John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood

Background

Born in Liss, Hampshire Westwood started attending Pompey matches in 1976. As his commitment grew to the club, so too did his range of Portsmouth FC themed accessories. In 1989 he changed his name, by deed poll, from John Anthony Westwood to John Anthony Portsmouth Football Club Westwood and he is probably the most recognisable Portsmouth supporter.

Supporting Portsmouth

After he was thrown out of Gillingham FC's Priestfield Stadium in September 2002, one Portsmouth fans website criticised Westwood, describing him as being a "drunk yob". However, two days later they issued an apology stating they had "gone too far."

Westwood was banned from South Coast arch-rivals Southampton's St Mary's Stadium for urinating on seats in the away end and being thrown out of a derby match in 2003 for persistently refusing to sit down when ordered to by stewards. However, he was in the crowd on 13 February 2010, when Portsmouth defeated Southampton 4–1 in the fifth round of the FA Cup. along with the 2–2 draw in the Championship on 7 April 2012.

In September 2007 he played in the Premier League Allstars on Sky Sports, playing as a celebrity fan for Portsmouth.

Westwood was not permitted to take any instruments to the 2008 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, a match won by Portsmouth.

In popular culture

In 2003 Westwood was featured in the BBC television Social anthropology project Video Nation. A photo reportage entitled Fan de foot. So British! by Paris-based photographer Andrew McLeish about men, passion and football, focussing on Westwood, won the French magazine Paris Match's 2004 "Prix du Public" competition for photography students.

He features on the cover of Chuck Culpepper's 2007 book, Up Pompey, an American's take on English football fans.

In 2008 a portrait of Westwood by artist Karl Rudziak won the Portsmouth Open Art Competition. In February 2009 it was accepted for the BP Portrait Awards exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, where it was on display from June until September. On 28 September 2009 the exhibition began a national tour, starting at the Southampton City Art Gallery. Not surprisingly, the Southampton FC supporters did not give the display a warm welcome.

Rudziak commented that during the sittings for the portrait, he began to understand that Westwood's tattoos and costume were not simply an attention seeking display but a way of externalising his deep passion for Portsmouth FC and reflecting his inner self.

Professional career

Since his father Frank's death in January 2006 Westwood has been a partner in the family bookshop in Petersfield, Hampshire.

"It's a bit Jekyll and Hyde. When I go to a local book fair, I cover up my tattoos and put on a suit. But more often than not, I end up talking to the book dealers about Pompey and it turns out they've got more tattoos than I have."

In 2007 Westwood wrote a book, The True Pompey Fan's Miscellany.