'Insane': Eric Eisner's sustainability pledge as Portsmouth prepare for Championship financial challenge

Eric Eisner has pledged Pompey will continue to operate ‘sustainable football’ in the Championship.

The Blues may presently be debt-free, yet they will be challenged financially to compete with recently-relegated Premier League clubs, rivals bolstered by parachute payments, and those spending significantly to achieve promotion ambition.

Since Tornante took over the Blues in August 2017, they have injected an additional £25m in equity, primarily funding Fratton Park and training ground redevelopment.

Nonetheless, the owners consider Pompey a sustainable business in footballing terms.

And board member Eric, son of chairman Michael, is adamant they can maintain that approach when stepping into the Championship.

He told The News: ‘It’s football but you also have to make it a business, which is why we preach sustainable football.

‘There are teams which do it the right way, Brighton I know, Exeter I know, these are examples. It has worked out for Ipswich, but sustainable football is something in the future people will look at because, if not, it just doesn’t make sense.

‘It’s about being sustainable per division. The losses that people have chasing in the Championship are insane, so we’re going to apply our same strategy - young players.

‘That’s Rich Hughes picking young players which can develop into assets and develop on the pitch. We’ll use that nucleus, just like this season.

‘What is sustainability? Definitely not losing £11-16m dollars a year, that’s unsustainable because that doesn’t work out long-term, you don’t want to end up like certain owners who have done that. Sustainable is running a sustainable business.

‘We are among the few that run sustainable football and I think a lot of people are looking at us because nobody goes into this business wanting to lose money. At some point, the money in football will dry up.

‘The Premier League need to wake up and give their percentage to the Championship and flow down to League One and League Two, that’s a bigger decision.

‘But you can’t have a system where everybody in the second-highest division is losing money, every single year. Eventually the well will dry up.’

In March, Pompey posted losses of £3.09m in accounts filed at Companies House for the year ending June 30, 2023.

That was slightly up from £2.9m in previous accounts, representing losses over three consecutive years.

However, Tornante invested another £7m to finance club operations to ensure the Blues enter the Championship remaining debt-free.

Eisner added: ‘I use the analogy where you must build the stage before you hire the actors. Now the stage is built - then it’s all about getting the right players.

‘We are absolutely on that path now, which is why you hire good management, a good team. John (Mousinho) develops players great and Rich (Hughes) picks players great, while you also have John’s staff.

‘Marlon Pack tells me they almost go harder in training than the games, which shows there’s a very competitive environment in place.’