Remarkable story of city club with no home for two years
It is one of non-league football’s more remarkable stories; the tale of a Portsmouthbased club who haven’t played a proper ‘home’ game for almost two years due to a much-delayed stadium development.
A club that has been forced to play ‘home’ league games at five different venues already this season, the latest at Oaklands Park. For the uninitiated, that’s the home of Chichester City
FC. Yes, a Sussex club; a 30-mile round trip, therefore, for ‘home’ games.
Granted, it’s not as bad as Truro City’s recent groundshare deal with Taunton - a barely believable round trip of 240 miles at a club who aren’t even in a neighbouring county - but it’s still not ideal.
You wouldn’t have thought it, though, judging by the league table, that Moneyfields have let the long-running John Jenkins Stadium saga get to them.
They might not have a home, they might only have played one ‘home’ league game on Portsea Island since the start of last season – thanks to the generosity of cross-city rivals US Portsmouth – but they have racked up 18 successive Wessex League Premier wins.
The latest was only by a
1-0 scoreline at the bottom placed club, Lymington, at the weekend - but if that’s good
They might not have a home, but they have racked up 18 successive Wessex League Premier wins
enough for Pompey (and it was, at rock bottom Carlisle), it’s good enough for Moneys too.
The John Jenkins Stadium, when finally completed, will be owned and run by Pompey in the Community, the charitable arm of Portsmouth FC.
Its CEO, Clare Martin, told this paper last Friday that the £5m plus project could be “completed imminently”.
How imminent remains to be seen. Will it be before April 20, the current date by which Moneys have to complete their Wessex League season. Due to having no ground of their own, plus some typically seasonal English winter weather, the club have only recently reached the halfway point of their league fixtures.
Portsmouth needs more artificial pitches, that’s unquestioned. The new facility at King George V, Cosham, to be run by the Hampshire FA, will help, and the John Jenkins Stadium’s two pitches will be a further boost for the community.
It’s not just Moneyfields, therefore, that can’t wait for the development to finally be completed.