Saints had started the season well at home, winning all four home games, when Pompey arrived in 21st place, guess what happened next.

Saturday 27th September 1975 saw Pompey arrive at the Dell, for Pompey fans the way ahead for the season was clear, it was a relegation dogfight, for the home side a promotion push was on the cards although no one could have guessed how the season would actually end.

Drizzle on the morning of the game pleased the police, it meant that it kept opposing factions off the streets, having learnt their lesson from the previous years game, Pompey fans were kept in check and herded to the Archers Road End, meaning that apart from one charge by the away fans into the empty West Stand terraces around 2pm, a charge that was stopped by one lone Police officer, pre match trouble didnt materialise.

Early doors though Pompey looked well set up, indeed Pompey hit the bar with a long range effort assisted by the wind, but as the game went on the home side got to grips with the conditions, in the 40th minute after a long period of dominance without much end product, Saints went ahead, Mick Channon made a great through run and although Lloyd in the Pompey goal blocked his first effort, he fired home the rebound, from that moment Pompey were beaten.

In the second half David Peach put the game beyong doubt when from fully 35 yards when his free kick fooled Lloyd who though he would cross and not shoot, on 64 minutes, Channon got his second when from a seemingly impossible angle he hooked the ball over the Pompey keeper.

The game was over for Pompey and Saints passed the ball around much to the delight of the crowd, with just over ten minutes left Pompey were in disarray, sporadic fighting broke out in the away end both between Pompey fans themselves and a contingent of Saints supporters, prompting the Police to bring in Dogs to line the perimeter wall fearing a pitch invasion, to this background Channon headed home his third and Saints fourth to complete the rout and send home most of the 17, 310 crowd home happy. The fourth goal prompted a mass exodus in the Archers Road where the 2,000 Pompey fans couldnt bear to see the final ten minutes and headed for the exits, where the police marshalled them back to Central Station with little trouble

The attendance was much down on the previous years game, despite Saints good start, with there being far less Pompey fans as well, only a couple of thousand at best, hooliganism and the poor weather was given as the main cause. Little did both sides know, it would be over a dozen years before Pompey would visit the Dell again

Photo: Action Images

Norwich City Polls