By Andrew Warshaw
February 22 – The future of Portsmouth football club, which has been in administration for a year with debts of about £60m, looks set to be finally settled – but maybe not for another two months.
After a succession of High Court postponements, a judge ruled the case should be heard by April 19, in theory giving all parties sufficient time to resolve any remaining differences.
Lawyers warned that if the hearing stretched into the summer, Portsmouth – founded in 1898 and twice League Champions and FA Cup winners – might be out of business.
Portsmouth are currently are bottom of League One – the third tier of English football – and face a further 10-point deduction when they exit administration, almost certainly resulting in another relegation to the bottom run of the Football League pyramid.
Administrators have struck a landmark deal to sell the club to a community buyout led by the Pompey Supporters’ Trust. But the sale, which would represent English football’s largest fan ownership scheme, has been blocked by former owner Balram Chainrai’s company Portpin, which has a charge – the equivalent of a mortgage – on the club’s antiquated but historic Fratton Park ground.
Chainrai is reportedly seeking anywhere between £7 million and £12 million to set aside the charge but the fans, having obtained five independent valuations, believe £3m is a more realistic price. If Chainrai wins in court, the club is likely to be liquidated. Hence the hope of an out-of-court settlement.
English football’s longest running ownership saga has been further complicated by a rival bid from a consortium led by football financier Keith Harris which, so far at least, has been rejected by the Football League but which is unlikely simply to disappear with so much at stake.
The precise court date for what should be a final hearing will be confirmed in the next few days. Ashley Brown, chairman of the PST, declared: “Our bid is fully funded and ready to go and we hope a date can be found in the near future to resolved this matter so the Trust can start the job of rebuilding the club. The Football League has also cleared up any confusion by making it clear for a third time that it will only consider a bid from PST.”
“Our bid has widespread support, including from Portsmouth City Council, our property partner Stuart Robinson, local and national politicians, Supporters Direct and, most importantly thousands of loyal Pompey fans who have backed the club financially when it needed it most.
“They have done this by either buying shares, attending matches or, most importantly in the case of our high net worth investors, by underwriting the club’s losses in the autumn. Without them the club may have already disappeared.”
Portsmouth’s rapid fall from grace was illustrated Wednesday night when two former players, Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sulley Muntari, scored the goals to give AC Milan an upset 2-0 win over Barcelona in the Champions League.
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