – I was born at night so I’m a nightrider; I normally sleep at 3am. Looking into everyone’s eyes, you knew we were so up for it. I remember when I was at Newcastle and my room-mate was [Shola] Ameobi. He once grassed me up and went to Sir Bobby and said ‘Lua always goes to sleep late and that’s why sometimes he couldn’t play.’ Sir Bobby came to me and said: ‘Why are you not sleeping? It’s not good for you, son.’ I said: ‘I’m just on my computer because I find it difficult to sleep.’ I said to Sir Bobby: ‘Who told you?’ He said: ‘Ameobi.’ And then I went and said to Shola: ‘You have stitched me up so you can play!’ My room-mate at Portsmouth was Yak but it was good because we are the same. The lights were always off and if you wanted to sleep, you sleep.

Jason Dodd

Southampton, 1989-2005

You get dog’s abuse as you get off the team bus. I just had a little smile, a little bit of fun to wind them up even more. The stadium is practically full for the warm-up, because they want to “welcome” you to Fratton. I thrived on it but, on other people, it certainly worked in Portsmouth’s favour. Part of my job was to get the boys ready, get them to understand how big a game it was for the supporters. They’d say: “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” Well, for some of them it wasn’t. I know Ralph [Hasenhüttl] has had a few derbies in Germany but I just hope he understands that it means a lot. When we got beat 4-1, some of our international players struggled to deal with the atmosphere. It was the intensity, supporters throwing the ball at you when it went out, all those kinds of things. I don’t think there are any Southampton players now that will have had that atmosphere before.



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