Portsmouth are celebrating their promotion back to the Championship but their players and fans are facing criticism for the state in which they left O'Neill's Irish pub in the city.
A 3-2 win at home to Barnsley on Tuesday night secured the League One title for the English south-coast club, and a return to the second tier for the first time in 12 years.
Naturally, there were ecstatic scenes at Fratton Park, and the celebrations spilled over to the Portsmouth branch of the O'Neill's Irish pub chain later in the night.
While there, the players and supporters engaged in sing-songs, with social media clips suggesting that plenty of drink was taken throughout the festivities.
Portsmouth’s Marlon Pack was doing a speech after their promotion…
And then Joe Rafferty decided to…interrupt it… 😅🤣
pic.twitter.com/uHt3b39ZBr— Second Tier podcast (@secondtierpod) April 17, 2024
Joe Rafferty gives fans an eyeful during Portsmouth celebrations
At one point, club captain Marlon Pack is seen addressing the crowd but he is interrupted by one-time Ireland underage international Joe Rafferty, who gives supporters a full moon up against a glass pane. Aghast fans are heard laughing and shouting "no" as Pack tries to talk some sense into his teammate.
It was all intended in good spirits no doubt, but footage and images of the aftermath of the party have left a sour taste for some. Bottles, pints and other debris are seen strewn across a filthy floor, leaving staff at O'Neill's with a major clean-up job on their hands.
The excitement is understandable, with Pompey having been in a major decline since the heights of their mid-2000s Premier League spell and their FA Cup win of 2008. The emotions were encapsulated in the below clip from BBC Radio Solent, in which Northern Ireland's Paddy Lane is one of a number of players giving x-rated celebratory interviews.
Despite the f bombs reaching double figures, do you agree this is award-winning radio.. it’s Paddy Lane’s excitement for me pic.twitter.com/iqcnO02QdE
— Oscar Pearson (@oscarjpearson) April 17, 2024
Portsmouth celebrate promotion to Championship
Still, manager John Mousinho is likely to take a dim view on the unruly scenes, particularly as his side still have two more games left in the season.
Rafferty is joined in the squad by fellow Ireland underage internationals Anthony Scully and Conor Shaughnessy, whose last minute winner secured the three points Portsmouth needed for promotion on Tuesday night.
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