Moneyfields - John Jenkins Stadium

Moneyfields FC 

John Jenkins Stadium

Moneyfields Avenue

Copnor

Portsmouth

PO3 6LA

Official Website

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Ground Number: 1373

Tuesday 19th November 2024

Moneyfields 3-0 Portsmouth

Portsmouth Senior Cup 2nd Round

MONEYFIELDS FC - A BRIEF HISTORY

The club was formed in 1987 and was initially known as Portsmouth Civil Service before adopting the Moneyfields name in 1994. The name was taken from the name of the road where the ground is located. They played in the Portsmouth Saturday League at first, winning it in 1991. They then joined the Hampshire League following this, winning Division 3 in 1992 and Division 2 the following year. A series of good finishes culminated in them winning the Division 1 title in 1997. The following season a runners-up spot behind Blackfield & Langley was good enough to see them promoted to the Wessex League. They have continued their steady progress, always remaining in the league's top division when it split into two divisions in 2004. In 2017, Moneyfields finished as runners-up to Portland United in the Premier Divison and with the champions electing not to seek promotion, Moneyfields took their place. They finished 4th in the Southern League Division 1 South in 2019 before losing out to Yate Town in the end-of-season playoffs.   Following the pandemic, Moneyfields took voluntary relegation back to the Wessex League. They won the Premier Divison last season and earned promotion back to step 4. They currently sit 14th in the Isthmian Division 1 Central.

Moneyfields' record  FA Cup run came in 2018. They beat Andover New Street, Thamesmead Town and Hayes & Yeading United before losing 3-2 to Worthing in the 3rd Qualifying Round. They have also reached the FA Trophy 1st Round. The 2015/16 season saw their best run in the FA Vase - after beating Corsham, Hallen & Brimscombe & Thrupp they suffered a 4th Round defeat at the hands of Bristol Manor Farm. Local cup honours include the Portsmouth Senior Cup on five occasions and the Hampshire Intermediate Cup twice. Famous players to play for the club include Rowan Vine, Scott Donnelly and former Juventus and Portsmouth striker Vincent Pericard.

Up until 1994, the club played at Copnor Road, the site of the current Portsmouth FC training ground. They then moved to the Moneyfields Sports Ground before decamping to Havant & Waterlooville between 2022 and 2024 whilst their ground was rebuilt. In 2024 the club returned to the redeveloped venue, which was renamed the John Jenkins Stadium after a D-Day veteran. The club is based in the Portsmouth suburb of Copnor which has a population of around 13,600. It was the birthplace of former British Prime Minister James Callaghan who served under Labour from 1976-1979.

MY VISIT

After getting home from Willand Rovers on Saturday, I had the only negative of going to an away game with Didcot Town, the drive home. It's a horrible route back to the M40 with tiny slow roads full of roadworks, traffic-calming and no lighting. I dropped Colin off at 10.10 and home myself 15 minutes later. After a decent night's sleep before, I was in no mood for sleep and ended up getting just 3.5 hours of sleep before my 4 am alarm. It was the usual hectic Sunday and the lack of sleep took its toll towards the end of the shift. It was a quick turnaround with me finishing at 1 and having a quick Chicken Dhansak for lunch, which perked me up before walking up to my local club Holmer Green for a 2 PM kick-off. Their ladies side faced Maidenhead United Development in a Berks & Bucks Cup Quarter Final. On a nippy afternoon, Maidenhead comfortably won 6-2 and were especially dominant in the first half. Holmer did well to show some resilience and their goalkeeper played well to keep the score down. It was also good to see that Holmer Green had made some improvements to the ground with the adjacent 3G going in and it was now a fully four-sided ground.

With the weather in mind and a forecasted cold snap coming up, it looked like my original choice of Hartpury University was a non-starter. It would have completed the Hellenic Premier for me but with it due to be zero degrees at kickoff, I wasn't going to risk it. Instead, Moneyfields would be brought forward from Boxing Day as they had a 3G pitch. I'm suspecting it'll be a long cold winter despite the lukewarm summer we got as that seems to be the weather's modus operandi in recent years. I caught up on sleep on Sunday night, getting in seven hours but I still felt tired. Monday was fairly easy at work and amazingly I got all of my Christmas shopping done early, taking advantage of an extra discount at work. The evening was spent at home, finalising my research for this visit. I got another early night and got in my best night's sleep for ages, nearly ten hours. Waking up at 7.30, I had breakfast and a bath. Outside was covered in snow which hadn't been forecast. The roads are a pain with all the hills so I was glad when most of it cleared quickly. I set off for my Tuesday walk at 9.30, getting in 6.5 miles, undone by getting a meal deal at Tesco.

 

I was home just in time for when Wealdstone v Wycombe Wanderers FA Cup tickets went on sale. I was happy to be able to secure one, keeping up my run of seeing a game in every round so far. It'll probably end soon but it's good to keep going whilst I can. Elsewhere, games had already started falling. I was happy with my game choice as other games had already started falling. Add that to the fact that my Boxing Day double had been killed due to a change to kickoff time and it was a great choice. I left at 3.45 and met Colin nearby. To my surprise, Google Maps took us via the M25 and as predicted, there was a fair bit of delay. We were there at 6.10 and with the weather being frozen, it was a revisit to Wetherspoons for me, a 25-minute walk away. I ordered chicken, stuffing, bacon and cranberry Panini with chips and a Thatchers Zero for £7.14. It was all excellent and we were back at the ground by 7.30. It was not as busy as expected and was a bargain £5 to get in.

 

The Portsmouth Senior Cup was very inclusive and included several step 7 sides Both teams had played in a previous round with Moneyfields beating Liss Athletic 6-1 and Portsmouth beating Meon Milton 4-1. Moneyfields were on top in the opening exchanges but didn't create many chances. They got their chance from the penalty spot following a trip in the area. Scott Hills stepped up and made it 1-0 on 21 minutes. On 42 minutes, Isaac Kamin made it 2-0 with a close-range header, Portsmouth had barely mustered a chance. Moneyfields started the second period as they finished the first, hitting the post twice in the opening twenty minutes. Jafer Mahammedkier made it 3-0 in the last minute with a shot on the turn from just inside the area. It was not the greatest of games, Portsmouth offered very little. To my surprise, the game at Hartpury went ahead although I did avoid a 0-0 draw.

THE GROUND 

THE JOHN JENKINS STADIUM is more of a community facility than anything and the ground is probably a downgrade on their old stadium. All the cover is on one side, consisting of around 250 seats and 50 standing. The ground is tightly hemmed in, making future expansion difficult. The tea bar offers basic snacks and drinks but I didn't visit the bar. Parking is quite tight but public transport links are decent with Copnor not far away which has a Wetherspoons and loads of takeaways.