Fratton Park

Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England, which is the home of Portsmouth F.C. Fratton Park remains as the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history.

The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect Arthur Cogswell and built in 1899 on the site of a market garden in Milton, a Portsea Island farming village. In 1904, Milton and the rest of Portsea Island became part of Portsmouth. Fratton Park's Portsea Island location means it is uniquely the only football ground in English professional football which is not on the mainland of Great Britain.

Portsmouth's football ground was deceptively named as "Fratton Park" by the club's founders, to persuade supporters that the new Milton-based football ground was within walking distance of neighbouring Fratton's railway station; the true distance between the railway station and football ground is actually one mile, or a ten minute walk. Fratton Park was first opened to the public on Tuesday 15 August 1899.

The first ever match at Fratton Park took place on the afternoon of Wednesday 6 September 1899, a 2-0 friendly win against Southampton FC, attended by 4,141 supporters. Three days later, the first competitive home match at Fratton Park was played on Saturday 9 September 1899, a Southern League First Division 2-0 win against Reading F.C., attended by 9,000 supporters.

Sir John Brickwood (1852–1932) was Portsmouth's founding chairman. Brickwood, owner of a Portsmouth-based brewery, was also a philanthropist. In 1900, the Brickwood Brewery opened a mock-Tudor public house named The Pompey in Frogmore Road next to Fratton Park. In 1905, a mock-Tudor club pavilion was donated by Sir John Brickwood and built to the north of The Pompey pub. The pavilion, which originally had an octagonal clock tower spire on its roof, contained club offices and players changing rooms.

This page also has a version in other languages :  Фраттон Парк (russian)