By Andrew Warshaw
February 18 – A consortium led by Keith Harris, former chairman of the Football League but in recent years a leading football financier acting for a number of high-profile clients, has not given up taking over Portsmouth in yet another new twist to the biggest soap opera in English football ownership.
And in a canny sweetener to fans, the group is offering supporters a chance to own 15% of the club.
Harris’ group has so far met with strong resistance by the Football League who are keen for the Pompey Supporters’ Trust, with 100% fan ownership, to be the only bid considered for taking the club forward after being in administration for almost exactly one year with debts of about £61m.
A High Court ruling on the value of the stadium and future ownership has been postponed several times but Harris’ group said it has a strong business plan including offering to cut the cost of existing season tickets and allow a fans representative to sit on the board.
Harris’ two co-investors have now been named as Pascal Najadi and Alan Hitchins and made it clear they are in no way connected with Portpin, the company run by former Pompey boss Balram Chainrai, which still owns the club’s stadium. They also insisted they have the funds up front and will not need any of the kind of loans or third-party deals that have plagued the stricken club in the past.
“Our bid is not dependent on court applications, loans from local authorities, property developers or any other third parties, and most importantly is not dependent upon the hard earned money of supporters whose passion and loyalty alone should provide them with the opportunity of ownership of the club,” the group said.
‘Our passion for Portsmouth reflects the passion of every single supporter of the club – stability, security for the future, and success on the pitch.’
“The club’s supporters are essential to the future success of Portsmouth, and one of the key aspects to this offer, which has been put to the administrators, is that supporters will have a 15% stake in the ownership of the club.”
PST spokesman Colin Farmery said he did not understand why the Harris group was still persisting in its bid, other than to stop the fans running the club.
“The Football League has made it patently clear it will only deal with the PST,” Farmery said. “I can’t understand why this statement has been made at this particular time, when our bid to buy the club is virtually complete.’
Whilst it is understandable, given the succession of previous investors, that the new bid has been met with suspicion, Harris’s group ensured Pompey fans that they had the best interests of the club at heart – and provided the better option for long-term stability.
“From the outset of our bid being announced on February 7, we have sought to involve all supporters in our plans, and this includes any supporters involved with the PST proposal,” said Harris.
“We therefore felt we should take this opportunity to explain that our offer involves giving the fans a real stake in the future of the club, and we would be delighted to explain the full detail of our plans with any of the club’s supporter groups – whether based in the UK or overseas.
‘We believe this provides the best combined opportunity for the fans, for HMRC, for other creditors, and will, most importantly, put the club on a secure financial footing after a number of turbulent years – and enable us all, together, to build for the future.
‘Our bid is ready to complete immediately so that the Club can exit Administration and so remove the uncertainty surrounding the club. It will also allow Portsmouth to exit administration with an approved CVA as required under the Football League regulations.
“Negotiations to purchase the Club from the administrators and a payment plan to satisfy the PFA have now been completed and the agreements are ready for signature.
“Our bid has the full support of the creditors’ committee including HMRC and the PFA as it gives a much greater return to creditors than the PST proposal. It also complies fully with the terms of the CVA.
“The option to acquire the stadium from the current owners is in an agreed form and will be completed immediately following the takeover. We recognise that this is pivotal to placing the club on a secure future footing in the wider community.
“The only outstanding issue remains the consent of The Football League, and all paperwork in that regard including the business plan, and stadium lease and purchase, are available for immediate consideration by the Board of The Football League.”
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