THIS WEEK IN 1986: Portsmouth FC debt debate kept secret

At a meeting a motion put forward by Labour members demanding a public debate on the £20,000 debt, was overwhelmingly rejected by the Alliance and Tory parties.

Members of the press and public were excluded from the meeting while the authority considered the matter.

A confidential report revealing the club owed police £20,000 was disclosed by the Labour group’s police authority spokesman and Paulsgrove councillor John Attrill.

Urging the authority not to hush-up the issue, he complained that the debt was a matter of public concern.

‘We are not talking about a couple of pennies – we are talking about a football club that is trying to take this authority for a ride,’ he said.

Clerk Robin Hodgson stressed that it was normal practice for the authority to discuss the financial affairs of organisations as confidential business.

At the end of the debate Labour members declined to make a public statement.