Season Review: Pompey fail to reach the play-offs in disappointing season

Pompey will be playing League One football once again next season after another underwhelming campaign which saw them finish outside of the top six.

After play-off heartbreaks against Sunderland and Oxford United in previous seasons, Portsmouth were hoping to make it third time lucky this season as they continue their quest for a return to the Championship.

Pompey were top by Christmas and all seemed well. However, their run of form went on a downward spiral, which eventually saw Kenny Jackett being relieved of his duties and replaced by Danny and Nicky Cowley, with the club finishing eighth.

Five key moments

Burton Albion 2-4 Pompey

The club’s first league win of the season came away at Burton, in which their former player Marcus Harness scored a hat-trick. The visitors were 2-1 down at half-time, but scored almost immediately after the restart to level the scoring. Jack Whatmough restored Pompey’s lead on the hour mark, before Harness scored his third with 17 minutes left to play.

Hull City 0-2 Pompey

A trip to the KCOM Stadium would be Portsmouth’s final game of 2020 before a string of postponements over the festive period left them out of action for nearly three weeks. Two own goals from Hull secured the three points for Pompey, which meant they finished the day at the top of the League One table.

Northampton Town 4-1 Pompey

The club’s form had dipped once again at the turn of the new year, a far cry from how they were playing before Christmas. Pompey arrived at relegation threatened Northampton on the back of a 2-1 loss to fellow promotion challengers Doncaster Rovers with a point to prove, only for them to go 4-0 down at the break, with a late consolation goal from Ellis Harrison completing the scoring.

Kenny Jackett’s sacking

Pompey were due to play Salford City in the EFL Trophy last year but due to COVID, it was eventually postponed until March 2021. Neither team were able to break the deadlock in normal or extra time meaning penalties were needed to decide the result. Salford won 4-2 from the spot, and Kenny Jackett was relieved of his duties the next day, with his assistant Joe Gallen being made temporary manager before the arrival of the Cowley brothers.

Pompey 0-1 Accrington Stanley

This was Pompey’s final game of the season and the last chance for them to secure a third consecutive play-off finish. They entered the game in sixth place in the table and knew they had to win. Adam Phillips opened the scoring for the visitors and Pompey failed to reply, meaning they dropped out of the top six on the final day and Oxford United took their place.

Key players

One of Pompey’s shining lights this season has been the man between the sticks, Craig MacGillivray. In many matches this season, he has kept his side in the game with some very impressive goalkeeping performances, particularly in the EFL Trophy final at Wembley. However, his performances will have no doubt attracted attention from other clubs and there are rumours suggesting that he may leave Pompey this summer.

John Marquis finished as the club’s top scorer for the season, with 18 goals in 48 appearances in all competitions. He scored key braces in victories against Sunderland and Lincoln, as well as the 3-3 draw away at Accrington towards the end of the campaign.

Marcus Harness also enjoyed a decent season for Pompey. His nine assists made him the second highest assister in the club behind Ronan Curtis with 10, as well as scoring 10 goals. He also appeared in every single league game this season, proving he is a reliable asset to the team.

Season verdict

To put it simply, not good enough.

The last three seasons for Pompey have all had a collective aim, which is promotion back to the Championship. 2019 and 2020 both saw play-off defeats to Sunderland and Oxford respectively and fans were hoping that this was the season that saw them return to the second division.

For all teams across the country, this has been a season like no other. COVID outbreaks and frozen or waterlogged pitches meant games were being postponed left, right and centre, making fixtures a lot more congested, but that shouldn’t cover up some of the club’s poor performances throughout the campaign.

With just under two months left of the season, the club made the decision to change the manager. Out went Jackett and in came the Cowleys. They made an impressive start to their time at Pompey, but were unable to make the play-offs and fell at the final hurdle.

Next season

This summer is a massive chance for Pompey to make changes.

They have already announced that Danny and Nicky Cowley have signed long-term contracts with the club, which is a promising start. It now gives them the chance to evaluate the squad and spend time with them over the course of pre-season to build a team that they think can challenge at the top end of the table once again.

Next season has to see a significant improvement from the one that has just concluded. A top two finish would be the dream but if the play-offs were to decide their fate once again, Pompey will need to fight until the bitter end to gain promotion to the second division.

The city of Portsmouth has been anticipating Championship football for a long time now, but have so far failed to see any concrete push towards their aim. Hopefully with a fresh change in management, the club can meet the wishes of the fans and move one step closer to returning to top flight football.

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