The Portsmouth Pirates are an Australian Rules Football

Australian rules football

Australian rules football, officially known as Australian football, also called football, Aussie rules or footy is a sport played between two teams of 22 players on either...

 team based in Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, England.

They play in the English Australian Rules Southern Football League under a 9-a-side footy

9-a-side Footy

Nine-a-side footy is a sport based on Australian rules football played informally by Aussie Rules clubs but not yet an official sport in its own right....

 rules format.

History

Portsmouth Pirates were founded in January 2009 by John Titcombe, their first league game was played in Bournemouth against the Bournemouth Demons. The result ended with Bournemouth winning the match 138-19.

The Pirates grew in stature and confidence throughout their first season, recording the first ever league win in the penultimate game of the season against the Sussex Swans, the game ending 109-87.

The club grew in numbers in 2010, hosting the 2010 National Carnival, in which they came in second place to Huddersfield Rams

Huddersfield Rams Aussie Rules

Huddersfield Rams are an Australian Rules Football team, based in the West Yorkshire town of Huddersfield, England. They were formed in 2008 by Karl Haigh, who was introduced to the sport when traveling in Australia....

.

A shake up in the structure of the club in 2010 saw Michael Kelly (out of playing action due to a long term injury) come in as manager, to allow John Titcombe to concentrate his efforts on the field.

Through a difficult winter the Pirates lost many players, and left it late before signing enough players to maintain a full squad, with many players still coming in the week before the beginning of the 2011 season.

The 2011 season saw the Pirates get off to a flyer, beating new league team, the Guildford Crows 173-23, in front of a home crowd at the new Fareham Heathens ground. The Pirates went on to secure two more victories against the Sussex Swans, in what proved to be their best season to date.

Won 3.
Lost 7.
Goals for 718.
Goals against 873.

The Pirates will be looking to recruit over the winter months to build a squad capable of enduring a full season of AFL South footy.

Fixtures 2010

Home Team	Away Team	Venue	Date	Score
Kramerica Athletic	Portsmouth Pirates	Ringwood	08/05/10	82-77
Portsmouth Pirates	Goleos	Havant RFC	15/05/10	tbc
Bike Thieves	Portsmouth Pirates	Chippenham	22/05/10	tbc
Redbacks	Portsmouth Pirates	Brighton	05/06/10	tbc
Portsmouth Pirates	Southampton Titans	Havant RFC	12/06/10	tbc
Redbacks	Portsmouth Pirates	Ringwood	26/06/10	tbc
Bournemouth Demons	Portsmouth Pirates	Brighton	10/07/10	tbc
Redbacks	Portsmouth Pirates	Brighton	17/07/10	tbc

Current Players

• John Titcombe
• Matt Spencer
• Michael Kelly
• Alastair Mckinnell
• Aaron Edwards
• Mark Nixon
• Sam Potter
• Mark Rugman
• Craig Hudson

• Harry Dyer
• Sam Jones
• George Llewellyn
• Ryan Smith
• David Bromley
• Dave Knight
• Nick Vears