Portsmouth chief Mark Catlin's 'cautious optimism' over £50m bailout - but warns why likes of Sunderland, Ipswich Town, Hull City and Charlton aren't safe yet

Mark Catlin admitted he has hope for the future of English football for the first time thanks to the prospect of a £50m EFL rescue package.
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The Pompey chief executive sounded a note of ‘cautious optimism’ for lower league clubs, and their chances of surviving the imminent threat of financial meltdown through the coronavirus pandemic.

But Catlin stressed agreement over a bailout for League One and League Two outfit are still to be reached, and their hopes of clubs remaining in existence rest in the detail of a deal with the Premier League.

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The EFL last night released a statement over positive discussions for a bailout, indexed to lost gate revenue for clubs through the crisis.

Catlin explained the breakthrough came with Championship clubs stepping aside, to allow second and third tier clubs to receive their critical financial lifeline.

With talk of £20m being grants and £30m loans, there’s still work to be done to finalise the bailout - but the Pompey CEO can now see a way forward for the English game.

Catlin said: ‘For the first time, I have a real degree of cautious optimism, and I haven’t had that since the start of the pandemic.

Mark Catlin, CEO of Portsmouth Football Club at Fratton Park, Portsmouth on 16 September 2020.

Picture: Habibur RahmanMark Catlin, CEO of Portsmouth Football Club at Fratton Park, Portsmouth on 16 September 2020.

Picture: Habibur Rahman
Mark Catlin, CEO of Portsmouth Football Club at Fratton Park, Portsmouth on 16 September 2020. Picture: Habibur Rahman
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‘There’s a general euphoria a deal’s done, though, and that’s not the case.

‘There’s been positive movement, however, and I believe some key principles have been agreed with regard to a £50m bailout for League One and League Two teams, not being

dependent on the Championship.

‘We were adamant the deal had to be all-encompassing, but the big breakthrough was the Championship graciously saying they didn’t want to see any League One or League Two

clubs go to the wall while they were waiting for a deal.

‘It’s a massive step forward and the Premier League will look to take away a lot of the strings and attachments which were aligned to the original bailout, if not all of them.

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‘I feel a lot more positive than I have since the start of lockdown there will be some help for clubs now.

‘There’s work to be done on the split because a loan is just piling debt on clubs and kicking the can down the road.

‘But, on the whole, the principles of what (EFL chairman) Rick (Parry) spoke about was acceptable to most League One clubs, although he was at pains to say a deal is far from done.

‘We just have to see what the final deal is in black and white now, though, because at the moment it’s verbal and there’s nothing that’s a written offer. The devil will be in the detail.

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‘But this is a week to be positive and not negative - it’s a long time since I’ve been able to say that.’

Catlin has repeatedly asserted the severity of the problems Pompey face, as they haemorrhage £700,000 a month with football continuing behind closed doors.

Redundancies have been a very real prospect for the Blues, who are battling to run a sustainable business operation under Michael Eisner.

A suggestion owners’ wealth could be factored into the equation when distributing the money failed to gain traction, with Catlin supporting the gate revenue losses as the fairest

way to consider spreading the bailout among members.

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He said: ‘I don’t think you can means test owners. That would be a crazy situation.

‘The clubs are businesses in their own right and we’ve consistently said we operate a break-even model here.

‘The safest, surest and most equitable way to deal with this is based upon lost gate receipts.

‘The figure being mentioned won’t cover that, but it will go some way towards it - which is a great help to Portsmouth and clubs in League One and League Two.

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‘It (lost gate revenue) is the metric which has been mentioned through these discussions, and it’s the fairest way to deal with it.

‘If the bailout is to stem losses, what have those losses been? Supporters not being able to attend.’

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