Pompey quiz to benefit former Fratton favourites

The Pompey Former Players’ Association are holding a quiz night tomorrow, hosted in the Alliance Lounge at Fratton Park.

Unsurprisingly, all questions are centred on the Blues, spanning the decades to the current day.

Now in its second year, the annual event has been organised to raise funds for the association, which continues to provide vital assistance to former players of the club.

Recently respite care for one ex-player was paid for by the group, whose chairman is Alan Knight.

The likes of Ray Crawford and Pat Neil will join Knight in taking part in the evening, which begins at 7.30pm.

Secretary Jake Payne, who is acting as quiz master, is hopeful of a healthy turn out at Fratton Park.

He said: ‘Last year was a really good night. We would have liked some more numbers but fingers crossed there will be an increase in people there this time around.

‘Quite a few former players are coming along to take part in the quiz and this is an opportunity for fans to also meet them.

‘All money raised from the entrance fee and raffle will go towards our benevolent fund which we use to help former players. It doesn’t just sit in the bank gathering interest all the time.

‘I don’t want to name names, but the fund has helped pay for some respite care for one of our former players in recent times, which is entirely what is intended for.

‘We are never going to be in situation where we can afford for someone to have a hip replacement through a private hospital, but if we can maybe pay to have a consultant with a specialist that is the route we will go down.

‘In addition, we bought 150 tickets for the Capital One Cup match with Derby County in August and worked with Pompey in the Community to give them to local kids. That is something we saw as positive to encourage support.

‘The quiz nights are fun evenings, it’s not going to be all obscure stuff either, so don’t let that deter anyone from joining in.

If people feel like they won’t know a lot they would be wrong, there will be something for everyone in there.

‘The quiz will cover club history right the way to the present day, catering for all.

‘Hopefully we can have quite a few teams so we can continue to help our former players.’

Payne will be helped out by Peter Jeffs at the event, with the quiz consisting of eight rounds of 10 questions.

Entry is priced at £10 per team of four, with a cash prize for the winning team.

A raffle will also take place, with a number of prizes up for grabs.

For more information on the Pompey Former Players’ Association, visit their website at pompeyfpa.org