It’s almost impossible to believe that it was nearly 7 years ago to the day that Pompey were victorious at the Hong Kong Stadium as they lifted the Premier League Asia Trophy. With a squad containing the likes of Sol Campbell, David James, Sulley Muntari and Niko Kranjcar we came out victorious 4-2 on penalties in front of 37,000 people and lifted a piece of pre-season silver wear.
Fast forward 7 years and the clubs pre-season sees them travel East once again, but this time 6,000 miles away from Hong Kong. Like last year, preparations for the new season take on a more realistic look in the tranquil setting of 5 Lakes - a hotel and country club in the middle of 320 acres of Essex countryside.
The big salaries and big egos from 2007 have gone and Andy Awford and his management team have gone about pulling together a team we hope can challenge for a top 7 spot this season.
The PST are excited to have been invited to the first 2 days of the tour and you’ll be able to see what the team have been up to across our website, as well as 4 social media channels – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and now the video sharing site, Vine.
We will also be welcoming shareholders Darren Bayley and Stuart Hardman to 5 Lakes – both were chosen at random as the winners of our competition to be part of the match day build up with Andy Awford and the squad for our match with Thurrock on Tuesday night.
We’ll be posting regular updates on between Monday and Wednesday with the highlight being a live Q&A on Twitter with Andy Awford on Monday evening. You can submit your questions now or on the night using the hashtag #askawfs.
Once again, the benefits of a community owned club are clear to see – Andy Awford has been very accommodating and was keen for us to be part of the tour to enable our members to get a real ‘behind the scenes’ feel of pre-season and for this we are very grateful.
Play Up Pompey