Bally is Back!

Monday 26th January 1998 : At a press conference today, Portsmouth Football Club announced the return of Alan Ball to the manager's position. Ball, a World Cup winner in 1966, was previously Pompey manager from 1984 to 1989.

During his first spell in charge, Ball built a team that finished 4th, 4th and 2nd in successive seasons in the old Div.2 eventually gaining promotion at the third attempt. In that period, Pompey acquired a reputation for being a team of fighters (literally sometimes!) much in the mould of the man himself. In those three glorious seasons Pompey lost only 10 home games, conceding a mere 53 goals, including a miserly eleven in the promotion season, as Fratton Park became known as Fortress Fratton. But not only were Pompey hard to beat, they also had a side full of flair players: Neil Webb, Alan Biley, Vince Hilaire, Kevin O'Callaghan, Kevin Dillon to name but a few. Nobody who was there will forget that glorious day on 9th May 1987 when Pompey, already promoted, celebrated by losing 2-1 at home to Sheffield Utd in front of a capacity Fratton crowd of 28,004. We spilled onto the pitch at the final whistle chanting Bally's name and a tearful Ball came out onto the South Stand balcony with his young son in his arms to thank the fans who had now come to love a man who had once committed the heinous crime of playing for the Sc*m.

The following season in the old Div 1 wasn't quite what we'd waited 28 years for. Pompey were relegated after only one season back in the top flight as chairman Deacon pulled the rug from under Ball's feet and left him cashless and stranded. See my 'If Only' page for the details. However, that season did contain a good run to the FA Cup quarter finals and, of course, a date that will go down in history, 3rd January 1988, when Pompey went to the D*ll and beat the Sc*mmers 2-0. The following season saw Pompey struggle to avoid succesive relegations and Ball left feeling betrayed. Ball's legacy was the promising young squad he left behind, a fact acknowledged by Jim Smith who took over 2 years later: Darryl Powell, Kit Symons and Andy Awford were all products of the Ball era.

Now Ball has been given the immediate task of keeping Pompey in Division One and, presumably, in the longer term taking us to the Premier League. One thing is for sure: any team that Ball puts out on the park will play with the passion and pride that the famous blue shirt demands. Whatever happens, Pompey will go out fighting!

Welcome back Bally!!!