The secret formula behind Portsmouth's stunning success - a season etched in club folklore

For some, that Drift footage didn’t represent the first time Joe Rafferty’s exposed posterior had been glimpsed.

Months earlier, while BBC Radio Solent’s Andy Moon was conducting an interview with Marlon Pack in the compact strength and conditioning coach’s room at the training ground, there were high jinks brewing in the adjacent gym.

With the highly-professional Moon focused on his job and Pack’s back positioned against action, they were blissfully oblivious to the curious antics unfolding as somebody positioned a trampette against the window.

Suddenly, a naked bottom appeared, bouncing up and down amid much laughter from team-mates and staff, inevitably forcing the interview to be paused as the radio man sought to recover his composure. Two moons in one place was quite a sight to behold.

The consensus of opinion pinpointed Rafferty as the mysterious culprit, albeit identifiable purely by his backside rather than distinctive facial features.

Visits to a training ground often provide a fascinating window into the soul of a playing squad, no pun intended.

It’s no coincidence that this group of players comfortably possessed the best team spirit since those Paul Cook days. The mark of champions.

Away from the pitch, John Mousinho’s class of 2023-24 are a mischievous bunch, brimming with impish energy and a playful unpredictability which forged the backbone behind League One success.

This season’s remarkable title win was never a team effort, but a squad triumph. Partly through necessity due to the ridiculous scale of injuries, partly through the foresight to create a strong pool of talent - yet it was decisive.

Jack Sparkes’ monumental man-of-the-match performance at Peterborough and those pre-Christmas assists, Tom Lowery’s superb month-long stint in the centre of midfield from January, Gavin Whyte’s pivotal cameo off the bench at London Road, Ben Stevenson’s reassuring Blues league debut at home to Port Vale. They played their part.

A winning team is no guarantee for creating an unbreakable spirit. Kenny Jackett was extremely familiar with victories, he triumphed in 51.66 per cent of his 211 matches, a stunning ratio.

Nonetheless, that togetherness was lacking, certainly no replication of the Cook era, when laughter dominated their Hilsea base and players would hang around enjoying each others’ company long after training had ended.

Head tennis was highly popular, with the court situated between the gym Portakabin and the managerial offices. Often Cook would fulfil media duties before swiftly joining in with the fun, eager not to be left out.

Conor Chaplin and Adam Webster still fondly recall their double act taking on Cook and Robbie Blake, with their experienced opponents partial to a spot of rule-breaking in dogged pursuit of victory.

Under Cowley, the atmosphere was a little lighter compared to Jackett’s days, yet the group wasn’t as close-knit, the changing room fractured in parts, with focus and personal motivation often scattergun.

Mousinho’s strength - aided by Rich Hughes’ outstanding work - has the assembling of a bunch of players without rampant ego and smothering self-interest, driving towards a common goal. A united dressing room remains a fearsome weapon.

The champions were allowed to breathe, they could smile, they could laugh, they were able to stick a rubber unmentionable on the door’s window when an unaware Joe Morrell was inside conducting an interview with The News.

They play cricket, particularly the goalkeeping group, sometimes on the concrete outside the gym Portakabin, on other days on the grass, with Will Norris always at the heart of proceedings.

They favour a quick game of darts before the commandeering of the common room for John Mousinho’s usual pre-match press conference, sometimes the head coach himself stepping up to the oche and, infuriatingly, demonstrating his multi-talents.

They relish a game of table-tennis, with Marlon Pack, once a Portsmouth schoolboy protege of some kind according to him, demolishing media champion Andy Moon during one memorable ding-dong.

They savour winding up Kev McCormack, a long-standing key component of club spirit, who undoubtedly gives as much as he gets and was particularly amused with Paddy Lane once carrying out an uncanny impression of him, with the video evidence to prove it.

This tight squad, this group with a remarkable bond, these firm friends, these band of brothers. Crucially, Pompey are the sum of its parts - the champions.