1 Early years    (1898 - 1911)	Crisis and struggle (2004 - 2006) Despite their successful partnership, Mandaric and Redknapp clashed several times during their time together. At the end of the 2003-04 season Mandaric was considering replacing some of the club's coaching staff, including Redknapp's assistant Jim Smith. No changes took place, and after an uneasy start to the 2004-2005 season, failing to win any of their first three matches, two consecutive home wins (4-3 over Fulham and 3-1 over Crystal Palace) started a steady run of form (including a famous 2-0 win over Manchester United at Fratton Park in October) that saw them remain comfortably in mid-table between August and December. However, despite the team's achievements on the pitch, behind the scenes all was not well. The two clashed again more seriously when Mandaric proposed appointing another director in November, with responsibility for the youth set-up at the club. Redknapp disapproved of the proposal but Mandaric pressed ahead and appointed Velimir Zajec. Redknapp, along with his assistant Jim Smith, subsequently resigned with immediate effect on 23 November. Zajec took over as manager, initially as caretaker, then on 20 December 2004 the club announced that he would manage the team for the remainder of the season. Their first game under Zajec was a 1-0 away win over Bolton Wanderers, in a hard-fought match where Portsmouth captain Arjan de Zeeuw and Bolton striker El-Hadji Diouf had an on-pitch skirmish in the second half that later prompted Diouf to spit in de Zeeuw's face[4]. This victory lifted Portsmouth into the top half of the table for the first time since August. However, on 7 April 2005 after a poor run of results which saw Portsmouth fall away from as high as ninth place on Boxing Day to 15th position in the table by the end of March, Alain Perrin was appointed team manager, with Zajec reverting to his director's role. After having looked in real danger of relegation for most of the second half of the season, Portsmouth's 4-1 victory at home to local rivals Southampton on 24 April 2005 brought the club close to securing Premiership survival which became virtually certain six days later when, although Portsmouth lost at Manchester City, two clubs lower in the table also failed to win their matches, leaving Portsmouth needing only a single point from their two remaining games to make survival certain. A week later Portsmouth made sure of their safety with a 1-1 home draw against Bolton Wanderers in their penultimate game of the season, a result that meant they could not finish lower than 16th place (eventually their final position). On 15 May 2005, the final day of the season, Portsmouth's 2-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion gave Albion survival and relegated Southampton, resulting in a carnival atmosphere at the end of the match which saw both sets of fans invade the pitch. The 2005-06 season thus saw Portsmouth play in a higher league than rivals Southampton for the first time since 1960. Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Pompey's main goal threat for the past two and a half seasons was sold to Middlesbrough for £7.5m and several other players were transferred as Perrin began to stamp his authority on the club. After many years of waiting, plans emerged for a redevelopment of Fratton Park itself - the aim being to turn a dilapidated, old style league ground into a 21st century, 30,000 seat stadium. Off the field changes also occurred with departure of Director of Football Zajec for personal reasons. Portsmouth continued to struggle in the 2005-2006 season, winning just two games between August and November - a 1-0 victory over Everton at Goodison Park (courtesy of an own goal by Everton's Duncan Ferguson) and a 4-1 away win over Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. During a hard-fought 1-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers at the Reebok Stadium in early October Perrin's continual harassment of the match officials saw him ordered away from the pitchside by the referee, an incident that landed Perrin in hot water with the FA and also led many pundits to believe his demise was now only a matter of time. The club's series of poor results (that set a record low number of points for a Portsmouth manager) continued into December 2005, at which time Mandaric finally reached the end of his tether and Alain Perrin was sacked. Former manager Harry Redknapp took charge again a couple of weeks later, leaving south coast rivals Southampton. The appointment made headlines on the sports pages of the UK press, with fans divided into strong pro and anti Redknapp camps. Unusual betting patterns shortly before Redknapp left Southampton resulted in the club and Redknapp himself being investigated by the FA. After months of investigation, no charges followed. The return of Redknapp to the club lifted morale for Portsmouth, and in late December 2005 they finally scored their first victory at Fratton Park since April with a 1-0 success over relegation rivals West Bromwich Albion and followed it up with a 1-1 home draw against a in-form West Ham side. Those two games and a 1-1 draw against Fulham lifted Portsmouth from 19th to 16th in the table, but soon after Portsmouth fell back into the relegation zone.
2 Climbing up the league    (1919 - 1927)
3 Life at the top    (1927 - 1939)
4 Glory years    (1946 - 1959)
5 Life in the lower leagues    (1961 - 1976)
6 Near oblivion   (1976 - 1980)
7 Back on track   (1980 - 1988)
8 Waiting for success   (1988 - 2002)
9 The Premiership at last   (2002-2004)
10 Crisis and struggle     (2004 - 2006)
11 A change of fortunes     (2006 - 2007)
12 Qualification for Europe     FA Cup glory    (2007-present)