The 1980-81 season was Portsmouth’s first back in the third division and they came back as a strong team, they faired well amongst the other clubs in the division, coming close to promotion, finishing off the campaign in 6th place. The only real disappointment from the campaign was elimination from the FA Cup in the first round.
The 81-82 season was one of transition for the club, despite finishing the season off in 13th place, they did not look in any immediate danger of another huge decline in football and their financial state looked a lot brighter at that point, reason for optimism.
With the departure of their star winger, Steve Foster, Portsmouth were looking for a change of fortune going into the 1982-83 season and they got it. They dominated the third division and topped the table at the end of the season, in turn, promoting the club to the second division, for the first time in eight years. They also put on a decent run in the FA cup, reaching the forth round.  
Alan ball was installed as the new manager during the 1983-84 campaign and they had a troubled first season back in the second tier of English football, they never looked in any serious danger of relegation as they finished the campaign off in 16th place. The major plus of the season however was the emergence of Mark Hateley, he was in prolific form in front of goal scoring a staggering 22 goals in 38 league matches, which in turn earned him a £915,000 move to AC Milan at the end of the season, a huge profit made by Pompey in the end.
The 1984-85 season saw another rise in Portsmouth’s fortunes as they looked like serious title contenders for most of the season and were unfortunate to miss out on an automatic promotion spot as they finished the season off in 4th place. Many pluses were gained form this season including the rise of Neil Webb and new signing, Terry Connor, who was their top goal scorer that season.