Chaos at Portsmouth as their clash with Cheltenham Town is SUSPENDED temporarily as a linesman – and then his fourth official replacement – gets injured… before a FAN in the stands saves the day (wearing gold boots!)

A Portsmouth fan saved the day at Fratton Park after two match officials were replaced following injuries during their League One clash with Cheltenham Town.

The team on duty started with Ben Toner as umpire with Daniel Flynn and Mark Derrien as his linesmen, with Stephen Brown as the fourth official.

However, the starting officials did not complete the game as one of the linesmen had to be replaced injured in the first half.

Brown took over as linesman, but the second half saw a bizarre moment when Toner left the field with the ball before a fan in the ground was called to take the field.

Just 12 minutes into the second period, another liar suffered an injury before the umpire took the ball and left the field.

This led Portsmouth to tweet: “As if this afternoon couldn’t get any more bizarre…

“The referee took the ball and disappeared through the tunnel – we’ll keep you posted.”

They quickly followed this up by informing fans, “A message has just gone out through the PA system for a qualified official to identify himself…

“And a fan has just emerged from the stands to take over duties, so you’ll be fine!”

Then a Pompey hero stepped forward as a fan made himself available and took the field as a substitute linesman.

The game started in the 55th minute, with the score tied at 0–0 as the fan took over, wearing gold boots as he stepped onto the grass at Fratton Park.

The fan immediately got into the action and was cheered by the crowd as he awarded a throw-in just minutes after taking the field.

The delay saw both teams play 21 minutes of extra time at the end of the 90 minutes.