The inside story behind Nico Schmid's Pompey rise and rise

Hello reader and welcome to Pompey Talk with Neil & Jordan - your weekly inside track on the Blues.

The Championship kick-off is rapidly approaching and this week we're focussing on the revelation that has been Nicolas Schmid.

One of the signings of last summer, the Austrian is Pompey's undisputed number one entering his second season in England - and who better to talk about him than goalkeeping coach Joe Prodomo.

Prodomo, who was instrumental in recruiting Schmid in August 2024, provides a fascinating insight in the keeper's character and explains the process which saw him topple League One title winner Will Norris to become first choice.

We hope you're enjoying the insight and appreciate the backing to be able to bring you this more in-depth coverage.

As ever, feel free to get in touch by email (neil.allen@thenews.co.uk) or on X (pn_neil_allen).

The inside story behind the remarkable rise and rise of Pompey's late arrival

Nicolas Schmid was considerably late for his first day of work at Pompey, albeit still creating a tremendous first impression with his new employers.

Admittedly, there were strong mitigating factors behind his tardy arrival time, namely fight issues from his native Austria, unquestionably beyond the keeper’s control.

onecms_fbda8e08-8ccb-4b72-9b72-a8f7e14c8878 Nicolas Schmid celebrates Pompey's 1-0 win over Premier League-bound Leeds in March. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

Nonetheless, once he finally landed in England, the August 2024 signing from BW Linz insisted on having a goalkeeping session, eager to get stuck into his Blues career.

It’s an attitude which won instant admiration from coach Joe Prodomo, who played a pivotal role in recruiting the then 27-year-old for a £400,000 fee.

Certainly it’s an intriguing insight into the professionalism driving Schmid, whose outstanding performances in his maiden Pompey season saw him regarded as one of the club’s signings of the summer.

‘Nico deserves all the success in the world because he’s such a good professional, he’s humble, he wants to learn, he’s got a real grit to get better,’ Prodomo told The News.

‘It showed on his first day with us, when he ended up having to get a later plane because he had some issues with the flight from Austria.

‘When he landed, he was adamant that, on the same afternoon/early evening, he wanted to do a session out on the grass and get going straight away - so we held a one-to-one.

'I cannot praise him enough'

‘I cannot praise him enough because there’s the on-field stuff which everyone sees and then there's performing at that level.

onecms_7585f484-8248-4b37-b32c-84962b9bdc0a Nicolas Schmid in the thick of the action for Pompey once again. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

‘When Nico came to us, he was trying to make sure his girlfriend - and now fiance - Adriana could get over, he was trying to find a house and somewhere to stay. He was leaving Austria for the first time to play football, he had never experienced football without a winter break, the intensity of three games in a week.

‘Obviously Will (Norris) had played a really important part in us getting promoted, so to come in and take his place so early in the season obviously put pressure on him as well. After all, Will was a big part of that group.

‘Nico took to it so quickly - and don’t forget in only his third game he got concussed at Cardiff. Even then it wasn’t smooth for him.’

Hunting for a third-choice keeper

Jordan Archer represented Pompey’s fourth signing in the summer of 2024, following Jordan Williams, Josh Murphy and Reuben Swann into Fratton Park.

He bolstered a goalkeeping group consisting of Will Norris, who started all 46 matches in the Blues’ League One title success, and promising teenager Toby Steward, who had recently returned from a successful Gosport Borough loan.

However, with the intention of loaning out Steward once more to aid his development, Prodomo was seeking to recruit a third goalkeeper.

Cam Plain, a former Bournemouth Academy goalkeeper, stood in on the Croatian training camp in July 2024,
yet was strictly short-term. He later represented Poole and Wimborne Town in the 2024-25 season.

Pompey were looking elsewhere to strengthen their ranks - and four weeks later Schmid arrived on a two-year deal with a club option.

Prodomo added: ‘Nico was actually signed as a number two and not a number three.

‘When we brought Jordan (Archer) into the group, we felt he had the capabilities to be a number two. But we were really honest, you may end up number three in the pecking order.

‘We felt comfortable Jordan could perform the number two role and, if he ended up as a number three, for me he would by far be the best number three you could have in the league.

‘So Nico was always earmarked to come in and compete with Will. That’s why, as soon as he was available, he went into the match-day squad - and unfortunately for Jordan he dropped out.

‘We always felt Nico had the capability to be a number one, but it wasn’t really in his court. All he could do was train to a good level and, ultimately, if Will had performed to a level which everyone felt was where we needed to be at, he would have stayed in the team and Nico would need to be really patient.’

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Will Norris was replaced in Pompey's first-team by Nicolas Schmid in October and ended up leaving in January. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

Replacing promotion-winning keeper nine games in

Following a 6-1 hammering at Stoke in October 2024 which left Pompey second from bottom of the Championship, the decision was made to drop Norris.

It meant that, nine games into the league season, Schmid was suddenly thrust into the first-team for a debut in the Fratton Park visit of Oxford United which finished 1-1.

Norris never played for the Blues again and departed for Wycombe in the January transfer window after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

As for Schmid, he totalled 36 appearances, was voted in third place in The News/Sports Mail’s Player of the Season, and in May was called up for Austria international duty for the first time.

Prodomo said: ‘A lot is always made when you change a goalkeeper. It’s obviously very different from outfield players, with some positions changing almost every other game, sometimes through tactical reasons, sometimes needing a rest.

‘Will had been a brilliant and a really important part of the promotion year, he’d made the EFL League One Team of the Season, he hadn’t missed a minute as we won the title and fully deserved his chance in the Championship.

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Nicolas Schmid made 36 appearances in his maiden Fratton Park campaign. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

‘Selecting Nico was initially a very short-term decision. Off the back of the Stoke game, we had to pick a team to beat Oxford United, which was obviously a really important game at home off the back of the start we’d had.

'It was the right thing to do'

‘We felt that including Nico was the right thing to do to give ourselves the best possible chance of winning. Even in that game, to be fair, he made an important save down to the left in the first half.

Nicolas Schmid with his fiance after Pompey's last game of the season against Hull. Picture: Jason Brown/ProSportsImages

‘It was a big decision to leave Will out, but more because of how well Will had done. It wasn’t a big decision in the sense we felt confident Nico was going to come in and perform to a really good level.

‘The magnitude of the decision was more the fact you were leaving out someone who had been a massive part - rather than having question marks over who was coming into the team.

‘We were really confident with what Nico would give us - and, it has been shown, for very good reason.’

Played Up Pompey!

That brings today's newsletter to a close - almost.

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In the meantime, check in with our latest football coverage on The News website here.

Neil

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