(Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Jimmy Dickinson, Aaron Flahavan, and Alan Knight are all recognised as Pompey legends with their place in the club's history secured.
But there is one current player who can be added to that illustrious list.
Linvoy Primus is not recognized by many outside Portsmouth, but the defender's bravery, desire and affinity with the south coast club have made him an idol at Fratton Park.
His strong Christian faith and ability to win over the doubters have made him a firm favorite in the city.
And it's his refusal to accept defeat which means relegation for the Blues isn't part of Primus' thoughts.
Primus said: “I think we’ll be ok. In the last four of five performances we’ve taken some good points, but unfortunately there have been a few games where we’ve conceded in the last minutes. If we can string together some more wins we’ll be well clear.”
Primus has been hailed as one of Pompey’s best and most committed players in recent history, having been at Fratton Park since Summer 2000, and with a 10th year testimonial match in sight, both Pompey and Primus are very keen to secure an extra year on his contract to see this out.
Portsmouth Chief Executive Peter Storrie said: “If anybody deserves a testimonial it’s Linvoy. He needs to do one year next season and two months, so we're talking about giving him another year. But whether that will do him we'll have to wait and see. We'll have to maybe give a year's contract and then a month-to-month contract.”
This is the thought of the majority if not all of the Pompey fans, who have seen Primus grow from a hard-working Division One player to an experienced top-quality Premier League centre-back.
But Primus’ career didn’t start very well at Pompey. After securing a free transfer from Reading to Portsmouth, he made his first appearance against Sheffield United in the old Division One, and started by putting the ball in the Pompey net for an own goal.
Things didn’t carry on to well for Primus, as he was forced out for six months through injury only a couple of months after making his debut. When Primus returned from injury, he had to prove to new manager Graham Rix, that he was committed and had the talent to help Portsmouth turn things around.
With the appointment of Harry Redknapp in March 2002, Primus found a new lease of life, as he proved to the manager that he was not only a decent Division One player, but that he could compete in the Premier League.
Primus was a key player in Pompey’s promotion to the Premier League in 2002-03, and his turn around in luck, according to him, was his discovery of Christianity.
“I really believe that everything I have done since becoming a Christian has been for God. I want to give him glory, because he’s given me talent and skill and even though it’s not as good as the best players in the world, I just want to give it to him to use so that his name is glorified.”
Since becoming a committed Christian, Primus has set up the charity Faith and Football, and has run many fundraising events to help establish this.
Primus’ latest project, after a very successful walk of the Great Wall of China back in 2005, is the Pedal for Primus project, along with the Team Golf Classic.
Primus,
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