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It’s appropriate to mention the World Greatest Detective for two reasons. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, his creator, was living in Portsmouth when he wrote his first Sherlock Holmes novels; while the author also played football for an early incarnation of Portsmouth.
Sir Arthur was a GP in the city. He had originally intended to set up practice in Plymouth with George Budd, a friend from university. George however was subject to mood swings and Sir Arthur decided a new start on his own in a new city was needed. He moved to Portsmouth, arriving in the summer of 1882 with no job, nowhere to live and little more than £10 to his name. Not knowing anyone he threw himself into sporting club and social clubs.
Sir Arthur joined the local Portsmouth Literary and Scientific Society, gave numerous speeches on topics of the day, and played for the local cricket and bowls teams, as well as playing in defence and occasionally in goals for Portsmouth Football Association Club, one of the predecessors of the current Portsmouth team.
Curiously, although he played cricket under his own name, his footballing exploits were carried out under a variety of aliases – whilst cricket was considered a “gentlemanly” sport, suitable for a professional of his would-be standing, football was not, and no self-respecting person would want to be treated by a doctor who played a working class game.
Sir Arthur left Portsmouth in 1890, having created Sherlock Holmes, and with his second career as a novelist eclipsing his medical work he moved to London to write more novels.
So what would Sir Arthur’s greatest creation make of the name Pompey? One theory is that the name was derived from a captured French warship used to defend Portsmouth Harbour in the early 19th century. The name of the warship was Le Pompee. Another theory is that in 1781 some Portsmouth-based sailors scaled Pompey’s Pillar near Alexandria and 98 feet up above Egypt, toasted their ascent with alcoholic punch. Their feat earned them the Navy’s tribute as The Pompey Boys.
What would puzzle Sherlock most of all though is that while the nickname is almost certainly naval in origin, the song Pompey Chimes was started by the army and not the navy.
Pompey Chimes is the best known chant sung by Portsmouth supporters. The original words to The Pompey Chimes, as printed in the 1900–01 Official Handbook of Portsmouth FC, were:
“Play up Pompey,
Just one more goal!
Make tracks! What ho!
Hallo! Hallo!”
The supporters of The Royal Artillery football team first sang the song. The team played many of their home games at the United Services ground in Burnaby Road, within earshot of Portsmouth’s Guildhall clock. Without a watch to tell the time, referees would rely on the clock to let them know when the match would finish at 4pm. At two or three minutes to four o’clock the crowd would sing in unison the chimes of the hour to remind the referee to blow his whistle.
The Royal Artillery team was one of the most successful teams in the 1890s. After they disbanded following a sporting scandal involving expulsion from the 1898–99 FA Amateur Cup for alleged professionalism, many Royal Artillery’s supporters transferred their allegiance to the newly formed Portsmouth FC and brought ‘Pompey Chimes’ with them.
Here’s a very strange psychedelic version…
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About the Author
After too many years as season ticket holder at Parkhead, Andy Todd renounced the SPL three years ago to support Queens Park. One team is a rank bunch of amateurs who play in a state of the art stadium and the other is…(I think we can all see where this is going).
Andy has been performing comedy for 18 months but is currently ‘between gigs’ while he writes a book on Scottish property law to be published in Summer 2012. Its potential audience will be less than 300 but his mum will be very proud.
Follow Andy on Twitter: @toddandy
Check out Andy’s website: www.toddandy.com
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