Reds aiming for bumper ‘El Creekio’ attendance

Fareham Town are anticipating a bumper attendance as they prepare to do battle with big rivals AFC Portchester for the third time this season today.

The Reds host the Royals in a game known as the 'El Creekio' derby in the Wessex League Premier Division after a draw and defeat to Dave Carter's side this season.

Pete Stiles' side were dumped out of the Hampshire Senior Cup at Portchester last month while the rivals played out a 2-2 draw at the same venue back in August.

Fareham have been well supported this season and have the highest average home attendance in the Wessex Premier (240) this season.

In their last outing - a 3-3 home draw with Hamworthy last month - a bumper crowd of 342 watched on at Cams Alders.

And Stiles says the club are hoping they can break through the 500-barrier in terms of attendance for their Royals meeting - providing the fixture survives after the recent wet weather.

The Fareham boss said: ‘That’s what’s being talked about, between 500-600 (supporters) - hopefully we can (get that).

‘Hopefully the weather holds off because the pitch is at the stage where if it was being played today (Sunday) the referee would say ‘yes’, but much more rain and I think it’s doubtful.

‘Hopefully we’re going to get a good gate, it’s nice for us to be in a position where we’re quite strong (squad-wise), I’ve only got a couple missing as opposed to having eight or 10 missing. I’ve actually got the inevitable task of leaving players out.’

Fareham will hand a debut to goalkeeper Henry Woodcock, who has swapped struggling Amesbury for Stiles' side on a dual-signing from Basingstoke Town. He will be the Reds’ seventh keeper in 2021/22.

But Portchester will arrive at Cams Alders on the back of a six-game unbeaten run in all competitions, with Carter's men winning four of those fixtures.

The Royals have not conceded a goal in their last five outings.

Yet both sides could be a little under-cooked for the derby battle, with the postponement of their respective post-Christmas fixtures meaning the rivals face-off on the back of an 18-day stint without any competitive action.

The highest crowd recorded in the Wessex Premier this season is the 503 who watched the PO postcode derby in August between Baffins Milton Rovers and Moneyfields. That is the attendance included in the official Wessex League newsletter, though Baffins claim the crowd that night was 518.

That beat, by one (or 16), the crowd figure recorded just 24 hours earlier when Portchester and Fareham drew 2-2 in the first ‘El Creekio’ game of 2021/22.

Only two other Wessex Premier fixtures have attracted over 400

- the New Forest derby between Bashley and Brockenhurst (489) and Baffins v Horndean (484).

If Fareham attract a crowd of

549 or more today, it would be the biggest in their Wessex history.