Six weeks left to find buyer or Pompey will finally run out of cash
MEETING Administrators Bryan Jackson, left, and Trevor Birch address the fans forum last night and inset, from left, Mr Birch, Bob Beech from SOS Pompey and Mick Williams from Pompey Supporters Trust. Pictures: Allan Hutchings (120615-495 and 517)
THE man holding the purse-strings at Fratton Park says it’s ‘touch and go’ whether Pompey will survive its second administration in two years.
Trevor Birch of accountancy firm PKF told a meeting of Pompey fans last night that the club only had enough money to survive until the middle of April.
It has accumulated debts of between £40m and £50m, which include old debt from the last time the club went into administration, in 2010, and around £8m which has been run up in the last two years.
And despite the club’s bank accounts being unfrozen, staff have still not been paid, redundancies have been announced and there have been cuts to working hours and players are due to be asked today to defer their wages until the end of the season.
Mr Birch said: ‘This is because the cash is going to run out quite quickly, by the middle of April.
‘At the moment it is going to be touch and go.
‘We’ve got very little income to play with.’
There is also a possibility, he added, that if Pompey are relegated again the Premier League could decide to ask all the Premiership teams whether the club should get the remainder of its parachute payments – the money it is paid when it is relegated from the top flight.
He also told fans he does not want to start selling the first round of 2012/2013 season tickets early.
He said: ‘What we’re reluctant to do is take money from supporters and then the worst-case scenario happens, the club is liquidated and the fans’ money is then used to pay for the administration.’
The future looks bleak, and Mr Birch said there is no potential buyer waiting in the wings to save the club.
But what began as a stark assessment of the precarious position the club is in turned into a talk of hope.
He said: ‘I can’t believe I am saying this, but my gut feeling is that we will be able to sell.’
Mr Birch was asked by fans about the land surrounding Fratton Park, which still belongs to former Pompey owner Sacha Gaydamak, and which became a ‘ransom strip’ during negotiations to save the club last time round in October 2010.
It is vital to the future of the club because any development of Fratton Park would need to use it.
Mr Gaydamak used the land – and a debt – as a bargaining chip as he and former Pompey owner Balram Chainrai were business rivals.
Mr Birch said: ‘That’s something we’re going to have to address pretty quickly to attract new owners.’
He added that negotiations between Mr Gaydamak and prospective owners could become easier, as Balram Chainrai is no longer the owner.
But Mr Birch said: ‘I haven’t had a conversation with [Mr Gaydamak’s people] about it yet.’
Fans were reassured when Mr Birch said it would be he who sets the selling price for the club, and not Mr Chainrai, who still holds a debenture – similar to a bank holding a mortgage – over the club.
And he added: ‘I’m an officer of the court and I can sell it for whatever I think it’s worth, whatever I can get for it.’
And when asked whether he would be prepared to address the fans again before the end of the season, he nodded and said: ‘I’ll do whatever people think is the right thing for me to do.’
The meeting was held in a cold Victory Lounge, though the administrator got a warm reception from fans when he arrived shortly before 7pm.
Mr Birch was accompanied by joint administrator Bryan Jackson,
The pair were given a round of applause by fans at the end of the meeting, and stayed to speak directly to those who attended the meeting and had extra questions.
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Portsmouth
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 14 C to 24 C
Wind Speed: 24 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 13 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South
Comments
There are 59 comments to this article
Page 1 of 4
leggo
Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 05:35 AMI sometimes think it might have been better to have been declared insolvent 2 years ago.We would be on the way back up now.
westendsaint
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 11:20 AMFaced with the unpalatable facts at PFC, most genuine fans are now waking up to the reality. IT IS NOT JUST POMPEY. We used to say the game belongs to the man in the street, but sadly that ceased a long time back. How can that be any longer when (I think I am correct) when the average seat at Chelsea is now around £48.00 per game. A large proportion of the crown at Stamford Bridge is corporate led, with directors entertaining their clients - & secretaries! The big clubs are no longer interested in the average fan - they concentrate on corporate boxes etc. I think at the Emirates(Arsenal) a ten year lease on a box is a couple of million pounds. I fewel sure most on this site will agree with me that one of the worst things that happened to football in this country was SKY TV. IOt simply dumped millions into the hands of clubs who had no sense of responsibility in how to handle it. Many premier league clubs spend the tv money a season before they get it. Pompey have lived far beyond their means for years & it beggars belief that, between two administreations, fees & salaries were agreed with players way beyond their worth and we now know that monies due to other clubs had not be paid. Let,s hope there is a way out of this mess but I personally am not optomistic.
rendle
Friday, February 24, 2012 at 06:25 AMLet's be honest football has become a complete joke. The Premier League is all about who has got access to the most funds. 4-5 clubs have billionaires funding them and the rest are the cannon fodder that feeds the whole thing. The fans are conned into believing they are watching the greatest league in the world by the media, who all have mega bucks invested in making the fans believe the it. We all squabble among our selves slagging each other off because we have fallen for the BS. In reality 4-5 clubs dominate the scene while the rest tear themselves apart trying to become part of the action, with no hope whatsoever. Pompey are the first to cop it big time because 1) they had a backer who knew nothing about football and 2) The GFC came along and he did a runner. Now we are faced with oblivion. What a schmozzle. And so it goes on and we won't be the last. Football has out priced itself and eventually the fans everywhere will get the message. Yep I'll support Pompey in any league we end up in. However the King is naked and I'm not blind.
chunky39 was 37
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 11:47 PMWell, what astate of affairs.. how did it ever get to this?! Surely there must be legal ramifications against those at fault? Okay, maybe not in todays disparate society... If you dont want a plan b though, if that terrible thing happens, fair enough. But personally I would support a pheonix club always rather than nothing. I understand why people want out of football as it is, the whole game is rotten at the top levels.
AussiePompey
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:46 PM@44 You've said it all mate.My first vist to Fratton was as a 6 year old with my dad ( who watched us win the Cup and both league titles ) in 1970.Have lived Downunder for the last 22 years, and all my 3 lads are ardent supporters.Will be coming over in march and have tickets for the Hull,Burnley and Millwall games.Breaks my heart to think this could be the last time I see my beloved Pompey.If the worst happens, that's the end of football for me.Keep the flag flying mate, and here's hoping.PUP.
Les5tar
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 10:18 PMSurely the real issue is that the FL did not do its homework on the new owners and should be castigated for what they allowed to happen. I don't subscribe to notion that club has been cheating by employing new playing staff when it couldn't afford them if the new owners had sanctioned them. Lets not forget that there are many more potential 'Portsmouths' out there and all that has happened is that Pompey are the first example of what can be described as victims of the greed of players, their agents and the media. Murdoch and his sky sports are the lie at the root of this problem with the FL happy to take the money and run. Oh and to all you Saints supporters and Pompey ones alike who keep slagging each others teams off - You're all deluded by a false sense of injustice . It would be nice once this episode is over to think both sets of fans could live to tolerate each other and just get on with life.
blueshirt
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 04:30 PMcheffy.. your comments appreciated. i know most genuine saints fans are also genuine football fans and no fan wants to see anothe club fold.. best of luck and much appreciated!
cheffy
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 02:33 PM@ 44 Totally agree with your view. If you do fold I don't think it will be long before others follow. I still hope you will be O.K. and someone out there will step in and keep you going. Most genuine Saints fans want you to survive, we both need that local rivalry. Hope you make it
piers657
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 02:22 PMDo we really need Sc..mm as a feeder club?
piers657
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 02:06 PMSo, The debt has to be sorted. But, How much would it cost to buy us. Would they accept a pound and walkaway? I wonder if Harry is up for an investment?
oldredeye
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 02:05 PM35 - Not sure what you mean by that? care to explain?
Amesbury Blu
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:49 PMFFS ......................PACK THE PARK!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Amesbury Blu
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:48 PMComment removed by moderator
pompeyfanfor60years
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:45 PMAll the people saying play the kids. Which kids are they then as apparantly none of ours are on pro contracts and a mysterious new rule says they cant play without these contracts. Webster is now the only one who has one and as we are not allowed to issue contracts while in admin can you explain how we can do it.
trickymarble
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 01:43 PM43 Play up Bompey. Weymouth are more your size..or bigger
Page 1 of 4
Your view
Please sign in to be able to comment on this story.