Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth F.C.

Portsmouth Football Club (listen) is an English professional association football club in Portsmouth, Hampshire, which plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, following their promotion as EFL League Two champions in the 2016–17 EFL League Two season. The club was founded on 5 April 1898 and home matches are played at Fratton Park in Milton, Portsmouth. Portsmouth have been the top tier Football League Champions of England twice consecutively in 1949 and 1950. Portsmouth have also won the FA Cup twice in 1939 and 2008, and have won the FA Charity Shield once, in 1949. Portsmouth have also won the second tier division title once in 2002–03, the third tier division title three times in 1923–24 (South), 1961–62, 1982–83 and the fourth tier division title once in 2016–17. In the early twentieth century, Portsmouth were also champions of the Southern Football League in 1901–02 and 1919–20. Portsmouth were also champions of the Western Football League in 1900–01, 1901–02 and 1902–03. These, and their more recent wins make Portsmouth southern England's most successful football club (in terms of cups, honours and titles) outside London. Portsmouth have played in European competition for only one season in their history, the 2008–09 UEFA Cup (now UEFA Europa League), a result of winning the 2008 FA Cup Final. In this period, the club had international footballers including England players Glen Johnson, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, David James and Sol Campbell. Between 2003 and 2010 the club spent seven consecutive seasons in the Premier League. The club's fortunes declined in 2010–13 when the club entered administration twice and were relegated three times, reaching the fourth tier (EFL League Two) and their lowest point since the 1979–80 season. The club were saved from liquidation after being bought out by the fan-owned Pompey Supporters Trust (PST). This made Portsmouth the largest fan-owned football club in England until 3 August 2017, when the PST sold it to The Tornante Company, an investment company owned by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner.During the last few months of the PST's ownership, Portsmouth were promoted to EFL League One after winning the fourth tier EFL League Two divisional championship title on 6 May 2017 in the final league game of the 2016–17 season. Portsmouth then became only the fifth English football club to win all four tiers of current English professional football (after Wolves, Burnley, Preston North End and Sheffield United). In addition, Portsmouth are also one of only two English football clubs to have been champions of five professional divisions including the former regional Football League Third Division South championship in the 1923–24 season. Wolverhampton Wanderers also share this distinction, having won all four divisions, plus a Football League Third Division North title win, coincidentally in the same 1923–24 season as Portsmouth won the respective South division. The two regional Third Divisions were restructured into England's national Football League Third Division and Football League Fourth Divisions for the 1958–59 season, meaning these five professional divisional wins will never again be matched by other clubs under the current structure.

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