As Pompey fans, we know all too well what it’s like to have owners that are destroying your club. Whilst those days are thankfully behind us, there are still clubs where the fans are going through the same anguish that we felt over a decade ago.
On Saturday, we welcome Sheffield Wednesday fans to Fratton Park. They are fighting for the survival of a historic club against poor ownership. They have a stadium that has been neglected to the extent that one stand was threatened with closure by the council. Staff regularly go unpaid and they now find themselves with a squad largely made up of academy players and free transfers. It all sounds so familiar to us.
The SWFC Trust are leading a campaign to force their owner to sell up. On Saturday they will continue this with a protest against the ownership of their club. Their protests are designed to not disrupt the matches, and they will display a banner protesting against their owner. They have also adopted the colours of black and yellow/gold as a symbol of their campaign and you will see many fans wearing shirts in these colours.
The PST stands in solidarity with SWFC Trust in this campaign. We may be rivals for 90 minutes on Saturday afternoon, but the wider picture of football needs fans of all clubs to work together to eradicate the scourge of bad ownership. Therefore, we invite Pompey fans to consider joining us in supporting their campaign.
PST representatives will gather with SWFC Trust representatives at the Jimmy Dickinson Statue before the match at 1:30pm for a photo to show our solidarity. Any fans who wish to join us in this are more than welcome. Fans are also invited to show their support when the banner is held up within the stadium during the match.
Fans may also wish to wear black or yellow to demonstrate their solidarity with Sheffield Wednesday fans' campaign.
During our fight to save our club, the support we received from fans of other clubs and the wider football family was invaluable in encouraging us to keep fighting. Our support for the SWFC fans can do the same for them and we hope that Pompey fans will feel likewise.