Wigan Athletic gift will be fondly remembered at Portsmouth FC despite sour end: View | OneFootball

Arjan De Zeeuw turned into a Fratton Park hero during his time with Pompey, although he left the club under a cloud

The returning joy for Portsmouth FC of late will have those reminiscing on the last time the club shot to the top around the turn of the century.

Fratton Park was a cauldron of anticipation, excitement and pure passion in the 02/03 campaign, as Pompey swept aside all that came before them in a rampaging nine months.

Right at the heart of it all was a dominant Dutchman, who took no prisoners in the heart of defence, with Harry Redknapp knowing he could always rely on the tough-tackling Arjan De Zeeuw in his backline.

After moving from Wigan Athletic in the summer, the all-action gladiator personified Portsmouth at the time, although there will still be a feeling that the love affair between the two ended prematurely.

Arjan De Zeeuw leads Portsmouth to Premier League promotion

From day one, De Zeeuw raised the bar once he left the Latics in 2002, with his professionalism both on and off the pitch making him the perfect person to lead the club in their promotion charge.

Having been perennial strugglers in the second tier until the Dutchman’s arrival, the turnaround was stark in the year to follow, with Redknapp getting his claws into the squad he had inherited in the preceding March.

With the likes of Shaka Hislop in goal, De Zeeuw marauding around the back, and Svetoslav Todorov and Yakubu up top, this was a Pompey team for the ages, with a number of soon-to-be club legends all contributing towards a sensational title-winning campaign.

With eight wins from the first nine matches of the season, the excitement was already starting to build in Hampshire, with the bells ringing, the fans roaring, as Pompey were most definitely playing up.

De Zeeuw’s militancy at the back allowed his teammates to parade forward at will, knowing the no-nonsense centre back would willingly pick up the pieces if possession was lost, with second tier sides unable to deal with the relentlessness of the Blues at the time.

With just six defeats all season, Pompey had promotion tied up early doors, as the Frogmore fantasy headed into the Premier League, with a watertight defence and flamboyancy up top making for the perfect combination.

The momentum around the club showed no signs of slowing down in those early top flight years, with the likes of Liverpool, Leeds United, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City all coming a cropper on their trips to the south coast.

Once again, the Dutch destroyer was in his element, with the best attacking talent that the country had to offer, struggling to unlock the Pompey defence.

Arjan De Zeeuw returns to Wigan Athletic after unceremonial Portsmouth departure

At the time, it was hard to see De Zeeuw and Pompey ever parting ways, with player and club bringing the best out of each other as the pair went from strength to strength.

But after two years in the top flight, cracks started to appear in the relationship, with the newly appointed Alain Perrin causing friction after his arrival at Fratton Park.

Despite his bags of experience and never-say-die attitude, the Frenchman didn’t take a shine to his wily campaigner, which understandably wrangled his skipper at the back.

The writing seemed to be on the wall as the summer of 2005 arrived, with De Zeeuw no longer the shoo-in he had been during the majority of his Portsmouth career, with the Dutchman acting to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

"There is interest from Wigan and Southampton, but most likely we are going to deal with Wigan," owner Milan Mandaric said at the time.

"I wish we didn't have to deal with anyone because we would like to keep him.

"We'll make one more effort with him, but he is convinced he wants to go and play for someone else, and unfortunately I think that will be the case."

With the relationship at an all-time low, a return to Wigan followed that summer, with a jubilant return to Fratton Park coming just months later, as the Latics emerged as 2-0 winners.

Even at 35, the defender proved he still had what it takes to play at the highest level, with another two years under his belt, before spending the 07/08 campaign at Coventry City before hanging up his boots.

Perrin’s short-lived spell in Hampshire speaks for itself about some of his decisions while in English football, but the choice to let De Zeeuw walk out the door must have been one of his most puzzling.