Pompey chief's warning over reality of money earned by Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Bristol Rovers, Oxford United, Bolton and rest of EFL through Covid pandemic

The Blues chief executive praised his club’s commercial team for the innovative work they are carrying out in trying to offset the massive losses created by football being behind closed doors.

But he stated the reality is those efforts pale in comparison to the huge figures the club continue to haemorrhage.

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Catlin has confirmed Pompey are continue to battle a shortfall of £700,000 each month since fans were stopped from attending games in March.

That’s with ticket sales and hospitality accounting for £7.44m of the club’s £11.5m turnover in their most recent accounts.

Catlin explained the club are ready to host fans at Fratton Park in December, if the government give the green light for a return.

The News understands, however, the costs incurred from accommodating 1,000 fans would see such events ran at a loss.

Details are being awaited over a £50m bailout for League One and League Two sides, with a breakthrough seemingly reached last week.

Meanwhile, The FA Cup has provided a revenue stream with £92,629 generated from broadcast and prize money to date, with another £34,000 pocketed if Pompey beat King’s Lynn in the second round.

Showing games through iFollow brings in further income along with sponsorship and flexi-season tickets, but Catlin explained the money earned should be kept in context with losses from fans not being present.

He said: ‘All the little bits help.

‘When I quote the loss of revenue due to no matchday income, supporters not being able to attend, season-ticket holders and corporate hospitality, that’s negated in some small way by the money we get out of the FA Cup and such like.

‘The money you get out of the FA Cup for you, me and The News readers is a large amount.

‘But in the scheme of what it costs to run a football club, it’s relatively tiny.

‘Be that as it may, it’s still very helpful

‘It’s a little bit like iFollow, too.

‘We’re working really hard behind the scenes to just chip away at the monthly loss in revenue to negate it the best way we can.

‘Our commercial team as always is being very innovative and we’ve had to make huge cost-saving acts across the business.

‘We’ve got that balance right, but it’s still negligible to what a club the size of Portsmouth is losing, because our matchday revenue is responsible for almost three quarters of our total income.’

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