Pompey skipper Johnny Ertl has revealed his pride at being made Pompey captain. The Austrian-born midfielder gave an interview to German football culture magazine 11Freunde and he also explained what attracted him to playing for the club.

Ertl said: 'I have been in England five years. I played for two years at Crystal Palace, and two years at Sheffield United. I have always dreamt of one day captaining an English team on the field. Here at Portsmouth I got this chance. This was perhaps one of the greatest moments in my career.'

And Ertl sees the Pompey project as a long-term one: 'The manager has made it clear that this is a long term project here. That appealed to me. And look at this club, it has an incredible tradition, people here work with passion for their club. The all over the city they live for football. This is not only nice, but it also attracted me. 

But his early days at Pompey weren't without difficlty as the club went from crisis to crisis and Ertl explained how the players involved pulled together in more ways than one inlcuding sharing an apartment to save on hotel costs.

'I thought, why not? The appartment was on the outskirts of the city. It was huge. And I saw the opportunity get to know my teammates a bit better.

Ertl also revealed he used his accomplished guitar-playing skills to lead jam sessions of an evening, as well as rustling up his own version of Austrian dish wiener schnitzel for his housemates.

With the Pompey Supporters' Trust bid to buy the club ongoing, Ertl took an increased interest in what was going on. 'After a few months there was still no rescue in sight of the club, so many players left. But that is also normal. Most people want to security in life. Me too. But I also found the idea of fans wanting to take over the club fascinating.

'I have not opened the books and studied the numbers. That wouldn't be appropriate for me as an employee of the club. But here in England, the subject of finance is treated very openly. A newspaper recently published the outstanding debt of the club to former players, which amounts to nearly seven million pounds. We know everything here.'

And Ertl is confident about the club's future prospects. 'It has two big advantages: the takeover of the club has democratised it. The fans want to know what's going on. And they have fought for their right to know the future as well. In addition, we have ended up in League Two. Fourth Division. Bottom. So the only way is up. In this league we are a big fish in a small pond. With an average attendance of 16,000, we are head and shoulders above the others. If everyone sees the club as a long-term project, we can do something great here.'

Original interview by BENJAMIN KUHLHOFF. For the original text of the interview in German click here

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