# 2008–09 Portsmouth F.C. season

During the 2008–09 football season Portsmouth played their sixth consecutive season in the highest tier of English football, the Premier League. Thanks to the exploits of the previous season, Portsmouth achieved European football for the first time in their footballing history, thanks to an FA Cup win over Cardiff City; they competed in the UEFA Cup. They also participated in the Charity Shield, against Manchester United on 10 August 2008, at Wembley Stadium, eventually losing on penalties. This was the first time since 1996 that a team outside of the "Big Four" had competed in the competition.

## Players
### Squad

    As of 24 May 2009
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | ENG | David James |
| 2 | DF | ENG | Linvoy Primus |
| 3 | DF | FRA | Younès Kaboul |
| 4 | DF | CMR | Lauren |
| 5 | DF | ENG | Glen Johnson |
| 6 | MF | ENG | Hayden Mullins |
| 7 | DF | ISL | Hermann Hreiðarsson |
| 8 | MF | SEN | Papa Bouba Diop |
| 9 | FW | ENG | Peter Crouch |
| 10 | FW | ENG | David Nugent |
| 11 | MF | ENG | Jerome Thomas |
| 13 | MF | ENG | Jermaine Pennant (on loan from Liverpool) |
| 15 | DF | FRA | Sylvain Distin |
| 16 | DF | FRA | Noé Pamarot |
| 17 | FW | NGA | John Utaka |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | MF | FRA | Arnold Mvuemba |
| 19 | MF | CRO | Niko Kranjčar |
| 20 | DF | ENG | Martin Cranie |
| 21 | GK | ENG | Jamie Ashdown |
| 22 | MF | SCO | Richard Hughes |
| 23 | DF | ENG | Sol Campbell (captain) |
| 26 | MF | POR | Pelé (on loan from Porto) |
| 27 | FW | NGA | Nwankwo Kanu |
| 28 | MF | ENG | Sean Davis |
| 29 | FW | GRE | Theofanis Gekas (on loan from Bayer Leverkusen) |
| 30 | DF | FRA | Armand Traoré (on loan from Arsenal) |
| 31 | GK | BIH | Asmir Begović |
| 33 | FW | GRE | Angelos Basinas |
| 35 | DF | IRL | Marc Wilson |
| 39 | DF | ALG | Nadir Belhadj |

## Transfers
### In

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred From | Fee | Date | Source |
| - | DF | James Hurst | West Bromwich Albion | Undisclosed | 1 July 2008 | |
| - | FW | Gaël N’Lundulu | Paris Saint-Germain | Undisclosed | 1 July 2008 | |
| - | MF | Gauthier Mahoto | Le Havre | Undisclosed | 1 July 2008 | |
| - | FW | Nadir Çiftçi | ADO Den Haag | Undisclosed | 1 July 2008 | |
| 25 | MF | Glen Little | Reading | Free Transfer | 1 July 2008 | |
| 9 | FW | Peter Crouch | Liverpool | £11,000,000 | 11 July 2008 | |
| - | FW | Omar Koroma | Banjul Hawks | Undisclosed | 4 August 2008 | |
| 3 | DF | Younès Kaboul | Tottenham Hotspur | Undisclosed | 11 August 2008 | |
| 11 | MF | Jerome Thomas | Charlton Athletic | Undisclosed | 21 August 2008 | |
| - | GK | Jon Stewart | Weymouth | Free Transfer | 31 August 2008 | — |
| 39 | DF | Nadir Belhadj | Lens | £4,400,000 | 1 January 2009 | |
| - | MF | Torric Jebrin | Hearts of Oak | Undisclosed | 1 January 2009 | — |
| 6 | MF | Hayden Mullins | West Ham United | Undisclosed | 26 January 2009 | |
| 33 | MF | Angelos Basinas | AEK Athens | Undisclosed | 2 February 2009 | |

### Out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee | Date | Source |
| 34 | FW | Franck Songo'o | Real Zaragoza | Free Transfer | 1 July 2008 | — |
| 11 | MF | Sulley Muntari | Internazionale | £12,700,000 | 28 July 2008 | |
| 30 | MF | Pedro Mendes | Rangers | £3,000,000 | 15 August 2008 | |
| - | MF | Jean-Francois Christophe | Southend United | Free Transfer | 1 September 2008 | — |
| 6 | MF | Lassana Diarra | Real Madrid | £20,000,000 | 1 January 2009 | |
| 14 | FW | Jermain Defoe | Tottenham Hotspur | £15,000,000 | 9 January 2009 | |
| 24 | DF | Richard Duffy | Millwall | Free Transfer | 2 February 2009 | |

### Loaned in

| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned From | Until | Date |
| 26 | FW | Ben Sahar | Chelsea | 1 January 2009 | 1 July 2008 |
| 30 | DF | Armand Traoré | Arsenal | End of Season | 21 August 2008 |
| 39 | DF | Nadir Belhadj | Lens | End of Season | 1 September 2008 |
| 14 | MF | Jermaine Pennant | Liverpool | End of Season | 20 January 2009 |
| 26 | MF | Pelé | Porto | End of Season | 26 January 2009 |
| 29 | FW | Theofanis Gekas | Bayer Leverkusen | End of Season | 1 February 2009 |

### Loaned out

| No. | Pos. | Player | Loaned to | Until | Date | Source |
| - | FW | Omar Koroma | Norwich City | End of Season | 4 August 2008 | |
| - | FW | Danijel Subotić | Zulte Waregem | 1 December 2008 | 5 August 2008 | — |
| 31 | GK | Asmir Begović | Yeovil Town | 6 November 2008 | 7 August 2008 | |
| - | DF | Joel Ward | AFC Bournemouth | End of Season | 7 August 2008 | — |
| 2 | DF | Linvoy Primus | Charlton Athletic | 1 December 2008 | 28 August 2008 | |
| 36 | MF | Matt Ritchie | Dagenham & Redbridge | End of Season | 1 September 2008 | — |
| 20 | DF | Martin Cranie | Charlton Athletic | 1 January 2009 | 2 September 2008 | |
| - | FW | Danijel Subotić | Southend United | End of Season | 1 January 2009 | — |
| 32 | DF | Djimi Traoré | Birmingham City | 14 May 2009 | 10 February 2009 | |
| 25 | MF | Glen Little | Reading | End of Season | 8 March 2009 | |

## Statistics
### Appearances
#### Goalkeepers

| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth | Nationality | League App. | Domestic Cups | UEFA Cup App. | Clean Sheets | Goals conceded | / |
| 1 | David James | Goalkeeper | 01-08-1970 | England | 36 | 4 | 5 | 9 (+4) | 55 (+16) | 2 / 0 |
| 21 | Jamie Ashdown | Goalkeeper | 30-11-1980 | England | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 31 | Asmir Begović | Goalkeeper | 20-06-1987 | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 / 0 |

#### Defenders

| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth | Nationality | League App. | Domestic Cups | UEFA Cup App. | Goals Scored | Assists | / |
| 3 | Younès Kaboul | Central Defender | 04-01-1986 | France | 17 (3) | 2 (1) | 1 (1) | 1 (+1) | 1 | 4 (+1) / 0 |
| 5 | Glen Johnson | Right back | 23-08-1984 | England | 29 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 6 (+3) | 9 (+3) / 1 |
| 7 | Hermann Hreiðarsson | Left back/Central Defender | 11-07-1974 | Iceland | 19 (4) | 1 (2) | 2 (1) | 2 (+1) | 0 | 7 (+1) / 0 |
| 15 | Sylvain Distin | Central Defender | 16-12-1977 | France | 38 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 (+1) / 0 |
| 16 | Noé Pamarot | Utility Defender | 14-04-1979 | France | 11 (4) | 1 (1) | 3 (1) | 0 | 0 | 1 (+2) / 1 |
| 23 | Sol Campbell (c) | Central Defender | 18-09-1974 | England | 32 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 (+1) / 0 |
| 30 | Armand Traoré | Left back/Left-sided Midfielder | 08-12-1989 | France | 14 (5) | 2 (1) | 6 | 0 | 2 (+2) | 0 / 0 |
| 35 | Marc Wilson | Utility Defender | 17-08-1987 | Ireland | 3 (1) | 2 (1) | 1 | 0 | 0 (+1) | 1 / 0 |
| 39 | Nadir Belhadj | Left back/Left-sided Midfielder | 18-06-1982 | Algeria | 21 (8) | 4 | 3 (2) | 2 | 3 (+3) | 2 (+3) / 1 |

#### Midfielders

| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth | Nationality | League App. | Domestic Cups | UEFA Cup App. | Goals Scored | Assists | / |
| 6 | Hayden Mullins | Defensive midfielder/Sweeper/Right Back | 27-03-1979 | England | 15 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 / 0 |
| 8 | Papa Bouba Diop | Defensive midfielder/Central Defender | 28-01-1978 | Senegal | 15 (1) | 0 | 3 (1) | 0 | 1 | 5 / 0 |
| 14 | Jermaine Pennant | Right-sided midfielder | 15-01-1983 | England | 9 (4) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 / 0 |
| 18 | Arnold Mvuemba | Central Midfielder/Right-sided Midfielder | 28-01-1985 | France | 1 (5) | 2 | 2 (2) | 0 (+1) | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 19 | Niko Kranjčar | Attacking midfielder/Left-sided Midfielder | 13-08-1984 | Croatia | 16 (5) | 2 | 1 | 3 (+1) | 3 | 2 / 0 |
| 22 | Richard Hughes | Defensive midfielder | 25-06-1979 | Scotland | 17 (3) | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 3 (+2) / 0 |
| 28 | Sean Davis | Defensive midfielder | 20-09-1979 | England | 31 (1) | 2 | 4 (2) | 1 | 3 (+1) | 5 / 1 |
| 33 | Angelos Basinas | Defensive midfielder | 03-01-1976 | Greece | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |

#### Forwards

| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth | Nationality | League App. | Domestic Cups | UEFA Cup App. | Goals Scored | Assists | / |
| 9 | Peter Crouch | Centre forward | 30-01-1981 | England | 38 | 4 | 5 (1) | 13 (+5) | 5 | 2 / 0 |
| 10 | David Nugent | Centre forward | 02-05-1985 | England | 13 (3) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 / 0 |
| 17 | John Utaka | Right winger | 08-01-1982 | Nigeria | 4 (14) | 1 (1) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 / 0 |
| 27 | Nwankwo Kanu | Centre forward | 01-08-1976 | Nigeria | 3 (14) | 0 (3) | 2 (3) | 1 (+1) | 1 (+1) | 0 / 0 |

#### Others

Includes players who have yet to feature prominently and former players.
| No. | Name | Position | Date of Birth | Nationality | League App. | Domestic Cups | UEFA Cup App. | Goals Scored | Assists | / |
| 2 | Linvoy Primus | Central Defender | 14-09-1973 | England | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 4 | Lauren | Right back | 19-01-1977 | Cameroon | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 6 | Lassana Diarra | Defensive midfielder | 10-03-1985 | France | 11 (1) | 0 | 2 | 0 (+1) | 0 | 3 / 1 |
| 11 | Jerome Thomas | Left-sided midfielder | 23-03-1983 | England | 0 (2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 14 | Jermain Defoe | Centre forward | 07-10-1982 | England | 17 (2) | 0 | 4 | 7 (+2) | 4 (+1) | 4 (+1) / 0 |
| 20 | Martin Cranie | Utility Defender | 23-09-1986 | England | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 24 | Richard Duffy | Right back | 30-08-1985 | Wales | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 25 | Glen Little | Right-sided midfielder | 15-10-1975 | England | 4 (1) | 0 | 2 (1) | 0 | 0 (+1) | 0 / 0 |
| 26 | Pelé | Central Midfielder | 14-09-1987 | Portugal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 26 | Ben Sahar | Centre forward | 10-08-1989 | Israel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 29 | Theofanis Gekas | Centre forward | 23-05-1980 | Greece | 0 (1) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 29 | Jean-François Christophe | Defensive midfielder | 27-06-1987 | France | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 32 | Djimi Traoré | Left back/Central Defender | 01-03-1980 | Mali | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |
| 36 | Matt Ritchie | Left-sided midfielder | 10-09-1989 | Scotland | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 / 0 |

## Competitions
### Community Shield

Portsmouth lost the 2008 FA Community Shield 3–1 on penalties against 2007–08 Premier League winners Manchester United after the match finished 0–0 after 90 minutes on 10 August. It was Pompey's second game against United in the space of two weeks.

### Premier League

| Matchday | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | L | L | W | W | L | W | W | D | D | L | L | W | D | D | W | D | L | L | L | L | D | L | L | L | W | D | L | D | W | D | D | W | L | D | L | L | W | L |
| Position | 20 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14 |

#### Final league table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 12 | Stoke City | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 45 |
| 13 | Bolton Wanderers | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 41 | 53 | −12 | 41 |
| 14 | Portsmouth | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 38 | 57 | −19 | 41 |
| 15 | Blackburn Rovers | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 40 | 60 | −20 | 41 |
| 16 | Sunderland | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 34 | 54 | −20 | 36 |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Barclays Premier League

### UEFA Cup
#### Group stage

| Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| Wolfsburg | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 7 | +6 | 10 |
| Milan | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 5 | +3 | 8 |
| Braga | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 5 | +2 | 6 |
| Portsmouth | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 4 |
| Heerenveen | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 13 | −10 | 0 |

##### Matches
## Top scorers

* Jermain Defoe 7
* Niko Kranjčar 3
* Glen Johnson 3
* David Nugent 3