‘Proper club, proper supporters’: Why Fratton Park is so important to Portsmouth boss

And the Pompey boss has spoken of his pleasure at knowing the club’s owners plan to stay in PO4 for the long term.

Mousinho told how he is confident the club are doing the right thing by looking to renovate their home, rather than look for opportunities elsewhere.

Pompey’s stay at Fratton Park spans all but one of their 125-year history, with that increasingly the exception rather than the norm as others move towards modern arenas. Mousinho has previously spoken of his fascination with his club’s home and the difficulties he experienced there as an away player.

The 36-year-old feels the grand, old girl is central to Pompey’s identity and how the Blues are seen in the wider game.

Mousinho said: ‘We’re coming into our 125th year and 124 of them have been at Fratton. That’s a rarity.

‘I know for sure it’s a preference of mine to stay at the same ground when you have that history here, that is special at Fratton and long may it continue. You get that sense of history and being at a proper football ground, everyone up and down the country knows that.

‘That’s all I hear since I’ve taken this job - you’re at a proper football club with a proper set of supporters.’

The plans are clear when it comes to Fratton Park being a part of the future plans of Pompey’s owners. The same can be said when it comes to the investment on the Blues’ Roko base, with Mousinho feeling Tornante are making up for past misdemeanours at the club.

He added: ‘I knew from the moment I started to talk to the owners there were plans in terms of infrastructure that would last for a long, long time. One thing when you’re on the outside of things is you might assume during Portsmouth’s time in the Premier League they established themselves with a magnificent training ground.

‘We know that’s not the case and we’re relatively short into our tenure here. It’s a nice base, though, and it’s a base that we can expand. There’s always building work going on and we know we’re going to be here for the long term, the owners are there to develop it and that’s really important to the football club.

‘When players, staff and coaches come and go, we will have that solid base which will stand us in good stead.

‘Even the investment in Fratton Park to keep it at its current capacity is significant, let alone the plans for development. That’s the important thing.

‘We want success on the pitch and we need to deliver that, but we also need sustainability off the pitch. That’s really important and building a football club is exactly what the owners are here to do. They want to build a football club properly, to do that there’s two major things there - the training ground and stadium.’