Do you know what is fact & fiction between Saints & Pompey? it seems most of our friends from the Eastern end of the M27 have struggled to tell the difference for a number of decades, so let's see if we Southampton fans know what the fact actually is.

1. Pompey fans refer to people from Southampton as Scummers and claim that this stands for Southampton Company Union Men and stems from when Southampton dockers went down to Pompey dockyard and crossed a picket line manned by Pompey dockers, but is this Portsmyth Or Portsmouth Innit ?

Answer - Portsmyth

It was actually the other way round, the Southampton Docks Strike of 1890, 5 years after Southampton FC was founded and still 8 years off the founding of Portsmouth FC, was marked by a certain amount of public disorder.

Blacklegs from Portsmouth Dockyard arriving by special train at the Southampton Docks railway station were attacked and large crowds gathered in the streets around the docks leading to fears of rioting.

In response the Mayor requested assistance from the Home Office. The West Yorkshire Regiment was called in from Portsmouth, and the Mayor read the riot act and streets such as Canute Road were cleared with the aid of the local fire-brigade, who opened their hoses on the crowds. of Southampton Dockers refusing to let those blacklegs setting foot on the streets of Southampton and driving their counterparts from Portsmouth back into the station.

Southampton therefore had arguably the first Hampshire football club firm, the so called 630 crew, named after the arrival time of the Blackleg train at the station.

2. When Britain Goes To War It Goes To War From Portsmouth is a claim from some Pompey fans, proud of their maritime heritage, so is this Portsmyth or Portsmouth Innit ?

Answer Mainly Portsmyth !

Although the naval ships left from Pompey in the 18th & 19th centuries, large parts of their crews came from elsewhere.

In 1805 at the battle of Trafalgar, HMS Victory left Spithead with 21 other nationalities in the crew list other than English.

This highlighted the problem that the Royal Navy was having in raising crews from the population of Portsmouth, who did not show much enthusiasm for a life on the ocean wave.

That led to the formation of the Press Gang, an organisation that went round the streets and Pubs of Pompey and literally knocked people over the head and carried them unconscious on to the ships.

So yes the Navy does go to war from Portsmouth, but those from Portsmouth did not go voluntarily, they woke up South of the Isle of Wight with a large bump on their head and a headache.

3. Southampton have never had a firm ? Portsmyth Or Portsmouth Innit

Answer - Portsmyth.

The reality is as in question 2, when England went to war with France in 1415, King Henry V raised his 12,000 strong Army and marched it through the Bargate in Southampton and on to Agincourt and one of the first great victories in the history of the English army.

The only people who didn't go where the members of the Press Gang who were handed redundancy notices on the eve of departure, their services not being needed with Southampton people fancying a few days in France chasing the French around a few fields.

4. Portsmouth people will never want Saints to win a game of football ever ! Portsmyth or Portsmouth Innit ?

Answer - Portsmyth.

Although for the bulk of Portsmuthians this is true, there is photographic evidence that the residents of Paulsgrove, held street parties on the weekend of May1st/2nd 1976.

The reason, local lad Bobby Stokes was playing for Saints and that meant his family and neighbours were firmly in the Southampton camp against Manchester United.

On the day of the game, red & white as well as yellow & blue was flying from the windows of Paulsgrove and when Bobby scored the 83rd minute winner, they went crazy and at the final whistle after the cup had been presented, they took to the streets to celebrate, with the party continuing the next next day.

5. Portsmouth Are The Biggest And Bestest Supporters In The World ! Portsmyth or Portsmouth Innit ?

Answer - Portsmyth.

If the title of Biggest And Bestest Supporters In The World Ever is based on a man dressed up as a clown, ringing a bell and shouting Scummers, Scummers, Scummers for 90 minutes of every game, then yes Pompey would win the title hands down, but the reality is it isn't.

The truth is that despite the fact that for most of the 100 years or so since the two clubs joined the football league Pompey have had a bigger ground, but their average attendances each season have been mostly been far less than Saints.

Indeed back in 1949-51 when they won the old First Division, their average attendance each season was only 37,000, some 22,000 less than the actual capacity of Fratton Park.

Photo's of that time show that many of the crowd in those days was made up by Sailors in uniform, perhaps debunking the myth that those in Portsmouth support their home team.

I would like to say that when they recorded their lowest crowds of those seasons both 26,000, the fleet was out on manoeuvres and when they did almost fill their ground with 49,000, still a few thousand short of capacity, that it was in town, but I am afraid I can't be arsed to check.

But what is fact and not Portsmyth is that Portsmouth's average attendance since records have been kept in 1921 is 17,039, whilst our own despite having a much smaller ground for most of that period, is 18,819.

We have not had an average attendance of below 10,000 for a season since 1935, Pompey had three in a row in the mid 1990's and have achieved that dubious distinction on 5 other occasions since 1973.

So if being good fans is about actually turning up and supporting your team, then our claim is better than the Blue Few.

So did you get 5 out of 5 ?

All Photos Via Reuters

Recent Stories