Portsmouth owner’s academy admission as he eyes accelerating development with dome vision

But the Blues owner insisted spending on developing the club’s youth system has mushroomed in his six-year tenure - and he’s eyeing building a dome as part of its growth moving forward.

Eisner acknowledged, however, he still struggles to comprehend how a system is in place where the club can lose assets through the Elite Player Performance Plan (EPPP) introduced in 2012.

Eisner made a series of commitments when pitching to buy Pompey in 2017, when he spoke to Pompey Supporters’ Trust at Portsmouth Guildhall.

Amid that address he stated work on the club’s training base ‘will enable the club to increasingly rely on homegrown players’. He then added ‘homegrown talent, grow your own talent and the academy (will) pay off: that is the only way to run it’.

Eisner stated his grasp of the EPPP system, where players can be taken by other academies for training compensation many see as a fraction of their potential value, wasn’t what it now is.

Yet the American billionaire still does see the value of the academy both to the first team and Pompey’s identity, as he showed confidence in current academy manager Greg Miller, who arrived in 2021.

Eisner said: ‘I think that’s fair (that the academy hasn’t progressed as quickly as hoped).

‘I didn’t really understand, and I still don’t, the whole academy structure.

‘I do understand Category 1 versus Category 3, but I don’t understand that you develop a kid all the way along and then you can lose him to a big team and they can give you a little bit of money for that. Some of that is hard for me understand.

‘I think now I understand better and Andrew (Cullen) has really made an effort (to educate him). We had a whole presentation with Greg Miller - he seems to be doing a great job.

‘I think the key is twofold. If we have a good academy it’s good for the first team. If we have a good academy we will have academy players making it into the first team - which is good for the fanbase.

‘The fanbase likes some local representation on the team - and that’s the best way to get it. I think that is happening and will happen more.

‘You look at Southampton, they used to have this great academy and were selling players all over the place. Some of the teams in Holland do that well, too.

‘I think we are now spending two or three times as much on the academy as we used to - so hopefully that will come to pass.’

If Pompey were to make the transition from their current Category 3 status to Category 2 they would need to build an indoor facility, along with a string of other commitments and improvements.

Owners Tornante bought the club’s Roko base in 2021 for £3m and have spent on upgrading facilities, overhauling Pompey Health & Fitness Club and also moving the academy and first team to its main building.

Directors Andy Redman and Eric Eisner told The News earlier this year, the club are also looking at securing land to bring the academy under one umbrella.

Eisner added: ‘It also helps that we bought Roko.

‘The purchase was the least expensive part of that, then we had to do with the swimming pool and getting the first team into the building.

‘Then it was getting better pitches out there and eventually having a dome.’