Was Fratton Park really a potato field? The history of Pompey's ground
A market garden, a potato crop the directors were keen to sell, a name chosen to sound closer than it was, an England international, a baseball match and the FA Cup in a thatched pub.
Yes. Wikipedia says that in 1898 the newly formed Portsmouth Football and Athletic Company bought a market-garden plot in Milton that still held a potato crop, which the directors were anxious to sell, and did. Fratton Park opened on 15 August 1899.
Fratton Park really was a potato field, and the club sold the crop. It is one of the best Pompey facts there is, and it is true.
The potato crop
In 1898 the newly formed Portsmouth Football and Athletic Company bought a market-garden plot in Milton. Wikipedia says it was still covered with a potato crop which the directors were "anxious to sell", and that they did, adding to the company's funds. The ground was formerly the site of a potato field. The story appears on two Wikipedia pages.
A name chosen to sound close
Fratton Park opened on 15 August 1899. It is named after the nearby Fratton railway station, although it sits roughly a mile away. Wikipedia's history of the club says the name was deliberately chosen to persuade people getting off at Fratton Station that the ground was within easy walking distance. A mile is a decent stroll, but it is not nothing.
The one England international
Fratton Park has hosted one England international. On 2 March 1903, England beat Wales 2-1 in the British Home Championship.
A baseball match in 1918
On 6 June 1918, Fratton Park staged a baseball match between the US Army and the Canadian Army. The US Army won 4-3 and the gate money went to the British Red Cross. We should say this rests on one source: Wikipedia, which in turn cites a club history post. We found no second independent source.
Arthur Conan Doyle in goal
Arthur Conan Doyle played in goal under the name A.C. Smith for the amateur Portsmouth AFC, an earlier club that existed before the professional side. Wikipedia is clear that it is a myth he was the professional club's first goalkeeper. That was Matt Reilly. So the honest version is "an earlier Portsmouth club", which is how we put it in the reel.
The FA Cup and the thatched pub
Portsmouth won the FA Cup in 1939, beating Wolves 4-1. The next final was not until 1946, so Portsmouth held the trophy for seven years. Wikipedia describes this as the distinction of holding the Cup for the longest uninterrupted period. During the war the trophy was routinely moved around the city, between the boardroom, bank vaults and pubs. For the worst of the bombing it was taken ten miles north to The Bird in Hand, a thatched pub at Lovedean.
And the district of Fratton?
The place is older than the football club. In 982 it was written Frodingtune, and in the 1086 Domesday record Frodinton, from the Old English for the farm of Froda. It had shrunk to Fratton by the 17th century. The Froddington Arms on Fratton Road still carries the old name. A church dedicated to St Mary stood here before 1166, and the present St Mary's, by Sir Arthur Blomfield, dates from 1887.
The railway has a surprise too. The Portsea section of the Portsmouth and Arundel Canal ran through Fratton. It opened in 1823 and was drained by 1827 after complaints that salt water was contaminating some of Portsmouth's wells. Parts were later sold to the railway company, and the line from Fratton towards Portsmouth and Southsea follows the course of the canal. Sources disagree on exact dates, so treat those years as approximate. And from 1905 to 1921 the station was called Fratton and Southsea.
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