Went and Manley the perfect pair

Ask any Pompey fan who are the best central defensive partnership they have seen in the modern era some will reply (Noel) Blake and (Billy) Gilbert, younger fans would probably opt for (Sol) Campbell and (Sylvain) Distin but those in their 60s and 70s would definitely reply (Paul) Went and (Malcolm) Manley.

In the early seventies Southampton business man, John Deacon, took control of the club and poured money into buying new players. Ron Davies from Southampton, Phil Roberts from Bristol Rovers, and a certain Peter Marinello (dubbed by many as the new George Best) broke Pompey’s transfer record when he signed from the mighty Arsenal. A new manager (John Mortimore) was also appointed.  

The 1973/74 season started badly and it was not long before Deacon had to open his cheque book and In early December with Pompey lying in a disappointing 15th place they paid Orient £155,000 for Centre Back Paul Went and a smaller fee (in the region of £45,000) to Leicester for fellow defender Malcolm Manley.

Paul Went’s history was impressive. He had played at Wembley for England at Schoolboy & Youth level and also held the honour of being the youngest player ever to play for Orient. At just 17 with 50 first team games already under his belt he was transferred to Charlton where he spent five solid years before hopping across to Craven Cottage in the summer of ’72 to become Fulham`s record transfer. Now just 18 months after that lucrative move, thanks to Mr Deacon’s ambitious regeneration plan Paul Went was a Pompey player.

Malcolm Manley was a great Scottish hope when emerging as a youngster, captaining Scotland schoolboys before moving to Filbert Street as a teenager.  He made his top-flight debut for the Foxes in 1968 and appeared in the FA Cup final the following year against Manchester City.  He was tempted to Fratton Park, however, where there were high hopes for the defensive partnership of the man from Renfrewshire and fellow new boy Paul Went.

Went and Manley made their debuts at Fratton Park against a Bristol City side who in comparison to Deacon’s superstars were assembled for just over a quarter of the price Pompey had paid for Went alone. A volley by Ron Davis secured a 1-0 victory but more importantly Pompey had not conceded.

The new central defensive partnership gelled quickly and as performances and results began to improve even the most cynical of Pompey fans had to admit that Deacon’s promises were showing signs of baring fruit.

Their best performance came in an FA Cup Third round replay at the County Ground, Swindon in an afternoon kick off on 9 January 1974.  After a six goal thriller at the Park the two teams went again on the Wednesday afternoon in atrocious conditions with the pitch knee deep in mud.  But Went was a colossus winning everything in the air and Manley covered the pitch as though it was a perfect surface cleaning up around his partner and Bobby Kellard slammed home the only goal on 58 minutes.

Reg Betts report below clearly fetes the defensive partnership for the triumph.

As is all too common in Pompey’s history, as things start to improve disaster strikes and in this instance Manley got injured. In what was only his 11th league game the Scotsman severed a cartilage in his knee at Notts County and despite intensive surgery was eventually forced to retire. The partnership that promised so much was over as quickly as it had started and despite Went putting in some impressive solo performances ending with him being voted Player of the Year in his first season, the defence just wasn’t the same without the two of them together and despite spending all that money Pompey finished the season in the same position they had been in when Went joined, 15^th.

Manley played just one more game a year later when he was rushed into the side as an under prepared replacement for Alan Stephenson as Pompey slipped to a 3-2 Fratton defeat to Aston Villa.  He then spent a spell in South Africa and Australia but was unable to return to top class football.

Paul Went would continue until 1976 making 111 appearance and scoring 6 goals before leaving for Cardiff for a cut price fee as Pompey struggled financially.

Sadly we have lost both now, with Paul Went passing on 4 January 2017 aged 67 from a stroke and Malcolm Manley passed in August 2020 aged 70.

They may have played together just fifteen times but Pompey fans of that era will never forget them.