Catlin pledges Pompey future

The chief executive is convinced the Blues are in safe hands following Tornante’s £5.67m takeover.

And they have swiftly moved to retain the services of Catlin, who has also been appointed to the club board.

He has spent more than four years at Fratton Park having been appointed in the aftermath of the High Court triumph.

And Catlin is delighted to secure his stay under the new owners.

He said: ‘I was quite happy carrying on with a very loose arrangement and they (Tornante) were quite adamant from pretty much a month ago they wanted me to sign a long-term deal.

‘I love the city, I love the club, I am settled here. I have always said I don’t want to go anywhere else and had no real problem putting pen to paper because it’s what I want.

‘To be fair, over quite a period of time I have had serious offers to go elsewhere and been adamant it’s not been about the money.

‘I felt I have built up a great rapport with the fanbase – so to go somewhere else again and have to rebuild would take a lot of work.

‘This is not a case of saying what fans want to hear, I genuinely believe they are unique and the best in the country. So why would I want to go to any other club?

‘I’ve always acted in the best interests of the club and made it clear to the prospective owners pretty early that they are a good fit – whether I stay or go is irrelevant. You have to do what’s best for the business, if you don’t feel I am good enough we will shake hands and I’ll move on.

‘But they were quite adamant from the start they wanted me to stay.’