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 in their League One clash against Cheltenham Town. 

The officiating team began with Ben Toner as referee with Daniel Flynn and Mark Derrien as his linesmen, with Stephen Brown as the fourth official.

However, the starting officials did not finish the match as one of the linesmen had to be replaced in the first half with injury.

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

Just 12 minutes into the second period, another liesmen picked up an injury before the referee took the ball and left the pitch.

An announcement was made to fans, calling for a qualified official to take to the pitch

A fan responded the the annoucnement and took his place as one of the match officials

This led to Portsmouth tweeting: ‘As if this afternoon couldn’t get anymore bizarre…

‘The referee has taken the ball and disappeared down the tunnel – we’ll keep you updated.’

They soon followed up this by informing fans: ‘A message has just gone out over the PA system for a qualified official to make themselves known…

‘And a fan from the stands has just emerged to take over duties, so we should be fine!’

Then a Pompey hero emerged as a fan made himself available, and took to the pitch as a replacement linesman.

The match got back underway in the 55th minute, with the score at 0-0 when the fan took over, sporting gold boots as he stepped onto the Fratton Park grass.

Taking to the action immediately, the fan was cheered by the crowd as he awarded a throw-in just minutes after taking to the pitch.

The delay saw both team play 21 minutes of added time at the end of the 90 minutes.