Football may dominate the back pages, but Portsmouth’s sporting life runs far wider, from world-class sailing waters to rugby and cricket with centuries of history behind them. Portsmouth And’s writers take a look at the city’s sport beyond Pompey.
Sailing and the Solent
Portsmouth sits on the Solent, one of the great sailing stretches anywhere in the world, sheltered by the Isle of Wight and busy with everything from dinghies to ocean racers. The harbour and the seafront are home to sailing and yacht clubs, and the city is a natural base for learning to sail or simply watching the big regattas pass by.
Watersports do not stop at sailing. The same waters draw windsurfers, paddleboarders and kayakers, particularly off Southsea, where the shingle beach gives easy access to the sea.
Rugby with naval roots
Rugby has deep roots here through the armed forces. United Services Portsmouth RFC has played since 1882 at the United Services Recreation Ground on Burnaby Road, near the city centre, and the historic ground also hosts Royal Navy Rugby Union home matches, a reminder of how closely the city’s sport and its naval history are tied together.
A cricketing heritage
That same Burnaby Road ground was once a county cricket venue. Hampshire played first-class cricket at the United Services Recreation Ground from 1882 until 2000, and greats of the game turned out on its square before the county moved to the Rose Bowl near Southampton. Club cricket carries the tradition on in the city today.
Courts, rings and tracks
There is plenty more besides. Basketball has a local following, boxing clubs have long been part of the city’s fabric, and the Mountbatten Centre in the north of Portsmouth is the hub for athletics and indoor sport, with a track and facilities used by clubs and schools from across the city.
Add it all up and Portsmouth is a proper sporting city, not just a footballing one, with the sea, the services and a web of local clubs giving almost everyone a way to take part or cheer from the side.
