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Pay up Pompey

vicky-27

By vicky-27
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CumbrianRam

CumbrianRam

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Greg Clarke insists Portsmouth will be thrown out of the Football League if the club fails to exit administration by the summer.

The Football League chairman indicated the body are becoming weary by the lack of progress at the League One outfit, who have twice entered administration since 2009.

A supporters group are attempting to take control of the stricken Fratton Park club, but Clarke admits time is running out.

"Portsmouth are at the last chance saloon. They can't enter another season in administration," Clarke said. "So they either sort themselves out before the start of next season or they are out of the Football League.

"The Football League has given them every opportunity and the administrators have given them every opportunity for the fans to buy the club - they are now the preferred bidder.

"They are going to the High Court. They are trying to get a deal which they can afford on the stadium so they'll have somewhere to play football.

"And we are hopeful, because there are a lot of committed people in Portsmouth trying to get this right and end up with a fan-owned club that will operate the club in the long term interests of continuing football in the city and the Football League are right behind that."

http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11674/8434030/Portsmouth-will-be-thrown-out-of-the-Football-League-if-the-club-remains-in-administration

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eddie

eddie

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That article is utterly frightening, and one that I expect to see repeated time and time again in years to come.

Parasites.

I do feel for Pompey fans who are just bewildered at what has happened to their club. Thank goodness we got rid of Shifty, Fatty and their cronies a few years ago, and we managed to avoid the equally questionable SISU after that (who Sleightholme and Keith would have sold to if the Co-Op hadn't pulled the rug from under them).

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G STAR RAM

G STAR RAM

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So much for the FA, League, whoever, doing their "Fit and proper person" test.

I always think this 'fit and proper' thing is a load of ****** anyway.

Are they expecting the thieving bar stewards to just come clean and admit they are crooks?!

Not sure about the guy, but did he have previous?

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CumbrianRam

CumbrianRam

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How many more chances will they get?

The High Court hearing to determine the future of Portsmouth has been adjourned for a fourth time.

It is understood an issue between the Professional Footballers' Association and administrators PKF is the reason for the adjournment.

"Following on from the Football League statement we continue to work with PST as preferred bidders and prepare for court application," said PKF.

The hearing has now been adjourned for a further seven days until 21 February.

Who is who in Pompey saga

PST - The Supporters' Trust hoping to buy Portsmouth Football Club.

PKF - The administrators dealing with the sale of Pompey.

Portpin - Former owners of the club, led by Balram Chainrai, who are also vying for control of Pompey.

Walker Morris - Law firm representing Portpin/Chainrai.

Sacha Gaydamak - Proprietor of land around Fratton Park owned through Miland Developments.

David Rubin & Partners LLP - Administrators of Miland Developments.

REL - Robinson Estates Limited

Keith Harris - Former Football League chairman and former head of investment bank Seymour Pearce

Pompey have been in administration since February 2012 and are said to be around £61m in debt.

The preferred bidders, Pompey Supporters' Trust, have been approved by the Football League as well as the club's creditors.

But the Trust's takeover is conditional on the group taking control of the club's Fratton Park stadium.

The ground is currently controlled by the club's former owner, Balram Chainrai, who is owed £12m by Pompey and holds the stadium as security via a fixed charge.

The PST had offered Chainrai £3m for the ground but the Hong Kong businessman has so far refused to sell.

PKF are attempting to force the sale of Fratton Park through the High Court, as well as seek an independent valuation, although the hearing has been adjourned several times.

Last week football financier Keith Harris launched a rival bid for the club but that was rejected by the Football League.

In a statement released last week the Football League said: "Any change of preferred bidder at such a late stage would only create further uncertainty.

"[it is] not in the wider interests of the League and its member clubs."

But BBC Radio Solent understands that the PFA wants more clarity over the rival Harris bid, in particular their stated aim of paying football creditors more promptly.

The PST is expected to release a statement later on Wednesday giving its thoughts on the latest adjournment.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/21444012

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eddie

eddie

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Last chance at the moment, and the fact that the case has been adjourned once more is not in their favour.

As I understand it, they will not be able to come out of administration until the preferred bidder (Pompey supporters Trust) can acquire the club.

They cannot acquire the club unless Chainrai sell them the ground.

Chainrai is holding the ground as security against an alleged 12m debt.

Pompey have to be out of administration by the end of this season or they will be thrown out of the league.

Adjourning the case once again plays into Chainrai's hands. Bye bye Fratton Park, hello new supermarket or houses (which was probably Chainrai's intention the whole time)

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CumbrianRam

CumbrianRam

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Shows you how much money they were spending which they didn't have.

Arsenal legend Kanu revealed he had written off £3million from crisis club ­Portsmouth after announcing his retirement.

Nigerian international Kanu launched a legal case against Pompey following leaving Fratton Park after a six year stint in 2012.

The striker, who scored the winner in the club’s 2008 FA Cup final win over Cardiff, said: “I can now reveal the story that has been around since I left Portsmouth. I did not ask the club for millions of pounds, I dropped the whole matter of wage money because I know the club was in big problems.

“The reason I have not returned is because I feel it is time for me to hang my boots up as a player. I will be coaching and promoting my foundation through football.

 

“The thing that makes me the most mad is that the media have got the story completely wrong. Life goes on and forgiveness is number one for me.

“I just enjoy life and hope the best for my former team.”

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/arsenal-legend-kanu-reveals-wrote-1798772

Also at the end of this season Pompey will either be relegated to League Two with a takeover before the end of the season with a 10 points deduction, currently 3 behind, 4 games left. You do the maths or expelled from the Football League.

If they finish above relegation zone before points deducted they get taken away this season, below and they get taken off next.

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eddie

eddie

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Pompey really, REALLY need to finish clear of the bottom 4 to ensure that they start next season in League 2 on zero and not -10. Then maybe, just maybe, they can start to turn the ship around.

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CumbrianRam

CumbrianRam

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Portsmouth fans celebrate 'historic day' as deal done for Fratton Park

• Agreement means Supporters Trust can seal takeover

• Portsmouth will become largest fan-owned club

• David Conn on the Portsmouth takeover saga

The Portsmouth Supporters Trust is set to take control of the club after a deal was done over Fratton Park.

Amid celebratory scenes in the high court from the fans who will now become its owners, Portsmouth Football Club has been saved from liquidation after an 11th hour deal between its administrators and the former owner of the club.

The out-of-court settlement, between administrators BDO and Balram Chainrai's Portpin, finally draws a line under a lengthy and at times bizarre saga of chronic mismanagement under a series of owners that resulted in the club collapsing into administration twice in two years.

Under the deal, which is understood to involve Chainrai accepting the £3m for Fratton Park that the Portsmouth Supporters Trust always insisted it was worth, as well as a six-figure sum to cover costs and compensation, the club will become the largest yet to be owned by its fans.

Ashley Brown, the chairman of the PST, which will become 51% shareholders in the club under the new structure, said it was a "historic day", adding: "We're incredibly pleased. It's been a draining fight, but we've achieved what we set out to do."

He said the club, virtually certain to go down to League Two once a 10 point penalty is imposed by the Football League when it exits administration, could now begin the long climb back up the divisions.

"We now want to look to the future. We've got a clean break and we've now got a football club that is owned by the fans, owned by people who love it. We're going to have a football club that is run sustainably, transparently and in the proper manner."

On a dramatic day in court 30 of the Rolls Building annexe of the high court, Justice Peter Smith twice adjourned proceedings so he could read new paperwork and was then told an out-of-court settlement had been reached. To his growing irritation, there was a lengthy delay while it was drawn up and it reached court shortly before 4pm.

When the judge finally said that the deal would leave the Trust in a position to take over the club, a beaming Iain McInnes, the local businessman who will become chairman, hugged everyone in the courtroom as Mick Williams, a Trust board member, wiped away a tear.

The Trust has been in pole position to buy the club since the Football League made clear that its bid was the only one it would approve and set a deadline of the end of April for its future to be resolved. But the deal was complicated by a last-ditch bid from a consortium represented by the football dealmaker Keith Harris, who offered £6.3m for the club.

He later resubmitted an offer purely for Fratton Park, without the club attached. Harris continued to insist that the Football League position remained unclear and that his bid offered the club a better chance of survival, but late on Tuesday Chainrai moved to negotiate a settlement with BDO.

It brings to an end the latest chapter of uncertainty over the future of the club, which became the first Premier League side to collapse into administration in 2010 with debts of £117m and has been in freefall since. The club's administrator, BDO's Trevor Birch, went to court to secure an order from a judge forcing Chainrai to sell the ground for £3m – despite a larger offer from a rival consortium led by Harris.

Chainrai held a charge over Fratton Park dating from the first administration. The Russian banker Vladimir Antonov, to whom he sold the club, was later charged by the Lithuanian prosecutor-general with bank fraud – a charge he denies – and the club went into administration for a second time in February last year.

Under the new ownership structure around 2,000 fans have pledged almost £2m, a significant proportion of which has been placed in Escrow. There are also a number of "presidents", who are wealthy fans who have each invested more than £50,000, raising around £1.5m that is also in Escrow. In addition, the property investor Stuart Robinson has purchased the land around Fratton Park and will loan £1.2m to the Trust towards the initial purchase of the ground.

Around £9m in parachute payments due from the Premier League will immediately be used to settle football creditors, while other creditors are expected to receive just a couple of pence in the pound.

Birch, a former professional footballer and the former chief executive at Chelsea, Everton and Leeds United, said that other clubs could now look to follow Portsmouth's example. Swansea City, in which fans have a 20% stake, have been held aloft recently as the "ideal" model of club ownership by Premier League chief executive, Richard Scudamore. Other fan-run clubs include Exeter City and AFC Wimbledon.

"For some clubs it's definitely a model to look at very carefully. For a club like this that has been through so much, it almost needs to return to the fans for a bit of TLC," said Birch. He said the club was "very close" to going bust throughout the 15 months when he had been in charge as administrator.

"In the early days, people got sick of me saying it might go into liquidation. And if it had and the stadium had been lost, it may never have reappeared."

As he spoke, the local businessmen and Trust members who will now be charged with not only getting Portsmouth back on to an even keel but become standard bearers for fan ownership burst into a chorus of the Pompey Chimes in front of the court.

"I shed some tears in court because it's a fantastic day for the football club. I always believed we'd do it," said McInnes.

"It's been my job to hold everyone together. It's about the long-suffering fans of Portsmouth Football Club who hopefully don't have to suffer any longer. What everyone underestimated from the word go was the togetherness that has been forged. We've won the war, now we have to win the peace."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/10/portsmouth-future-fratton-park-ownership
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