Celebrating Portsmouth Football Club's 125 years with an evening of verse

Admission is free but donations on the door will be welcome. Further information can be found at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-poetry-of-sport-tickets-794310432887

As spokesman, Bognor-based poet and former Festival of Chichester co-ordinator Barry Smith explains: “For 125 years, Portsmouth Football Club has been the beating heart of the island city where its iconic Fratton Park ground is located. Founded by a group of businessmen on April 5 in 1898, since that day the ebb and flow of the club's fortunes have captured the imagination of generations of fans. All Pompey fans will know that the team won the FA Cup at Wembley in 2008. To mark the 125th anniversary milestone, the club have worked alongside the Pompey History Society, Pompey Supporters' Trust and Pompey in the Community to create a season-long campaign of cultural activity. Now supporters and the general public are being invited to a unique poetry event held as part of the 2024 South Downs Poetry Festival, in conjunction with members of Portsmouth FC’s 125 creative writing team and other local poets, on the theme of the Poetry of Sport. Guest writers Richard Williams and Chris Perry will lead the evening by reading their poems inspired by sport and Portsmouth, followed by an open mic for poems from audience members.”

Richard Williams said: “Come and find out more, along with how you can be involved in the ongoing creative writing project at Pompey. Chris and I will talk about the project, and read some of our Pompey poems, along with others that may not be specifically Portsmouth FC related. There will then be an open mic opportunity for you to read your own poems about sport/physical endeavour, even if only loosely connected. Alternatively, poems could be linked in some way with the city of Portsmouth and its rich social and cultural history.”

Chris Perry is a life-long journal writer. He has gathered observations of nature, the stories of others and some of his adventures in a random collection of notebooks, exercise books and diaries. He started writing poetry when travelling in 2017. Some of his poetry, written in the first lockdown, has been translated into Spanish and published by Egg Box in Unmasked Writings. Chris is regular reader at Poets in The Cellar, Norwich and enjoys taking part in random open mic events around the country and online. Chris is a partner in the Pompey Poetry creative writing project, which is part of the Portsmouth Football Club 125 Anniversary celebrations.

The Poetry of Sport, Thursda y, February 8 , 7.30pm, The Spring Arts and Heritage Centre, 56 East Street, Havant, PO9 1BS.