List of Portsmouth F.C. seasons

This is a list of seasons played by Portsmouth Football Club in English and European football, from 1899 (the year of the club's first FA Cup entry and elected straight into the first division of the Southern League) to the most recent completed season. Football was played in Portsmouth from the 1850's and was popular for sailors and dockers to play in the city. The current club was founded in 1898 with John Brickwood, owner of the local brewery, as chairman, and Frank Brettell as the club's first manager. A common myth is that the club's first goalkeeper was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. While Conan Doyle did play as AC Smith for an amateur side, Portsmouth Athletic Football Club, that flourished from 1882 to 1894, the first goalkeeper of the professional era was Matt Reilly who previously played for the successful Royal Artillery team.

Portsmouth was formed to replace the defunct Royal Artillery Portsmouth club, and elected straight into the first division of the Southern League.

The club's first league match was played at Chatham Town on 2 September 1899 (a 1-0 victory), followed three days later by the first match at Fratton Park against local rivals Southampton. That first season was hugely successful, with the club winning 20 out of 28 league matches, earning them runners-up spot in the Southern League. The league was won for the first time in the 1901-02 season, by which time Brettell had been replaced by club captain Bob Blyth as manager.

The 1906-1907 season was highlighted by the visit of Manchester United to Fratton Park in the FA Cup, which generated a record attendance of 24,329. A 2-2 draw meant a replay in Manchester, and Portsmouth recorded a famous 2-1 win. However, this record attendance was surpassed two seasons later when Sheffield Wednesday visited Fratton for the second round of the new FA Cup.

1910-11 saw Portsmouth relegated, but with the recruitment of Bob Brown as manager the team were promoted the next season.

The club has won the League Championship twice, the FA Cup twice, never won the League Cup, the Charity Shield once (outright) and once (shared).

This list details the club's achievements in all major competitions, and the top scorers for each season. Top scorers in bold were also the top scorers in the English league that season. Records of competitions such as the Hampshire Senior Cup are not included due to them being considered of less importance than the FA Cup and the League Cup.

Non-Football League era

Season	League									FA Cup	Top Goalscorer
Season	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	FA Cup	Name	Goals
1899–1900	SL Div 1	28	20	1	7	58	27	41	2nd	R1
1900–01	SL Div 1	28	17	4	7	56	32	38	3rd	R3
1901–02	SL Div 1	30	20	7	3	67	24	47	1st	R1
1902–03	SL Div 1	30	17	7	6	69	32	41	3rd	R1
1903–04	SL Div 1	34	17	8	9	41	38	42	4th	R1
1904–05	SL Div 1	34	16	4	14	61	56	36	8th	R2
1905–06	SL Div 1	34	17	9	8	61	35	43	3rd	R1
1906–07	SL Div 1	38	22	7	9	64	36	51	2nd	R2
1907–08	SL Div 1	38	17	6	15	63	52	40	9th	R3
1908–09	SL Div 1	40	18	10	12	68	60	46	4th	R2
1909–10	SL Div 1	42	20	7	15	70	63	47	6th	R2
1910–11	SL Div 1	38	8	11	19	34	53	27	20th	R1
1911–12	SL Div 2	26	19	3	4	73	20	41	2nd	R2
1912–13	SL Div 1	38	14	8	16	41	49	36	11th	R1
1913–14	SL Div 1	38	14	12	12	57	48	40	9th	R1
1914–15	SL Div 1	38	16	10	12	54	42	42	7th	R1
No competitive football was played between 1915 and 1919 due to the First World War
1919–20	SL Div 1	42	23	12	7	73	27	58	1st	R1

Non-Football League era (Western League)

Season	League									Top Goalscorer
Season	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	Name	Goals
1900–01	Division 1	16	11	2	3	26	22	24	1st
1901–02	Division 1	16	13	1	2	53	16	27	1st
1902–03	Division 1	16	10	4	2	34	14	24	1st
1903–04	Division 1	16	7	2	7	24	22	16	4th
1904–05	Division 1	20	10	3	7	29	30	23	4th
1905–06	Division 1	20	6	7	7	26	29	19	7th
1906–07	Division 1 'B'	10	4	2	4	16	19	10	3rd
1907–08	Division 1 'A'	12	7	1	4	25	13	1	2nd
1908–09	Division 1 'B'	12	5	2	5	21	21	12	4th

Football League era

Season	League									FA Cup	League Cup	Charity Shield^[1]	Europe Other	Top Goalscorer
Season	Division	P	W	D	L	F	A	Pts	Pos	FA Cup	League Cup	Charity Shield^[1]	Europe Other	Name	Goals
1920–21 Details	Div 3	42	12	15	15	46	48	49	12th	R1
1921–22 Details	Div 3(S)	42	18	17	7	62	39	53	3rd	R4
1922–23 Details		42	19	8	15	58	52	46	7th	R1
1923–24 Details		42	24	11	7	87	30	59	1st	R2				Billy Haines	28
1924–25 Details	Div 2	42	15	18	9	58	50	48	4th	R2
1925–26 Details		42	17	10	15	79	74	44	11th	R3
1926–27 Details		42	23	8	11	87	49	54	2nd	R4
1927–28 Details	Div 1	42	16	7	19	66	90	39	20th	R3
1928–29 Details		42	15	6	21	56	80	36	20th	R/U
1929–30 Details		42	15	10	17	66	62	47	13th	R4
1930–31 Details		42	18	13	11	84	64	49	4th	R5
1931–32 Details		42	19	7	16	62	62	45	8th	R5
1932–33 Details		42	18	7	17	74	76	43	9th	R3
1933–34 Details		42	15	12	15	52	55	42	10th	R/U
1934–35 Details		42	15	10	17	71	72	40	14th	R4
1935–36 Details		42	17	8	17	54	67	42	10th	R3
1936–37 Details		42	17	10	15	62	66	44	9th	R3
1937–38 Details		42	13	12	17	62	68	38	19th	R4
1938–39 Details		42	12	13	17	47	70	37	17th	W
1939–40 ^[2] Details		3	1	0	2	3	5	2	18th	^[3]		W ^[4]
No competitive football was played between 1939 and 1946 due to the Second World War
1945–46	n/a^[5]									R3
1946–47 Details	Div 1	42	16	9	17	66	60	41	12th	R4				Duggie Reid	29
1947–48 Details		42	19	7	16	68	50	45	8th	R4				Duggie Reid	15
1948–49 Details		42	25	8	9	84	42	58	1st	SF				Peter Harris	22
1949–50 Details		42	22	9	11	74	38	53	1st	R5		Shared^[6]		Ike Clarke	20
1950–51 Details		42	16	15	11	71	68	47	7th	R3		^[7]		Ike Clarke Len Phillips	11
1951–52 Details		42	20	8	14	68	58	48	4th	QF				Duggie Reid	18
1952–53 Details		42	14	10	18	74	83	38	15th	R3				Peter Harris	23
1953–54 Details		42	14	11	17	81	89	39	14th	R5					24
1954–55 Details		42	18	12	12	74	62	48	3rd	R3					23
1955–56 Details		42	16	9	17	78	85	41	12th	R4					24
1956–57 Details		42	10	13	19	62	92	33	19th	R4				Johnny Gordon Peter Harris	13
1957–58 Details		42	12	8	22	73	88	32	20th	R4				Peter Harris	18
1958–59 Details		42	6	9	27	64	112	21	22nd	R5				Ron Saunders	24
1959–60 Details	Div 2	42	10	12	20	59	77	32	20th	R3					17
1960–61 ^[8] Details	Div 2	42	11	11	20	64	91	33	21st	R5	QF ^[9]				23
1961–62 Details	Div 3	46	27	11	8	87	47	65	1st	R1	R3				26
1962–63 Details	Div 2	42	13	11	18	63	79	37	16th	R4	R4				29
1963–64 Details		42	16	11	15	79	70	43	9th	R3	R4				34
1964–65 Details		42	12	10	20	56	77	34	20th	R3	R3			Cliff Portwood	12
1965–66 Details		42	16	8	18	74	78	40	12th	R3	R3			Albert McCann	13
1966–67 Details		42	13	13	16	59	70	39	14th	R4	R2				14
1967–68 Details		42	18	13	11	68	55	49	5th	R5	R3				16
1968–69 Details		42	12	14	16	58	58	38	15th	R4	R2			Ray Hiron	17
1969–70 Details		42	13	9	20	66	80	35	17th	R3	R1				18
1970–71 Details		46	10	14	18	46	61	34	16th	R4	R3				14
1971–72 Details		46	12	13	17	59	68	37	16th	R5	R1			Richie Reynolds	11
1972–73 Details		42	12	11	19	42	59	35	17th	R3	R2			Ray Hiron	10
1973–74 Details		42	14	12	16	45	62	40	15th	R5	R2			Ron Davies	16
1974–75 Details		42	12	13	17	44	54	37	17th	R3	R2			Mick Mellows	8
1975–76 Details		42	9	7	26	32	61	25	22nd	R4	R2			Norman Piper	12
1976–77 Details	Div 3	46	11	14	21	53	70	36	20th	R3	R1			David Kemp	17
1977–78 Details	Div 3	42	7	17	22	41	75	31	24th	R2	R3			David Kemp	21
1978–79 Details	Div 4	46	20	12	14	62	48	52	7th	R2	R1			Jeff Hemmerman	16
1979–80 Details	Div 4	46	24	12	10	91	49	60	4th	R3	R1			Colin Garwood	27^[10]
1980–81 Details	Div 3	46	22	9	15	55	47	53	6th	R1	R4			David Gregory	15
1981–82 Details		46	14	19	13	56	51	61^[11]	13th	R1	R2			Billy Rafferty	19
1982–83 Details		46	27	10	9	74	41	91	1st	R2	R1			Alan Biley	27
1983–84 Details	Div 2	42	14	7	21	73	64	49	16th	R4	R2			Mark Hateley	25
1984–85 Details		42	20	14	8	69	50	74	4th	R3	R2			Neil Webb	18
1985–86 Details		42	22	7	13	69	41	73	4th	R3	QF		FMC GS	Nicky Morgan	15
1986–87 Details		42	23	9	10	53	28	78	2nd	R4	R3		FMC QF	Micky Quinn	28
1987–88 Details	Div 1	42	7	14	19	36	66	35	19th	QF	R2		FMC R1		11
1988–89 Details	Div 2	46	13	12	21	45	56	40	20th	R3	R2		FMC R2		21
1989–90 Details		46	15	16	15	62	65	61	12th	R3	R2		FMC R2	Guy Whittingham	25
1990–91 Details		46	14	11	21	58	70	53	17th	R5	R3		FMC R2		20
1991–92 Details		46	19	12	15	65	51	69	9th	SF	R3		FMC R1		13
1992–93 Details	Div 1 ^[12]	46	26	10	10	80	46	88	3rd^[13]	R3	R3		AIC GS		47^[14]
1993–94 Details		46	15	13	18	52	58	58	17th	R3	QF		AIC GS	Gerry Creaney Alan McLoughlin	11
1994–95 Details		46	15	13	18	53	63	58	18th	R4	R3			Gerry Creaney	22
1995–96 Details		46	13	13	20	61	69	52	21st	R3	R1			Paul Hall Alan McLoughlin	10
1996–97 Details		46	20	8	18	59	53	68	7th	QF	R2			Lee Bradbury	17
1997–98 Details		46	13	10	21	51	63	49	20th	R3	R1			John Aloisi	12
1998–99 Details		46	11	14	21	57	73	47	19th	R4	R2			John Aloisi	17
1999–2000 Details		46	13	12	21	55	66	51	18th	R3	R2			Steve Claridge	14
2000–01 Details		46	10	19	17	47	59	49	20th	R3	R2			Lee Bradbury Steve Claridge	11
2001–02 Details		46	13	14	19	60	72	53	17th	R3	R1			Peter Crouch	19
2002–03 Details		46	29	11	6	97	45	98	1st	R3	R2	^[15]		Svetoslav Todorov	26
2003–04 Details	Prem	38	12	9	17	47	54	45	13th	QF	R4			Yakubu Aiyegbeni	19
2004–05 Details		38	10	9	19	43	59	39	16th	R4	QF			Yakubu Aiyegbeni	17
2005–06 Details		38	10	8	20	37	62	38	17th	R4	R2			Lomana LuaLua Gary O'Neil Matty Taylor	7
2006–07 Details		38	14	12	12	45	42	54	9th	R4	R3			Nwankwo Kanu	12
2007–08 Details		38	19	9	13	48	40	57	8th	W	R4			Benjani Mwaruwari	15^[16]

Key

P = Played
W = Games won
D = Games drawn
L = Games lost
F = Goals for
A = Goals against
Pts = Points
Pos = Final position

Div 1 = Football League First Division
Div 2 = Football League Second Division
Div 3 = Football League Third Division
Div 3(S) = Football League Third Division South
Prem = Premier League
FMC = Full Members Cup
AIC = Anglo-Italian Cup
UC = UEFA Cup.
n/a = Not applicable

GS = Group Stage
R1 = Round 1
R2 = Round 2
R3 = Round 3
R4 = Round 4
R5 = Round 5
QF = Quarter-Finals
SF = Semi-Finals
R/U = Runners-up
W = Winners

Champions	Runners-up	Promoted	Relegated

Note: Bold text indicates a competition won.
Note 2: Where fields are left blank, the club did not participate in a competition that season.

Footnotes

^ The Charity/Community Shield was founded in 1908.
^ The 1939–40 season was abandoned in early September and all results annulled.
^ Held The FA Cup the longest because of World War II and beat Sheffield United's record of 5 years beacause of World War I
^ Only footballing competition taking part in 1939-40 season. They beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1 but did not play Everton because they were the champions Wolves was runners up in both League and FA Cup
^ The FA Cup was contested in 1945–46 but the Football League did not resume until the following season. They had the Football League South
^ From 1939 to 1993, in the event of a draw, the Charity Shield would be shared between the two competing teams, with each team having possession of the trophy for six months. Shared with Wolverhampton Wanderers after drawing 1–1 at Highbury
^ Should have played Arsenal because they won the FA Cup. But it was and England World Cup XI and the FA Canadian Touring Team and the score was 4–2 to the England XI
^ The League Cup.
^ First time in the League Cup.
^ Played for Aldershot Town and Pompey in the same season but scored 10 Goals for Aldershot and 17 Goals for Pompey
^ The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win.
^ The Four Divisions Changed name Level 1 was called the Premier League
Level 2 was called Division 1
Level 3 was called Division 2
Level 4 was called Division 3
^ Lost 3-2 on Aggregate to Leicester City in the Play-off Semi Final
^ Pompey goalscoring record.
^ The Charity Shield is renamed the Community Shield.
^ Went to Manchester City in mid season and finished with 12 Goals for Pompey and 3 Goals for Manchester City

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[1] The Charity/Community Shield was founded in 1908.

[ww2-2] The 1939–40 season was abandoned in early September and all results annulled.

[3] Held The FA Cup the longest because of World War II and beat Sheffield United's record of 5 years beacause of World War I

[4] Only footballing competition taking part in 1939-40 season. They beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1 but did not play Everton because they were the champions Wolves was runners up in both League and FA Cup

[5] The FA Cup was contested in 1945–46 but the Football League did not resume until the following season. They had the Football League South

[shield-6] From 1939 to 1993, in the event of a draw, the Charity Shield would be shared between the two competing teams, with each team having possession of the trophy for six months. Shared with Wolverhampton Wanderers after drawing 1–1 at Highbury

[7] Should have played Arsenal because they won the FA Cup. But it was and England World Cup XI and the FA Canadian Touring Team and the score was 4–2 to the England XI

[8] The League Cup.

[9] First time in the League Cup.

[10] Played for Aldershot Town and Pompey in the same season but scored 10 Goals for Aldershot and 17 Goals for Pompey

[11] The 1981–82 season saw the introduction of three points for a win.

[12] The Four Divisions Changed name Level 1 was called the Premier League
Level 2 was called Division 1
Level 3 was called Division 2
Level 4 was called Division 3

[13] Lost 3-2 on Aggregate to Leicester City in the Play-off Semi Final

[14] Pompey goalscoring record.

[15] The Charity Shield is renamed the Community Shield.

[16] Went to Manchester City in mid season and finished with 12 Goals for Pompey and 3 Goals for Manchester City

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