Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is the United Kingdom's only island city, being mainly located on Portsea Island. It is situated 64 miles (103 km) south west from London and 19 miles (31 km) south east from Southampton.

As a significant naval port for centuries, Portsmouth is home to the world's oldest dry dock still in use and also home to some famous ships, including the HMS Warrior and Lord Nelson's flagship, HMS Victory. Although smaller than in its heyday, the naval base remains a major dockyard and base for the Royal Navy and Royal Marine Commandos whose Headquarters resides there. There is also a thriving commercial ferryport serving destinations on the continent for freight and passenger traffic. The City of Portsmouth and Portsmouth Football Club are both nicknamed Pompey. The nickname Pompey is thought to have derived from shipping entering Portsmouth harbour making an entry in their logs as Pom. P. in reference to Portsmouth Point. Navigational charts also use this abbreviation. Another theory concerning the origin of the nickname "Pompey" for the football team and city lies in a lecture by Dame Agnes Weston ["Aggie"] the co-founder [with Sophia Wintz] of the Royal Sailors' Rests, an Evangelical Christian Temperance enterprise. She gave 'improving' talks to sailors in the evenings to provide an alternative to visiting the numerous licensed premises in the area. One such talk was on the Roman Civil War and, such was her passion in describing the demise of the Roman General by his rival Julius Caesar, that one of the sailors shouted out, "Poor old Pompey!"; the following day he and his friends attended a football match during which the home team were flagging and the cry was repeated – "Poor old Pompey!"; the name stuck to the team and was eventually transferred as an affectionate nickname to the whole city.