All Portsmouth fans will remember the League One title-winning squad of 2023/24 with fondness.

John Mousinho, in his first full season as manager, guided the Blues out of the third tier and into the Championship for the first time since 2012.

There were various standout players that season, including Conor Shaughnessy and Connor Ogilvie on defense, Will Norris on goal, and Colby Bishop on offense.

However, one of the main players from that campaign, and probably Pompey’s player of the season, was a Norwich City loanee with only three previous senior appearances.

Portsmouth won the jackpot with Abu Kamara’s signing.

Understandably, the signing was met with cautious optimism around Fratton Park, as Pompey’s record of signing young players on loan with relatively little experience was not great to say the least, with both Miguel Azeez and Dane Scarlett struggling on the South Coast the two seasons prior, despite being highly rated at Arsenal and Tottenham.

However, Abu Kamara quickly received praise from Pompey supporters before even playing a game, with many observing how genuinely enthused he appeared for the season ahead: “Honestly, I want to get a promotion medal,” the young Englishman told the club’s internal media. “I feel like Portsmouth’s a great club to do that at, as they are obviously a big club in this league.”

And, as soon as he scored his first goal for the club, a tap-in in a huge home win over Peterborough United in early September, the ball began rolling.

He then scored a wonderful volley in a home draw against Charlton Athletic, as well as a fantastic double away to Shrewsbury Town in mid-December as Pompey cruised to promotion and the title. In fact, Pompey did not lose until November 25th of that season, and it was a surprise 4-0 defeat at home to Blackpool.

In terms of Kamara, he was becoming an absolute must-start for Pompey and a genuine threat to any League One left back. Mostly because of the quality of his goals, as this strike at Fleetwood Town is a good example of a typical ‘Kamara goal’ in which he turned past a couple of players before reaching the bottom corner from the edge of the box with a wonderful curling finish.

That was going to be the conclusion of Abu Kamara’s Pompey narrative.

Despite being a huge fan favourite, Kamara returned to Norfolk at the end of his loan spell, though his relationship with the Carrow Road club was slightly strained following the appalling comments made by then-director of football Stuart Webber that he would have ended up “in jail” or “something else” if he hadn’t become a footballer.

And the Canaries accepted a bid from Hull City worth around £4.5 million with add-ons to bring the winger to the MKM Stadium. However, things were not so rosy in his early months, with then-manager Ruben Selles forcing Kamara to sit alongside him in an interview following his past comments.

Despite making 40 appearances and scoring five goals, Kamara was loaned out to Jose Bordelas’ famously defensive Getafe in the summer of 2025, where he struggled to make an impact at first.

Still, Pompey fans will never forget the impact he had on one of the club’s best seasons in recent memory, especially because Pompey were unable to replace him.

Pompey had numerous choices to play right-wing after he left in the summer of 2024, but he didn’t find a permanent successor until Matt Ritchie secured consistent starts in the second half of the season.

And, even after the Scottish international left, Pompey struggled to find a reliable right-winger in the 2024/25 season, demonstrating how Kamara and Pompey were a perfect fit.