page_title: History of Portsmouth F.C.
section_title: 2006–07 season
hierarchical_section_title: History of Portsmouth F.C. / Portsmouth City Football Club Limited (1999–2010) / 2006–07 season
caption_attribution_description: English: Nwankwo Kanu playing for Portsmouth at Fulham, 31 March 2007. The image was taken with a Canon EOS 400D, with a Sigma 70-300mm lens Русский: Нванкво Кану в матче Портсмут - Фулхэм, 31 марта 2007. Снято на камеру Canon EOS 400D с объективом Sigma 70-300mm
context_page_description: Portsmouth Football Club is a professional association football club based in Portsmouth, England which was first founded in 1898. Football was first played in Portsmouth from at least the middle on the nineteenth century, having been brought to the Victorian era military town of Portsmouth by soldiers, sailors and dockers who had originated from other towns and cities in England, particularly from the north of England where the game and rules of association football were already well established. A series of part-time amateur teams and clubs were formed in Portsmouth during the latter half on the nineteenth century as football became more popular and widespread, but none were as successful as the professional Portsmouth F.C., which continues to the present day.
context_section_description: Portsmouth made a strong start to the 2006–07 Premier League campaign without conceding any goals in their first five games and were briefly top of the League table. Two defeats in a row to Bolton (1–0 at home) and Tottenham Hotspur (2–1 at White Hart Lane) dented this record, but the team continued to make progress and build on their strong start so that at Christmas they still occupied fourth place (only a point behind third-placed Bolton). This prompted speculation that the club might emulate the achievements of former Premier League strugglers Bolton, Everton and Middlesbrough by qualifying for the UEFA Cup or even the UEFA Champions League, though Manchester United and Chelsea's excellent early-season form meant that neither Bolton and Portsmouth, nor any other Premier League sides, were considered serious title challengers by this stage. A run of poorer results after Christmas, however, moved Portsmouth down towards mid-table, effectively ending their hopes of qualifying for the UEFA Cup.
  Nevertheless, Portsmouth could still take many positives from their 2006–07 campaign, not least the fact that they had never, at any stage of the season, looked to be in danger of relegation, largely due to their massive improvement in away game form compared with their three previous Premier League outings and also that their home form had remained consistently strong. Additionally, there were also many encouraging results for the club, including victories over Manchester United, Everton, Reading, Newcastle and Liverpool. By the end of the season, they had amassed 54 points from 38 games (their best-ever achievement in the Premier League and their most successful finish to a season in over five decades) and recovered from their mid-season slump to finish a respectable ninth in the final table, much higher than many pundits had predicted before the season started. Portsmouth, however, declined to participate in the UEFA Intertoto Cup 2007, preferring to honour a commitment they had made to play in the 2007 Premier League Asia Trophy in Hong Kong with Liverpool, Fulham and South China AA between 24 and 27 July, dates which clashed with Intertoto ties.
  On 21 May 2007, Canterbury of New Zealand announced a deal to make the kit for Portsmouth. This was the company's first venture into football.
caption: Nwankwo Kanu signed for Portsmouth for free before the 2006–07 season and ended the season as the club's top scorer
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