Portsmouth FC and the Ottomans

While Portsmouth Football Club are facing up to administration and life in The Championship, researcher Oktan Keles claims the club was established by Sultan Abdülhamit II to conduct intelligence reports in Britain during the latter years of the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish influence at the club was such that Portsmouth FC also adopted a "crescent" in its club badge.

The information came to light when Keles, a writer on Turkish affairs, was researching papers on Abdülhamit II on the build up to the First World War. In the early years of the Twentieth Century Great Britain was known to use sporting and cultural occasions to gather intelligence information. In an effort to redress the balance the Sultan employed some of the Portsmouth players to gather information relevant to Ottoman Empire interests.

Prior to the outbreak of war in 1914, relations between Britain and Turkey were not good. Turkey blamed Britain for stirring up incidents of unrest in the Balkans and the dominence of the Royal Navy in the Eastern Mediterranean was a persistent irritant to the Turks.

What information was forthcoming from Portsmouth appears to have had little effect on the course of history. When I put my feet up tonight on my footstool to watch the Portsmouth versus Tottenham FA Cup semi final I shall raise my glass to Sultan Abdülhamit II for his contibution to English football.