The Boilermakers Hump
Posted on 16th Sep 2025 by David Taylor
On a recent Fratton Park tour I was asked about the Boilermakers' Hump and how it came about. I then started some research and have discovered the following.
The Dockyard boilermakers were loyal supporters of Pompey in the early days and a section of the ground at Fratton Park (the northern corner of the Milton End) became known as the 'boilermakers' hump' where they used to congregate.
'The Hump', was located between the North Terrace and Milton End. It is likely that the corner terrace was built as part of upgrades to Fratton Park in 1905, which joined the North Terrace to the newly built Milton End terrace. The corner was also known as the 'Milton Corner'.
The 'Boilermakers Hump' name originates from men who worked in Portsmouth dockyard who specialised in building and maintaining the steam boilers for the Royal Navy fleet. The Boilermakers met at the north-east corner of Fratton Park on match days, the corner became nicknamed 'The Boilermakers Hump', because the tall curved corner terrace was taller than the Milton End and North Terrace stands and had a hump-like appearance.
The 'Hump' lost its distinctive height difference when the Milton End was reprofiled up to the same height as The Hump in 1949.
In 1962, floodlight pylon towers funded by the Supporter’s Club were constructed in the four corners of Fratton Park, replacing the original roof-top sets installed in the early 1950s. The north-east tower was built in the north-east corner of Fratton Park at top of the Boilermakers Hump.
Following the 11 May 1985 fire at Valley Parade, Bradford, a stadium control room box was built onto the Boilermakers Hump terrace immediately in front of the north-east floodlight pylon tower during the summer break of 1985. Other such safety upgrades to Fratton Park included adding additional fire escape staircases to the opposite ends of the mostly wooden South Stand and enclosing its distinctive Archibald Leitch "X" trusses as it contained wooden planks behind the metal framing.
In 1996, blue plastic seats were fixed onto the remaining Boilermakers Hump terrace, as part of the overall plan to make Fratton Park an all-seater stadium to meet Taylor Report standards.
Presently, the Boilermakers Hump is the closest point in Fratton Park between home fans in the North Stand and the visiting 'away' fans in the Milton End stand. 'The Boilermakers Hump' is now mostly occupied by a police and security control room box, and was the former location of the north-east floodlight pylon tower until it was removed on 4 September 2019. Seats installed in 1996 were removed from the north-east corner area between 2016 and 2017 to provide a separation zone between the opposing sets of supporters.
Plans to redevelop the Boilermakers Hump as part of the Fratton Park "Phase 1" Milton End refurbishment were revealed in 2020 by Portsmouth FC and Portsmouth City Council. The Boilermakers Hump was planned to be reprofiled with new seating, incorporating wheelchair user spaces on the uppermost level accessed from ground level via a new lift. Behind the wheelchair spaces, a new stadium control room, refreshment kiosks and toilet facilities were planned. The Boilermakers Hump would then become covered by a roof extension from the existing Milton End roof.
The Boilermakers Hump was reopened for the first time after extensive refurbishment work for the 3 February 2024 League One match against Northampton Town, in which Portsmouth won 4-1 to maintain their first-place position. The Boilermakers Hump is now split into two sections by a metal fence, with one half of the Hump now considered as part of the North Stand for Home supporters and the other remaining section as part of the Milton End's Away section.
Historical research shows that the Hampshire Telegraph on 16 December, 1899 reported that Pompey were well supported in those early days and also enjoyed a substantial following at away games, although this sometimes did lead to trouble. For example, on Saturday December 9th 1899 some 500 Pompey fans took advantage of a cheap trip arranged by the Dockyard Excursion Committee to travel to Bristol for a match against Bedminster. At the conclusion of the match, which Pompey won 2-1, some boilermakers from Portsmouth Dockyard who had been waving their banner and cheering vociferously during the game, were set upon by some of the home spectators and several were severely mauled. The flag was rescued after it had been torn from the staff, which was broken.
The Boilermakers had a rowdy reputation. They worked hard and played hard. In an era before floodlit evening matches, the Boilermakers would often sneak out of work early for midweek afternoon matches, leaving work unwashed, dirty and drunk. Because of this reputation, people would steer clear of them, allowing the Boilermakers to claim their own area in Fratton Park for themselves - on the Hump.
At a reunion of Boilermakers in June 2016 from across the years organised by the News they told their stories including one that local pub landlords would put up notices saying “no Irishmen, no boilermakers, and no dogs” such was their reputation for dirt and drunkenness
Click on the picture to watch Johnny Moore's interview with those who attended.
