AFC Portchester’s first season in Step Four of the English footballing pyramid has concluded, and what a sensational 12 months it has been.
After a quadruple-winning 2024-25, The Royals’ most recent campaign was marred by expectation and question marks on whether they could replicate last year’s trophy-laden successes.
And while the club fell just short of back-to-back promotion with defeat to Westfield at Woking Park in the Isthmian League South Central Division play-off semi-final, there are still many positives to be taken.
Despite a stuttering start to the season, Portchy recovered well to book their place in the post-season drama as they finished fifth in the league with 73 points from 42 matches.
The league campaign wasn’t the only place where Portchester had shown their quality, with national cup competitions also providing delight for the fanbase.
Promotion to the Isthmian League meant qualification for the prestigious FA Trophy, which allowed the Fareham-based outfit to test itself against tougher opposition.
The side gave a respectable account of themselves, overcoming Flackwell Heath, Tavistock AFC and Taunton Town to make it to the first round proper, before narrowly losing out to Southern Premier South side Wimborne Town 1-0 with virtually the last kick of the match.
2025-26 has also seen unrivalled media attention, as Lee Wort’s jaw-dropping rabona in the preliminary rounds of the FA Cup went viral on social media, with BBC Sport, GiveMeSport and The Emirates FA Cup’s official accounts posting his finish to their channels.
If that wasn’t enough, the club also confirmed that it was in the latter stages of finalising the multi-million-pound project that will transform their home ground to a state-of-the-art 3G facility, which is expected to begin work in the off-season.
Now that the dust has settled on a memorable campaign, Ashley Whiteway and Declan Murphy sat down with AFC Portchester vice-chairman and head of media, Graeme Moir, to talk about the many ups and downs of the year on The Portchy Pod.
