3/1 To Win
The 24 teams that will take part in Sky Bet League One in the 2023/24 season were confirmed at the end of May.
Here, dcfc.co.uk will take a look at each one in focus ahead of the new campaign getting underway at the start of August.
In this instalment, John Mousinho’s Portsmouth are in the spotlight.
Fact File
Established: 1898
Nickname: Pompey
Home: Fratton Park
Manager: John Mousinho
2022/23 finish: 8th (Sky Bet League One)
Club History
Founded in 1898, Portsmouth have been playing their home fixtures at Fratton Park since 1899.
They are known as Pompey because of a local nickname used by both His Majesty’s Naval Base, Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth.
Pompey are one of only five English Football League Clubs to have been champions of all four tiers of the professional football pyramid.
They have won the First Division title twice in their history with both wins coming in back-to-back seasons in 1948/49 and 1949/50.
FA Cup finalists five times in their history, they have lifted the famous trophy twice, first in 1938/39 and again in 2007/08.
Played For Both
Deon Burton
Former striker Deon Burton’s professional career started off with Portsmouth in 1994 and after a successful first few years in the game, he transferred to Derby who were at the time playing in the Premier League.
He went on to make more appearances, a total of 135, for the Rams than any other club in his career and he is also Derby's most capped international player whilst with the club, picking up 42 caps for Jamaica.
In 2002, after an initial loan spell, he returned to Pompey on a permanent deal from the Rams.
Kieron Freeman
Current free agent full-back Kieron Freeman joined the Rams in 2012 after leaving arch-rivals Nottingham Forest.
He joined on a two-year deal with the option of a third but failed to ever really cement a regular place in the first-team in Derbyshire.
Several loans followed before he went on to join Sheffield United in 2015 where he enjoyed great success.
In 2021 he joined Portsmouth but was released upon the conclusion of the 2022/23 season.
David Nugent
In 2007, former striker David Nugent joined then Premier League Portsmouth in a big-money deal from Preston North End.
He remained on the south coast until 2011 where he went on to join Leicester City and helped the Foxes achieve promotion to the Premier League.
Nugent joined Derby later on in his career in January 2017 from Middlesbrough, where he remained until 2019 before returning to Preston North End.
2022/23 Season
After a disappointing back end to the first half of the 2022/23 campaign under the stewardship of Danny Cowley, Pompey opted for a change in direction when they replaced him with John Mousinho in January.
They were 15th at the time of his appointment and Pompey went on a brilliant run towards the back end of the campaign under Mousingo and ultimately finished just outside the play-offs in 8th following an 11-match unbeaten run which included a 1-1 draw with the Rams at Pride Park Stadium in the penultimate game of the season.
Record Against The Rams
Neither the Rams nor Pompey could find a win against each other in the 2022/23 campaign after a 0-0 draw on the south coast in November was followed up by a 1-1 draw at Pride Park Stadium in the penultimate game of the season back in April.
Prior to last season’s meeting between the two, the previous league matches came over a decade ago in the Championship with the Rams landing the double over their opponents in the 2011/12 season, winning 3-1 at Pride Park Stadium and 2-1 at Fratton Park respectively.
Derby edge the historical record over Portsmouth having won 42 times to their 35 whilst the other 22 occasions have ended in draws.
