Borough confirm tough pre-season Pompey encounter

By Connor Steel

GOSPORT BOROUGH have announced that they will be hosting their local rivals Portsmouth in a pre-season ‘friendly’ game later this summer as they prepare for the new 2024-25 camapign; the League One Champions set to offer tough challenges for Joe Lea and Patrick Suraci’s developing outfit after last season’s achievements in reaching the play-offs.

This encounter is set to be held on July 16 (Tuesday) with a 7pm kick off at the AEI Stadium; the hosts hoping to clinch their first victory over their rivals since sealing an ‘one-nil’ friendly win in 2022. Last season the League One outfit were victorous on two trips to Borough; winning 3-1 in a friendly and getting a penalty ‘shootout’ victory after a 3-3 stalemate.

A large crowd is expected to attend this pre-season friendly with youngsters and first teamers all likely to feature across both teams; the ‘annual’ fixture being watched by over one thousand fans in 2022 and the figure was further doubled to 2,250 last July. Gosport have stated that ‘relevant’ ticket information will be published in due course using their website.

Other pre-season friendlies have been confirmed for Gosport throughout July including trips to Bagshot Lea on July 13 and then Horndean on July 23; the kick off times set to be outlined by the teams shortly. It is unknown if other ties have been scheduled with previous opponents featuring Petersfield, AFC Portchester, and Fareham Town over recent years.

These matches will lead Borough into the new season and fixtures are likely to be published later in the month; the first game set to be in early August. Further updates can be seen on the official Gosport website and all social media pages which could feature player signings, breaking news, special features, profiles, cup stages, and ‘fixture’ announcements.

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