Concept

Fratton Park

Summary
Fratton Park is a football ground in Portsmouth, England and is the home of Portsmouth F.C.. Fratton Park's location on Portsea Island is unique in English professional football, as it is the only professional English football ground not found on the mainland of Great Britain. Fratton Park has been the only home football ground in Portsmouth FC's entire history. The early Fratton Park was designed by local architect Arthur Cogswell and built in 1899 on the site of a market garden in Milton, a Portsea Island farming village. In 1904, the village of Milton and the entirety of Portsea Island became part of the borough of Portsmouth. Portsmouth's football ground was deceptively named as "Fratton Park" by the club's founders, to persuade supporters that the new Milton-based football ground was within walking distance of neighbouring Fratton's railway station; the true distance between the railway station and football ground is actually one mile, or a ten-minute walk. Fratton Park was first opened to the public on Tuesday 15 August 1899. The first ever match at Fratton Park took place on the afternoon of Wednesday 6 September 1899, a 2-0 friendly win against Southampton FC, attended by 4,141 supporters. Three days later, the first competitive home match at Fratton Park was played on Saturday 9 September 1899, a Southern League First Division 2–0 win against Reading F.C., attended by 9,000 supporters. Sir John Brickwood (1852–1932) was Portsmouth's founding chairman. Brickwood, owner of a Portsmouth-based brewery, was also a philanthropist. In 1900, the Brickwood Brewery opened a mock-Tudor public house named The Pompey in Frogmore Road next to Fratton Park. In 1905, a mock-Tudor club pavilion was donated by Sir John Brickwood and built to the north of The Pompey pub. The pavilion, which originally had an octagonal clock tower spire on its roof, contained club offices and players changing rooms. The pavilion and The Pompey pub were both designed by Fratton Park's original architect, Arthur Cogswell.
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