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Linvoy Primus (born 14 September 1973 in Forest Gate, London) is an English football player. He currently plays for Portsmouth and is a central defender who can also play at right back.

Primus began his career with Charlton Athletic, but joined Barnet on a free transfer for the 1994-95 season.

He carved out a reputation as an excellent defender during his time in north London, playing almost 150 games for the club before joining Reading for £250,000 for the 1997-98 season. After establishing himself as an essential player for the Royals he was signed on a Bosman ruling free transfer by then Portsmouth manager Tony Pulis (although chairman Milan Mandaric later claimed that he insisted Pulis signed him after impressing during pre-season) for the 2000-01 season. His Portsmouth career did not get off to a good start, scoring an own goal on his debut away at Sheffield United.

Unfortunately, injury ruled him out of action for six months in November of that season. He then struggled to get a game under new manager Graham Rix but the appointment of Harry Redknapp in March 2002 gave him a new lease of life. Despite originally being told by Redknapp he was not of Division One standard, let alone suitable for the Premiership, Primus proved his manager wrong by seizing his chance when other signings missed out through injury and suspension. By the end of the 2002-03 season he had become a vital member of the side that won the First Division title, winning the Portsmouth fans' player of the season as well as the PFA accolade for Division One [1]. Primus credits his renaissance to his conversion to Christianity[2] after his friend and Pompey team mate Darren Moore reintroduced him to the faith.

Despite the previous season's heroics, Primus was not used regularly in the early part of Pompey's first Premiership season. Harry Redknapp had ditched his 3-5-2 formation in favour of the more conventional 4-4-2 and partnered new record signing Dejan Stefanovic with Arjan de Zeeuw. During December Pompey were in a terrible run of form and Redknapp decided to bring one of his most reliable players back into his plans for the derby match with Southampton. In spite of a 3-0 loss, Primus retained his place in XI for the remainder of the season and again impressed greatly. The following season saw Primus remain a regular member of the Pompey team under first Redknapp and then both his successors, Velimir Zajec and Alain Perrin. He scored his first Premiership goal at Crystal Palace on Boxing Day 2004. [3]

Although Primus was a regular member of Perrin's team at the end of the 2004-05 season and captained the side on occasions during pre-season, he rarely featured until Perrin's sacking in November. The return of Harry Redknapp, one of Primus' biggest admirers, to Portsmouth lead to Primus' immediate return to the side, and he was an ever present in the side that achieved Premiership survival in the last 10 games of the season. The regularity of Pompey's runs of form coinciding with his presence in the team have led many fans to claim that he is the team's talisman. He is also something of a cult figure at Fratton Park and in the Portsmouth area in general, and he recently signed a new 2 year contract with the club.

At the start of the 2006-07 season, Primus has formed a formidable partnership with Sol Campbell. The last time he scored a goal for Portsmouth was Boxing Day 2004 and he made it again on Boxing Day 2006 against West Ham in Upton Park, but this time scoring two goals in the 17th and 38th minutes.

Primus is involved with Faith In Football, and walked the Great Wall of China in summer 2004 for the charity. [4] He was also involved in supporting the alpha course, courses run all over the world designed to explain Christian beliefs and promote discussion. He appeared in a cinema advert to promote this.[5][6] In December 2006 he took part in a Football Focus feature on faith in the game.

• Linvoy Primus Tactical Formations at Football-Lineups.com

• BBC profile
• Alpha advert
• Linvoy Primus career stats at Soccerbase