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Police are investigating several suspected offences including theft, criminal damage and racial abuse in the wake of Portsmouth’s raucous promotion celebrations on Tuesday night.
Shortly after Pompey were crowned League One champions with a late 3-2 triumph over Barnsley, thousands of fans stormed the Fratton Park pitch to celebrate the club returning to the Championship for the first time in 12 years.
As celebrations continued long into the night, Portsmouth players and fans trashed an O’Neills pub during a beer-soaked party, with videos circulating on social media of Marlon Pack addressing fans before being rudely interrupted by Joe Rafferty mooning the audience.
Another showed the squad singing along to Wonderwall by Oasis, while Will Norris was pictured behind the bar at O’Neills Southsea asking for more beers.
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s late night celebrations, police have confirmed that they are investigating a number of offences. No arrests have been made at present.
‘We are investigating disorder which happened in Portsmouth last night (April 16) following the football,’ Hampshire Police said in a statement on Wednesday.
‘We started to receive calls just before 11pm to reports of disorder ongoing at O’Neill’s pub in Albert Road, Southsea.
‘It is believed around 300 people were present at the time, and we have received reports of a number of offences, including theft, criminal damage and racial abuse aimed at a staff member.
‘The disorder is reported to have continued into surrounding streets, with people present then moving off in reduced groups to other establishments as well.
‘We have also received a report of criminal damage in Drift Bar, and of a man being assaulted in Palmerston Road.
‘Officers attended and remained in the area into the early hours of the morning.’
Chief Inspector Paul Markham, district commander for Portsmouth, added: ‘Portsmouth’s win against Barnsley last night was a fantastic moment for the club and for the city, and a moment everyone rightly wanted to celebrate.
‘Sadly, a small number of people saw this as an opportunity to commit mindless acts of violence and criminal damage as part of the wider celebrations.
‘Officers have been out in Southsea today and we are working hard to identify any and all offences committed and ensure all lines of enquiry available are thoroughly investigated to identify people responsible.
‘The vast majority of those attending the game last night were there to enjoy the occasion and wanted no involvement in any disorder, and we know this has been the case throughout the season.
‘We will not tolerate the minority who wish to use events such as this one to commit crime. On Saturday, there will be football in Portsmouth again, with the final home game of the season against Wigan.
‘We consistently review our plans for all matchdays, and last night’s actions will form part of this review of our resources for the game.’
A video clip shared to social media on Wednesday morning showed the messy aftermath of the party, with the O’Neills bar strewn with broken bottles and cans after the fire alarms were put on to empty the place out.
A huge crowd of fans was seen outside the pub chanting ‘blue army, blue army’ as they looked to continue the celebrations beyond closing time.
‘O’Neills has fallen,’ said the caption accompanying the video, while another tweet read: ‘Think the club are gonna receive an invoice for O’Neill’s btw. Gaff was absolutely trashed last night.’
Pompey star Rafferty shared Instagram clips showing hundreds of fans thronging the streets, climbing on signs and bus shelters while singing a ‘f*** ’em all’ chant about West Ham and Millwall.
Defender Tom McIntyre also shared an Instagram video of fans inside O’Neills chanting ‘bounce around if you’re top of the league.’
O’Neills staff declined to comment when initially contacted by MailOnline. The pub released a statement to their social media pages on Wednesday afternoon, which read: ‘Hello everyone, just wanted to let you know that we will be closed until further notice, as soon as we are back open we will let you know. Thank you for your patience.’
Meanwhile, police are also investigating criminal damage at Drift Bar on Palmerston Road.
According to Drift, Portsmouth’s players went on to party at the bar later in the night and brought a ‘huge’ company of supporters with them.
The establishment claims to know the individuals who ‘looted and damaged property’ during the wild celebrations.
‘Hello everyone,’ the bar said in a Facebook post on Wednesday. ‘We are so proud of Pompey winning the league. Sadly they joined us last night and brought a huge entourage of “fans” that decided to loot and damage property.
‘We have HD images that are in the process of being handed to police. Much of this was at our VIP bar which was broken into and significant theft.
‘We would prefer to not press charges and knowing names of most of those involved please come forwards and make amends by paying and apologising. We had to close the bar and are still refurbishing the damage
‘It’s a huge celebration but we are an independent business and need our community’s support. Thank you.’
Promotion to the Championship ends Portsmouth’s 12-year spell outside English football’s second tier, with the south coast club falling as low as League Two in 2013 due to crippling financial struggles.
Portsmouth were relegated from the Championship in 2012 after receiving a 10-point deduction for entering administration for the second time in two years.
