57 days ago Portsmouth Football Club along with fan funding site Tifosy, with a little help from Chelsea legend Gianluca Vialli, set about raising £250,000 for a new academy base in the City.
Just before midnight the dream became reality.
It was the first fan funding attempt of any kind for an English football club. A unique opportunity to own and build a football academy from fan donations. It was a mammoth task to raise a quarter of a million pounds in two months. Many thought it could not be done. The majority believed it could be.
Portsmouth had never owned a training facility in the City before. Earlier this year they began work on a first team facility at Roko in Hilsea. What they wanted was two training pitches with their own area for the academy team next to the first team squad. By raising this huge sum of money they can now achieve this.
Over 5100 “fanfunders” have contributed to the cause purchasing various rewards.
These ranged from a mention on Twitter or owning a virtual square metre, to being a member of the squad for the 2014/15 season. Portsmouth and Tifosy also offered auctions and spot prizes which included having club Captain Johnny Ertl visit your home with his partner and enjoy a meal with you.
Reaching this target of £250,000 with three days to spare is an amazing feat for everyone involved and will no doubt put the Club, Players and fans into an excellent mood ready for their season to start away at Exeter this afternoon.
