Southampton play their home games at St. Mary's Stadium, while Portsmouth play theirs at Fratton Park. Southampton and Portsmouth are historically the most successful clubs on the southern coast of England and lie only 19 miles (31 km) apart in Hampshire. However, because the two clubs have often been in different divisions, the derby game has only been played 71 times in "First Class" competition since the first meeting in 1899.
In "first class" matches between the two teams, Southampton have the most wins and have consistently been in a higher league than Portsmouth, including their 27 consecutive years in the top flight of English football. Portsmouth have won the most titles of the pair, being champions of England twice (1948–49 and 1949–50) and twice FA Cup winners (1939 and 2008), whilst Southampton have won the FA Cup once (1976).
With Southampton being relegated from the Premier League and Portsmouth successfully avoiding relegation from the Championship, the South Coast derby will return during the 2025–26 season, marking the first time the clubs have shared a division since 2011–12.
Side-by-side comparison of Southampton and Portsmouth final league positions 1921 to the present. The two sides have rarely shared a division, hence the relatively low number of derbies played.
Southampton were originally formed in 1885 as St. Mary's Young Men's Association FC, before adopting the name Southampton St. Mary's when the club joined the Southern League in 1894. After they won the Southern League title in 1896–97, the club became a limited company and changed their name to Southampton FC. Portsmouth was founded in April 1898 and joined the Southern League in 1899.
The first match between the two clubs came in a friendly at Portsmouth's Fratton Park ground on 6 September 1899. The match was won "on their merits" 2–0 by Portsmouth, with goals from Dan Cunliffe (formerly with Liverpool) and Harry Clarke (formerly with Everton).[1]
Southampton and Portsmouth first played each other in the Southern League in April 1900, with Portsmouth winning 2–0 twice in three days. The teams met regularly in the Southern League, and in the early years of the 20th century were rivals for the league title, with Southampton taking the title in 1901, 1903 and 1904 (having also been champions in three consecutive seasons from 1896–97 to 1898–99, before Portsmouth were formed) and Portsmouth taking the title in 1902 and 1920.
The first of four South Coast derbies in the FA Cup took place on 13 January 1906. Because of the large crowd expected for the first FA Cup meeting between the two rivals, the local registrars in both towns postponed voting in the 1906 general election until the following week.[2] The match at The Dell was attended by a capacity crowd of 14,000 and the Portsmouth fans, together with their players, did their best to unsettle the inexperienced Southampton goalkeeper, Bill Stead, who was making only his second first team appearance. Stead, however, showed few signs of nerves and produced a "phlegmatic performance",[3] restricting Portsmouth to a single goal from Dan Cunliffe, while the Saints scored five and eventually progressed to the last eight, where they lost 3–0 at Liverpool.[2]
For the 1920–21 season, both teams were admitted to the Football League (together with the majority of the Southern League First Division sides). The first Football League game between the two clubs was on 11 September 1920, with Southampton winning 2–0. After two seasons in the Third Division, Saints were promoted as champions in 1922. Pompey joined them in the Second Division in 1924 and were promoted to the First Division in 1927, becoming the first southern club outside of London to reach the top tier of English football. Up to this time the teams had met ten times in the Football League, with Saints winning four, Pompey three and three draws.
From 1927 until 1960 Portsmouth enjoyed a much-superior league position to their neighbours, winning the FA Cup in 1939 and back-to-back League titles in 1948–49 and 1949–50, until 1960, when Southampton gained promotion back to the Second Division, Portsmouth having been relegated from the First Division the previous season. From the 1960s onwards, Southampton found themselves in the ascendancy, being in a higher division nearly every season while defeating their rivals whenever the two sides met in cup clashes.
With Southampton being in a higher division for most of the period from the 1960s through to the early 2000s, the two clubs rarely met. Events such as the death of Portsmouth goalkeeper Aaron Flahavan, a Southampton-born footballer whose brother Darryl had played for Southampton (and would later play for Portsmouth), occasionally brought the fans together.
Southampton dominated the South Coast derby games in the post-war era, with fourteen wins to Portsmouth's six. Portsmouth's promotion to the Premiership in 2003 evened matters and reignited the clubs' rivalry – the first time the two teams had met in regular league competition since the 1987–88 First Division season. Southampton held the upper hand, winning two of the three matches played between the two sides in the 2003–04 season to Portsmouth's one.
The rivalry was galvanised with the appointment of Harry Redknapp as Southampton manager in December 2004, just days after he had resigned as manager of Portsmouth, and less than a month after the Saints had beaten Portsmouth at St Mary's Stadium. The following month, the Saints were drawn against and defeated their rivals in a fiery FA Cup match, with former Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch (who would go on to rejoin Portsmouth in 2008) scoring the decisive penalty in the last minute of the match.
However, Portsmouth struck back in the next league encounter between the rivals, with Southampton beaten 4–1 at Fratton Park by their relegation rivals in Redknapp's only return to the ground with the club. Southampton were subsequently relegated from the Premiership a few games later on the final day of the 2004–05 season, ending their 27-year run in the top flight of English football. Redknapp caused more controversy when he left Southampton and returned to Portsmouth and enjoyed success.
Portsmouth won the FA Cup again in 2008 under Redknapp, whilst in 2009, Southampton were again relegated, this time to League One.[4] The two sides met in a fierce FA Cup match at St Mary's in 2010 which Portsmouth came out 4–1 victors again and went on to reach the FA Cup final that season but did not perform too well in the league. Portsmouth were in turn relegated to the Championship for the 2010–11 season having been deducted nine points as a penalty for entering administration.[5]
The matches played during the 2011–12 season both ended as draws, but the club's fortunes differed considerably, with Southampton gaining promotion to the Premier League and Portsmouth once again going into administration and being relegated to League One.[6]
In Portsmouth's absence, AFC Bournemouth and Brighton and Hove Albion – based about 30 miles (48km) and 60 miles (97km) from Southampton respectively – gained promotion to the Premier League, with some media outlets marketing fixtures against them as a "South Coast derby";[7][8][9] However, there is very little shared history or animosity between the clubs and supporters have never acknowledged these as significant rivalries,[10][9][11] something which was emphasised in September 2019 when Southampton were drawn against Portsmouth in the EFL Cup for their first meeting in seven years, with the event being discussed with much more anticipation than Southampton's league matches against both Bournemouth and Brighton a few weeks earlier.[12][11][13]
Harry Redknapp
The acrimonious departure of Harry Redknapp from Portsmouth to Southampton brought the bitter rivalry between the two clubs to a new level. When Redknapp returned to Portsmouth in November 2005 following Southampton's relegation, it only served to further sour relations between the two clubs. The two clubs' chairmen at the time, Rupert Lowe (Southampton) and Milan Mandarić (Portsmouth), publicly criticised one another on a number of occasions, with Lowe calling for an inquest into irregular betting patterns in the run-up to Redknapp's re-appointment. Mandarić had even sent a boxed duck as a Christmas "gift" to Lowe (as Lowe had been on a hunting trip when the "ordeal" began), but the gesture only furthered the animosity between the two.[14][15][16][17]
Inter-fan rivalry
Exactly when the fierce rivalry between the supporters of the two clubs began is not entirely clear. Until as recently as the early 1970s, many fans would go and watch the other team when their side was playing away.
In 1976, there were changes in fortune for both cities and their football clubs. Portsmouth International Port was built next to the new M275 motorway spur, both opening in 1976. This was seen as a threat to the Port of Southampton by its dockers. Portsmouth FC, on a decline, lost a fifth consecutive derby match against Southampton in a period from 1966 to 1976.[18] Southampton FC, then in the Second Division, were on the rise and won a shock victory in the 1976 FA Cup final against First Division Manchester United 1–0 at Wembley Stadium. The goal was scored by Portsmouth-born Bobby Stokes.[citation needed]
Southampton were promoted to the First Division in 1978. Meanwhile, Portsmouth plummeted to the Fourth Division in the same period. Jealously, bragging, changing fortunes between the opposing fans, and the rise of English football hooliganism in the 1970s are most likely[according to whom?] the cause of the bitter rivalry that now exists between both sets of supporters.
In the early 1980s, cross-channel ferry services then moved from Southampton to Portsmouth International Port. Portsmouth's closer proximity to the European continent saved fuel, journey time and made more economic sense to ferry operators. Portsmouth's closer distance to London by road and rail was also seen as a positive by European visitors.[citation needed]
In the 1987–88 First Division season, Portsmouth and Southampton both met in the top division of English football for the first time in their shared histories. This was the first season that Southampton fans began using the derogatory "Skate" nickname for Portsmouth's supporters, which had been chosen from a fanzine poll.[which?] Despite a 2–2 home draw at Fratton Park and a 2–0 away win at The Dell, Portsmouth were relegated back to the Second Division after only one season.[citation needed]
In the early 2000s, Southampton based ship builder Vosper Thornycroft moved from its Woolston yard to new facilities at Portchester, near Portsmouth, and also into a newly built ship hall within HMNB Portsmouth. West Quay shopping mall in Southampton city centre was also opened, which attracted many Portsmouth residents away from Portsmouth's traditional shopping areas, favouring the new West Quay mall which offered more variety than Portsmouth's declining Commercial Road and Palmerston Road shopping areas.[citation needed]
On 15 May 2005, Portsmouth, now in the Premier League, lost 2-0 away to relegation threatened West Bromwich Albion. Portsmouth's loss earned West Bromwich Albion three points and survival to end one place above the relegation zone. However, this result also affected and confirmed bottom-placed Southampton's relegation to the second tier of English football for the first time since 1978.[19] Portsmouth supporters ironically celebrated their 2–0 loss to West Bromwich Albion as a victory as it had relegated Southampton to a lower division than Portsmouth for the first time since the 1960-61 season, when Portsmouth had been in the Second Division and Southampton were in the Third Division.[citation needed]
In 2015, 10,000 Portsmouth residents signed a petition against Portsmouth City Council's decision to allow airline Emirates to use its red and white livery (Southampton colours) for its sponsorship of the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.[20] The city council subsequently came to an agreement with sponsors Emirates to use blue and gold (Portsmouth colours) instead, donating the now-unnecessary red paint to local charities instead.[20][21]
In 2019, the two teams met for the first time in over seven years, an EFL Cup tie at Fratton Park. Tensions at the game ran high, and as such police presence was high; hundreds of police officers were bought in from multiple police forces across Hampshire in order to prevent violence between the two sets of fans in what has been described as the biggest football policing operation conducted in Hampshire.[22] The police worked for over an hour separating fans in order to prevent a brawl as Southampton fans made their way from Fratton railway station to Fratton Park.[22] Despite the best efforts of the police, violence and anti-social behaviour ensued; before the game, red and blue flares were set off near Fratton station and the Shepherd's Crook pub respectively.[22] Following the 0–4 result, tensions increased as items were thrown towards police and a police horse was punched.[22]
Nicknames
Portsmouth supporters refer to Southampton supporters as "Scum" or "Scummers". According to some Portsmouth fans, the term "scum" developed out of a fictitious acronym standing for "Southampton City (or Corporation) Union Men", with the term allegedly originating from when Southampton dockyard workers supposedly crossed the picket lines in the 1930s when Portsmouth dockyard workers were on strike. However, this story is unlikely, as the two cities rely on entirely different types of ports — Southampton being a merchant port and Portsmouth a naval one. There is also no known record of any strike occurring during the aforementioned time period. Rather, this seems to be a modern attempt to incorrectly describe the origins of the rivalry.[23]
Southampton supporters have taken to referring to their local rivals as "Skates", after a Southampton fanzine, The Ugly Inside, asked its readers in 1988 to suggest an abusive term most likely to cause offence to Portsmouth supporters.[24][23] This date coincides with Portsmouth's return to the First Division in its 1987–88 season, when both clubs occupied the same division for the first time since 1976.[25]Skates was chosen as the derisive alternative to "matelot" to describe naval sailors, Portsmouth being the home of the Royal Navy.[citation needed] The name "Skate" originates from the civilian population of Portsmouth, and was originally an insult directed towards sailors working on ships in HMNB Portsmouth, or who were otherwise associated with the Royal Navy.[26] Sailors on long voyages would go long periods without female company, so would use skate to relieve themselves sexually; this led to sailors who attempted to approach prostitutes in Portsmouth being refused and told "I ain't no skate bait, mate".[26]
Both teams played in the Southern Championship in the 2006–07 season. Portsmouth was a strong contender for promotion (they finished 3rd), while Southampton was relegated to the Regional Combinations. The former Portsmouth manager, Vanessa Raynbird, also played in and later managed Southampton as well.
Southampton F.C. had ended its links with Southampton Saints L.F.C. in 2005. In 2017, Southampton F.C. formed a women's section, Southampton F.C. Women. In summer 2021 Southampton F.C. Women were awarded upward club movement to the third-tier FA Women's National League Southern Premier Division, of which Portsmouth F.C. Women are long-serving members, meaning the 2021-22 season saw the resumption of the South Coast Women's Derby.
↑ Southampton 1-3 BournemouthArchived 2019-09-22 at the Wayback Machine ("Next up for Southampton is the 'proper' South Coast derby, at Portsmouth in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday"), BBC Sport, 20 September 2019
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