History
The club were formed in 1934 as the works side of Airspeed Ltd, who were running Portsmouth Airport and were originally known as Airspeed Portsmouth. [1] They spent their early days playing in the local Portsmouth & District League before the outbreak of World War II.
After the conflict finally finished, the club joined the Hampshire League in 1947. Here, they were placed in Division 3 East and became a steady mid-table side, becoming known as De Havillands in 1951 after that company took over the Airport. This rebranding seemed to inspire the team, as they won the Division 3 title in 1956, and after a series of encouraging seasons they then won the Division 2 title in 1964. [2]
The 'Pilots' did well to survive in a tough Division 1, which at the time was of a very high standard. There was another name change in 1965 when Hawker-Siddeley took over the site, and in 1968 there was a memorable run in the Hampshire Senior Cup in which they reached the final. Here, they faced hot favourites Fareham Town and narrowly lost 1-2 in front of a large crowd at Fratton Park, Portsmouth. [3]
However, by this point links to the airport had faded and this saw the club became known as Strongs, coinciding with the Reserves election to the county league. A year later, they changed name yet again - this time adopting their best known identity of Moneyfield Sports - in connection with their home ground. They were relegated in 1971, but soon recovered and won promotion back four years later, remaining a steady top-flight side and performing well in the national FA Vase competition. [4]
In a bid to attract further support, the club was rebranded as Portsmouth United for the 1983/84 campaign, but despite a respectable midtable finish the move proved unsuccessful and they disbanded at the end of that season. [5]
Ground
The club played at Moneyfields Sports Ground, Dover Road, Copnor, Portsmouth. PO3 6LA. [7]
The ground remains in use today and since 1994 has been home to the modern day Moneyfields F.C. During 2023-24 the venue was redeveloped into a state of art facility with two enclosed 3G artificial pitches. [8] [9] It is now also home to 'Pompey in the Community' and renamed as the John Jenkins Stadium. [10]
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