‘You’d die for Harry Redknapp’

The situation seemed hopeless. Despite Harry Redknapp’s best efforts, Portsmouth were doomed. The wily manager had returned to the club in December 2005 after an ill-fated stint at their rivals Southampton, but his attempts to rescue them from the threat of relegation were not going well.

Nine players arrived in January and still their poor form continued.

But then Pompey beat Manchester City 2-1 and everything changed. Redknapp’s men were suddenly on a roll, taking 20 points from nine games to secure survival away at Wigan Athletic on the penultimate weekend of the season.

It was a significant moment for Benjani Mwaruwari’s career in England, too. Signed from Auxerre as part of Redknapp’s mid-season overhaul, the tireless striker did not get on the scoresheet until that afternoon, on what was his 15th appearance for the club.

It was an instinctive finish, heading in a vital equaliser as the ball bounced back off the post, and as far as times to score your first goal go, this was a good one.

But although it was satisfying to score, especially in such an important game, the goal drought had never weighed too heavily on Benjani himself.

“As a footballer you experience a lot of things like that,” he says. “When I came to Portsmouth we had six, seven, eight new players in a short space of time. For us to all gel and play well as a team, you need some time.

“When we are finding that touch it’s difficult for a striker to break through, you know? But eventually, when I got my goal, that’s when we survived and that was a good relief for myself, for the team and for the fans.”

#ThrowbackThursday: Benjani nets his first goal for #Pompey against Wigan Athletic on 29/4/2006. The Great Escape! #PompeyHistory pic.twitter.com/Vql1NbBUCw

— PompeyNewsNow🎙PO4cast (@PompeyNewsNow) October 5, 2017

Never the most prolific of strikers, Benjani’s strengths lay elsewhere. He was a selfless worker with great physical attributes, and even while struggling to break his goalscoring duck, the Pompey supporters took him to their hearts.

“I think that was because of my attitude to every game I was playing,” he says. “Sometimes when things aren’t happening for you, you need to be there for the other players. So, naturally, I was like that as a player. I used to run around, cover a lot of ground, help others and help the team.

“I think the love from the fans came from there because they knew I would work hard for the team even if the goals…