Pompey are top of League One and in no mood to stop after a change of ownership and a show of faith in young talent

Portsmouth have done it all in recent years – a crash course in the good, the bad and the ugly – but things are seemingly on the up as they look down on the rest of League One, sitting pretty after one defeat in 12 matches.

It is six years since Portsmouth suffered the first of two consecutive relegations, dropping from the Championship into League One, and five since the Portsmouth Supporters Trust saved a club left black and blue by previous regimes from liquidation.

Later that year, in November 2013, Portsmouth’s current longest-serving player, Jack Whatmough, made his debut, having witnessed the club’s sorry slide, after winning the FA Cup in 2008, first-hand.

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“In my second year as a scholar, we used to get changed at Fratton Park in the away dressing room and the coaches at the time, Paul Hardyman and Andy Awford, would call contacts they knew to try to find somewhere to train on the day,” Whatmough, the Gosport-born defender who joined aged 12, says. “A lot of the time it was down at Eastney Barracks, the old naval base. Another day we just trained on the club car park. We had a jog, a stretch and that was all we could do. There have been some really tough times.”

Portsmouth plummeted through the divisions and, while their troubles badly hindered them, it forced them to turn to the next generation. Whatmough, as well as Ben Close, Brad Tarbuck, Jed Wallace and Conor Chaplin, were thrown in at the deep end. “In a selfish way, it gave a lot of young lads the opportunity to get into the first team, because the club didn’t have money to sign players that they wanted to,” Whatmough says.

Aged 17, Whatmough’s touch of class attracted admiring glances, including that of his country, for whom he played alongside Dele Alli and Joe Gomez at youth level. “It was in 2014, for the under-18s, against Croatia. Later that year I played for the under-19s against Germany and Leroy Sané played. We drew 1-1. That was a really special time, to go and represent England in a different country. He [Sané] was probably quicker then than he is now, which is scary.”

PST succeeded not only in its determination to consign the dark days of winding-up orders and points deductions to the past but also in stabilising the club. Paul Cook steered them out of League Two last year and by the time the Tornante investment group, led by the former Disney chief executive, Michael Eisner, acquired the club a few months on, Pompey were a different proposition.

In good hands and health, Portsmouth find themselves fine-tuning things as they make a tilt for promotion. “To be in the situation where we are now is credit to the players, the staff and the board above, who are backing the club to spend money and to do what they’re doing,” Whatmough says. “Whatever they’re doing at the moment, it seems to be working from the top down. It’s nice to be a part of and where the club is now compared to where it’s been before, it’s a massive step up. With the way the club is going now, it’s enjoyable to be a part of it.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Ronan Curtis, right, who has earned a call-up to the Republic of Ireland squad on the back of his consistently excellent displays for Portsmouth this season.

Photograph: Adam Rivers/ProSports/REX/Shutterstock

They plan on investing further, with Fratton Park desperately in need of refurbishment. There have been conversations with architects over a redesign and Eisner has stated his first choice is to stay in their mystical 119-year-old home.

As Eric, Eisner’s son and a club director, recently alluded, there is a long way to go. “In one year we are falling more in love with it, and the fans. It seems like we’re in the first quarter, the beginning of the game,” he said. For Portsmouth that is the exciting bit.

Of all of their investments, the £100,000 they paid Derry City for Ronan Curtis in May looks increasingly ingenious. The additions of Lee Brown and Nathan Thompson were smart but the Croydon-born winger, who moved to Ireland at the age of eight, lit up the league on arrival. He has scored six goals and set up five others, earning him a call-up to Martin O’Neill’s senior squad in September. “It’s been a great year,” says Curtis, whose godfather is the former Wales manager, Chris Coleman.

In five years at Derry the 22-year-old made a lasting impression and scored in the Europa League against Midtjylland. Curtis also played with Patrick McClean, the younger brother of the Stoke forward, James, who, along with the Everton defender Seamus Coleman, helped him settle at international level. For his club Curtis has gone from playing in front of 2,000 to almost 20,000. “It’s just a different kettle of fish over here in England, a different type of professional set-up. Your washing gets done for you, there’s lunch, dinner for you and all those little things. You don’t have to clean your own boots and stuff like that.”

Along with Jamal Lowe, the forward who was playing for sixth-tier Hampton & Richmond Borough until last year, and the captain Brett Pitman, the striker who scored 14 goals to help Bournemouth into the Premier League in 2015, Curtis has formed a free-scoring triumvirate that has primed Portsmouth for a return to the Championship. Until defeat at home to Gillingham last weekend, Kenny Jackett’s side were unbeaten this season.

“The club is massive and hopefully we can get back to where we belong,” Curtis says. “There is a great buzz. It does feel special.”

Talking points

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Sunderland’s Josh Maja, left, has nine goals this season and has referenced Jermain Defoe’s role in his development. Photograph: Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

• Sunderland have soared towards the top of League One, with the teenage striker Josh Maja instrumental in their good form. The 19-year-old has scored four times in his past four games, taking his tally to nine goals for the season. The former Fulham youngster made his debut in 2016 and has referenced Jermain Defoe’s role in his development. “Jermain was a big role model for me and he supported me while I was moving up to the first team,” he said.

• Hull City Supporters’ Trust is preparing a £45m takeover of the Championship club, with a UK/US consortium, made up of investors in the sports crowd micro-financing business SportyCo, set to meet the owner Assem Allam next week. Allam’s son, Ehab, speaking last month, said: “I would like think there is hope for us to move the club on this year.”

• Forest Green Rovers are the last unbeaten team standing in the EFL, after 12 league matches this season. “Let’s kick on, let’s go and get another 12 games,” the manager, Mark Cooper, said after a draw at Newport on Saturday.