I couldn't have been further from home if I had tried. I don't know (and don't really fancy thinking) how far it is from Dundee to Portsmouth, but 12 hours travelling on two different mainline railway services and the London Underground was more than enough for me, but it was with nervous excitement that I arrived into Portsmouth Harbour train station at 10:48am set for my biggest footballing adventure yet.

For some bizarre reason, Fratton Park was always a ground I had near the top of my list of "must visit" grounds - and what would turn out to be a historic Premiership fixture gave me that opportunity. Was it the legendary Fratton Park atmosphere? Was it the story of the Pompey fans and their annoying (but not as bad as I expected!) bell ringer? I don't know, and for one day only, I didn't really care.

My journey down to the south coast could not have gone any smoother, the Friday night Sleeper train to London Euston was fine, it arrived into London bang on time and armed with my newly-purchased Oyster card (which is highly recommended for anyone who visits London regularly!) it was straight on the Tube for the short ride to London Waterloo. I arrived into Waterloo with ample time to spare before the 9am train to Portsmouth and the journey from Waterloo down to Pompey passed without incident - all of which gave me plenty time to get used to my temporary surroundings. Portsmouth is a very nice city, and given it's location and history, has an extremely naval feel about it - but the locals are nice enough, always willing to help.

Finding the ground was easy enough, but as many people on the message board have said, the traffic around Fratton Park is a complete nightmare, but I just had to grin and bear it. I even managed to get to the ground with half an hour to spare, so I jumped off the bus next to the ground and thought, "I'll just follow the crowd and see where I end up." As it happened, the first I saw of Fratton Park was the visiting supporters entrance - which was where I would spend the afternoon.

First impressions of the ground were that it is one of those classic, old style grounds which I absolutely love - comprising of 2 newer stands along with the shared Milton End and the old Main Stand, but the electronic turnstiles (which I hate!!) gave me a hell of a time again - it turned out that my ticket was mis-printed, but the guys on the turnstiles are very helpful and eventually I was inside the ground.
I chose not to buy any food or drink at the ground, so I can't pass comment on those areas, but I did buy a programme (£3), the contents of which are one of the better programmes I have come across on my travels. However, in stark contrast, the facilities for visiting supporters at Fratton Park are a million miles away from the top Premiership clubs.
On entering the away end, you have to climb a set of stairs, to which the toilets are on the right hand side, and to see that they are basic is a big understatement. The Milton End also had a roof built at the end of last season, and although this adds to the atmosphere within the shared end of the ground, it lets the overall atmosphere slip away a bit.

Stewarding at Fratton Park isn't the worst I have seen, but it's also far from the best. It's another one of those classic situations where the home fans get away with murder but the away fans get hounded every time they stand up. I wouldn't say this ruined my enjoyment of the day but it definitely took something away from the experience.

Now, whoever told me the atmosphere at Portsmouth was legendary deserves a medal. The Pompey fans really get behind their team, and when playing well, a healthy rendition of "Play Up Pompey" makes Fratton Park as difficult to play at as Old Trafford or Stamford Bridge. Reading's fans can fair sing a bit too, even when their team is losing, so I can't say a bad word about the atmosphere at Portsmouth. As annoying as the Portsmouth bell-ringer is, I was expecting a lot worse from him - but you do, at times during the game, feel like politely telling him where to stick his bell!!

Now to the game, I can't remember how the scoring went - only that I am a part of footballing history as I was at the highest scoring Premiership game to date... and for those of you who have forgotten, it finished 7-4 to Portsmouth. The funny thing about the game is that it wasn't actually a classic match - despite 11 goals, one offside goal and two penalties I think the match will be remembered more for the scoreline than for what actually happened in the game. I do though have to say, even though I was shouting for Reading, Portsmouth were awesome at times in the game, and excellent value for their victory.

Getting away from the ground was a total nightmare for me - I got lost! Eventually I found my way back to the Travelodge, where I was put in a taxi down to Chichester - the Travelodge people did at least tell me before hand (10 minutes into the game actually!) and I have to partly compliment them for being so helpful in organising me complimentary taxis to Chichester on the Saturday then back up to Pompey on Sunday morning.

Eventually I settled down for the night in even more unfamiliar surroundings to watch Match of the Day - and I even managed to spot myself during the highlights on no less than four occasions! Of that, I am particularly proud. The reason why is because I was sitting four seats away from the goal net (and yes, it literally is a goal net!!) which divides the two sets of fans in the Milton End.

My overall summary of the trip... A huge thank you goes to Mark Sugar (Mark_ReadingFC) for sorting out the match ticket for me (Mark, I owe you a beer!!), what a weekend I had - even despite the little troubles along the way I still had a great time down on the south coast, and to be a part of history gives me a sense of achievement as a football fan.

I don't know when my next trip over the border will be, but Portsmouth is definitely up there waiting to be done all over again.