John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood

Last updated

John Anthony Portsmouth Football Club Westwood
Born
John Anthony Westwood

(1963-04-14) 14 April 1963 (age 61)
Liss, England
Occupation Antiquarian bookseller
Years active1976–present
Known forFan of Portsmouth Football Club

John Anthony Portsmouth Football Club Westwood (born 1963) is a notable football fan and supporter of Portsmouth (known as Pompey); his occupation is an antiquarian bookseller. He has featured in books, magazines, on TV and radio, and the National Portrait Gallery, London.

Contents

Westwood's appearance has many Pompey-related features, some temporary and some permanent. Westwood has a mixed reception among Pompey Fans and has served bans for bad behaviour.

Background

Born in Liss, Hampshire, Westwood started attending Pompey matches in 1976. [1] As his commitment grew to the club, so too did his range of Portsmouth FC themed accessories. In 1989 he changed his name, by deed poll, from John Anthony Westwood to John Anthony Portsmouth Football Club Westwood and he is the most recognisable Portsmouth supporter. [2]

Appearance

Westwood has sixty Pompey-related tattoos, the club crest shaved onto his head and "PFC" engraved on his teeth. [3] [4] He can be clearly heard ringing his handbell, to represent the "Pompey Chimes", almost continuously throughout Portsmouth matches. He wears a large stove pipe hat, a blue and white dreadlock wig, an LED sign showing Play Up Pompey, a badge that says Danger Stupid Person, and also uses a bugle.

Charity and publicity

In 2003 Westwood was featured in the BBC Television Social anthropology project Video Nation . [5]

A photo reportage entitled Fan de foot. So British! by Paris-based photographer Andrew McLeish about men, passion and football, focussing on Westwood, won the French magazine Paris Match 's 2004 "Prix du Public" competition for photography students. [6]

In September 2007 he played in the Premier League All Stars on Sky Sports, playing as a celebrity fan for Portsmouth.

He featured on the cover of Chuck Culpepper's 2007 book, Up Pompey, an American's take on English football fans. [7]

Westwood had an informal interview with Nigel Farage on GB News in 2022. [8]

In 2008 a portrait of Westwood by artist Karl Rudziak won the Portsmouth Open Art Competition. In February 2009 it was accepted for the BP Portrait Awards exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, where it was on display from June until September. [9] On 28 September 2009 the exhibition began a national tour, starting at the Southampton City Art Gallery. [3] [4] Not surprisingly, the Southampton FC supporters did not give the display a warm welcome. [10] Rudziak commented that during the sittings for the portrait, he began to understand that Westwood's tattoos and costume were not simply an attention seeking display but a way of externalising his deep passion for Portsmouth F.C. and reflecting his inner self. [9]

Behaviour

Westwood was banned from South Coast arch-rivals Southampton's St Mary's Stadium for urinating on seats in the away end and being thrown out of a derby match in 2003 for persistently refusing to sit down when ordered to by stewards. [10] However, he was in the crowd on 13 February 2010, when Portsmouth defeated Southampton 4–1 in the fifth round of the FA Cup, [11] and at the 2–2 draw in the Championship on 7 April 2012.

He served a two match ban for urinating against a wall outside Forest Green Rovers' The New Lawn stadium. [12] It was his second match ban of 2022; the first was a three match ban for making lewd gestures towards away fans against Coventry City [13] Westwood, a season ticket holder, accepted the ban and said he had let the club down; he was told of his punishment by phone. [14] He was banned again from Pompey's draw against Oxford United in mid-week and also missed the home game vs Shrewsbury Town. [14]

Personal life

Since his father Frank's death in January 2006 [15] Westwood has been a partner in the family bookshop in Petersfield, Hampshire. [16]

"It's a bit Jekyll and Hyde. When I go to a local book fair, I cover up my tattoos and put on a suit. But more often than not, I end up talking to the book dealers about Pompey and it turns out they've got more tattoos than I have."

— Westwood talking about his job, tattoos and supporting Portsmouth [17]

In 2007 Westwood wrote a book, The True Pompey Fan's Miscellany. [18]

In January 2020, the Petersfield Bookshop was featured on many news outlets after it tweeted that it had had no customers that day. Author Neil Gaiman re-tweeted the post to his 2.3 million followers and the bookshop received thousands of pounds' worth of orders. [19]

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Portsmouth F.C.</span> Association football club in the south of England

Portsmouth Football Club is a professional association football club based in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The team is currently competing in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system in the 2024–25 season after winning the 2023–24 EFL League One title. Portsmouth are nicknamed Pompey, a local nickname used by both His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth and the city of Portsmouth. The club adopted blue shirts in 1912 and have mostly used a combination of white shorts and red socks since 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petersfield</span> Human settlement in England

Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 15 miles (24 km) north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. Situated below the northern slopes of the South Downs, Petersfield lies wholly within the South Downs National Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eyal Berkovic</span> Israeli former footballer

Eyal Berkovic is an Israeli former professional association footballer, football coach, team owner and television talk show presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fratton Park</span> Association football ground in Portsmouth, England

Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, Portsea Island, England and is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park's location on Portsea Island is unique in English professional football, as it is the only professional English football ground not located on the mainland of Great Britain. Fratton Park has been the only home football ground in Portsmouth F.C.'s entire history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Dickinson</span> English footballer

James William Dickinson MBE was an English footballer who played as a left half.

Andrew Terry Awford is an English football coach and former footballer who was most recently the Youth Academy and Development Manager at Luton Town. Prior to this, he was the manager of Portsmouth, a club where he spent the vast majority of his playing and coaching career. Awford was selected by the FA in 2012 to participate on their new level 5 qualification, The FA Professional / Elite Award, which he successfully completed and graduated in June 2013 at St Georges Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Barton (footballer)</span> English footballer and manager

Anthony Edward Barton was an English footballer, playing as an outside right, and football manager. He was born in Sutton, Surrey and managed Aston Villa to success in the 1982 European Cup, three months after taking charge. He followed this up by beating Barcelona in the 1982 European Super Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anthony Pulis</span> Footballer (born 1984)

Anthony James Pulis is a Welsh football coach and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake.

Robert William Thomas Stokes was an English footballer, best known for scoring the winning goal in the 83rd minute of the FA Cup Final for Southampton against Manchester United in 1976.

The South Coast Derby is a term used to describe football matches played between Portsmouth Football Club and Southampton Football Club. The term is popular in broadcast media and newspapers.

Portsmouth Women, formerly known as "Portsmouth Ladies", is a professional women's football club for the south coast city of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. The club currently plays in the Women's Championship. Their male counterparts are Portsmouth F.C.

Matthew Richard Robinson is an English football manager and former professional footballer.

Portsmouth Football Club is a professional association football club based in Portsmouth, England, founded in 1898. Football was first played in Portsmouth from at least the middle of the 19th century, brought to the Victorian era military town, by soldiers, sailors and dockers from other places in England. In Northern England the rules of football were already well established. Portsmouth Association Football Club was an amateur team founded in 1883 by architect Arthur Edward Cogswell. Its most famous player was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who played as goalkeeper under the pseudonym "A.C. Smith." The club disbanded in 1896, and Cogswell designed the first buildings at Fratton Park. Portsmouth Town was an amateur team before Portsmouth became a city in 1926. They competed in cup competitions, attracted several thousand spectators by 1891, and attempted to become Portsmouth's first professional club, but failed. Royal Artillery (Portsmouth) Football Club was formed by the Portsmouth regiment of the Royal Artillery. Established in 1894, they were notable for their competitive success and support from the local community. The team played home games at the United Services Recreation Ground and achieved significant victories.

Alan Edward Knight MBE is an English former footballer turned manager. He holds the record for the most appearances for a single club by a goalkeeper, having played 683 league games for Portsmouth between 1978 and 2000; this superseded Peter Bonetti's record of exactly 600 goalkeeping appearances for Chelsea. He helped Portsmouth to the 1992 FA Cup semi final which they lost on a penalty shootout to Liverpool.

Albert John Milkins was an English professional footballer whose career ran from the start of the 1960s to the end of the 1970s.

Paul George Hardyman is an English former football player and coach who played as a left-back for Portsmouth, Sunderland, Bristol Rovers, Barnet, Wycombe Wanderers and Slough Town. He is currently the manager of Orange County Soccer Club of the USL Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6.57 Crew</span> Criminal organisation and Football hooligan firm

The 6.57 Crew is an English football hooligan firm and vigilante group linked to Portsmouth F.C. The name, 6.57 Crew is taken from the time that the Portsmouth to London Waterloo train left Portsmouth and Southsea station. The firm were one of the most active firms in the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matt Ritchie</span> Scottish professional footballer

Matthew Thomas Ritchie is a professional footballer who plays as a winger or wing-back for Championship club Portsmouth. Ritchie represented the Scotland national team from 2015 to 2018. Prior to joining his first club Portsmouth for a second spell in 2024, he played for Swindon Town, Bournemouth and Newcastle.

Wyndham William Pretoria Haines was an English footballer who played at centre-forward for south coast rivals, Portsmouth and then Southampton in the 1920s and 1930s.

During the 2004–05 English football season, Portsmouth competed in the FA Premier League. It was Portsmouth's second consecutive season in English football's top-flight.

References

  1. ↑ Man of the Match ~ John Anthony PFC Westwood. School of Cultural Studies, University of Chichester. 29 November 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  2. ↑ "The Fans – Fans agree to disagree". thisisthesaints.co.uk. 2005. Archived from the original on 18 May 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  3. 1 2 "City art gallery shows painting of John Westwood". Southern Daily Echo. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  4. 1 2 "John Westwood portrait scores". BBC Hampshire. 22 July 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "POMPEY By John Westwood". Video Nation. BBC. 12 April 2003. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  6. ↑ Bertilsson, Sara. "Andrew Mcleish". EDIT. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  7. ↑ Culpepper, Chuck (1 August 2007). Up Pompey: A Clueless American Sportswriter Bumbles Through English Football (1st ed.). Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN   978-0-297-85283-4.
  8. ↑ Richard Lemmer (10 June 2022). "Nigel Farage visits Portsmouth as part of GB News tour with guests Jim Davidson and Pompey super-fan John Westwood". The News, Portsmouth. Retrieved 10 November 2022.
  9. 1 2 "John Anthony Portsmouth Football Club Westwood". National Portrait Gallery. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  10. 1 2 Stephenson, Corey (2 October 2009). "Fans want Portsmouth fan painting removed from Southampton Art Gallery". Southern Daily Echo. Retrieved 9 December 2009.
  11. ↑ "FA Cup and Football League action as it happened". BBC Sport. 13 February 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2010.
  12. ↑ "Pompey fans divided over John Westwood ban for urinating outside stadium". www.portsmouth.co.uk. 28 October 2022.
  13. ↑ "John Westwood slams 'cancel culture' for Pompey ban after mooning Coventry fans". www.portsmouth.co.uk. 6 August 2022.
  14. 1 2 "Diehard Pompey fan speaks after being banned for second time over what he did on away day". 29 October 2022.
  15. ↑ "Obituaries – Frank Westwood Owner of the Petersfield Bookshop". The Independent. 25 January 2006. Archived from the original on 6 February 2009. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  16. ↑ "The Petersfield Bookshop". The Petersfield Bookshop. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  17. ↑ Vulliamy, Ed; Oliver, Brian (3 August 2003). "Up Pompey". The Observer. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  18. ↑ Westwood, John (30 March 2007). The True Pompey Fan's Miscellany. Pennant Books Ltd. ISBN   978-0-9550394-8-5.
  19. ↑ "Bookshop that failed to sell a single book in a day inundated with orders". The Independent. 16 January 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.