Andy Cullen offers hope for more Pompey foreign friendlies after Darmstadt success
· Neil Allen · 2026-08-03 · nguồn gốc
Exclusive:Portsmouth chief Andy Cullen offers tantalising hope for more foreign friendlies after SV Darmstadt success
Of the 6,325 crowd at the Merck-Stadion am Bollenfalltor on Saturday, 1,433 were Blues supporters
Andy Cullen hailed the ‘brilliant’ behaviour of travelling Pompey fans after the SV Darmstadt faithful took them to their hearts.
And he ‘wouldn’t rule out’ pre-season fixtures abroad becoming a more regular feature for the Blues, following the tremendous success of his weekend’s German visit.
A total of 1,433 supporters descended upon Frankfurt and Darmstadt to roar on John Mousinho’s men in their final friendly of the summer.
Irrespective of the match against the Bundesliga 2 outfit ending in a goalless draw, Pompey supporters have earned praise for their classy and good-natured conduct as they bonded with locals, with many buying Darmstadt scarves and shirts from the club shop to commemorate the trip.
Unsurprisingly, many who ventured to Darmstadt are calling for another similar opportunity next season.
And Cullen, who attended the match, is not against the idea - and is confident other potential destinations will have been impressed by the Fratton faithful in Germany.
‘It demonstrates how powerful Pompey’s support is away from home’
He told The News: ‘I managed to speak to lots of people out in Germany, clearly everybody thoroughly enjoyed themselves. The weather was fantastic, everybody was positive and in good spirits, with our fans conducting themselves brilliantly.
‘I certainly wouldn’t rule out doing something similar in the future. Firstly, though, we will have a full debrief - but the initial impression was that it was really, really good.
‘The team benefited in terms of having a strong, competitive opposition at this stage of the season, while the supporters had a fabulous turnout.
‘We were all taken aback with 1,500 supporters making the trip out there and representing Pompey in such a positive way. No doubt putting a few Euros into the local community as well!
‘It’s a really positive one for us if we’re looking at these sorts of events again. To make it work, we need contributions towards our travel, which Darmstadt did. It’s the same thing if you bring over a team from abroad, like we did with PEC Zwolle. We have to make it worth their while.
‘But what it does demonstrate is how powerful Pompey’s support is away from home. That will encourage more clubs to invite us over next year and - if they do so - have confidence we’re willing to invest in that, while there’s also going to be a return on their investment.
‘It helps us with sponsorship too because we have that really strong global appeal. In terms of future partnerships, it shouldn't go unnoticed.
‘We will have a debrief as a unit, with Rich (Hughes), John (Mousinho), myself and Ali Knell (club secretary). We haven’t started to look at next season in terms of what pre-season looks like.
‘We’ll look at all the different scenarios. Would you want to play one at home? Would you want that last one away? But I wouldn’t rule it out.’
Darmstadt goalkeeper handed a Pompey shirt
In a touching moment on Saturday, Darmstadt’s Marcel Schuhen swapped his goalkeeping top for a Pompey shirt, much to the delight of the visiting fans.
While both sets of fans happily mingled outside the ground afterwards and posed for photographs together, demonstrating the creation of a new friendship.
Certainly some outside the club have suggested the Blues should return the favour by inviting Darmstadt to Fratton Park next summer.
And Cullen believes there is now a ‘strong bond’ shared between both clubs.
He added: ‘We certainly built some really, really strong relationships with Darmstadt.
‘Whether we do or whether we don’t invite them to visit us, what we have got is a really strong bond between the clubs on all different sorts of levels.
‘These are two community-focused football clubs and hopefully it's something we can build on - and I’m sure the supporters will as well.’