Portsmouth is known for the dedication of its fans, but they have suffered more than any other club from financial problems beyond their control in recent years. Now a fresh crisis has developed at the club which could see them go into administration. They would then face a points deduction which would place them at risk of being relegated into League 1.
Portsmouth is known for the dedication of its fans, but they have suffered more than any other club from financial problems beyond their control in recent years. Now a fresh crisis has developed at the club which could see them go into administration. They would then face a points deduction which would place them at risk of being relegated into League 1.
The club’s parent company Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) has gone into administration, leading to the resignation of Vladimir Antonov as Portsmouth chairman. Whether this will lead to a points deduction depends largely on whether some of the club debt has been transferred to CSI.
Former owner Balram Chainrai instructed law firm Walker Morris to initiate the administration process after he failed to receive interest payments scheduled as part of Antonov’s takeover of Portsmouth. Chainrai is owed £17m for that deal. He felt confident about making the loan because Lithuanian bank Snoras had guaranteed the debt. Antonov owned 68 per cent of the bank.
From my own knowledge of Lithuania I would not have been so confident. I did manage to upset some people there with a speech which was seen as an interference in internal affairs, although it was subsequently translated and published.
In any event Snoras was nationalised last week after regulators discovered a huge shortfall in assets. Antonov is on bail in connection with alleged fraud and money laundering offences.
In the Coalition Agreement , the Government said that it favoured the wider use of mutual forms of ownership for football clubs. I am not convinced they are a panacea for debt problems. Barcelona has managed to run up massive debts and club presidents elected by the fans are under tremendous pressure to spend to ensure success.
Having said that, the formula seems to have worked at non-league level and a number of new legal forms are available (on which I gave a presentation some time ago to the strategy group of my own non-league club). If there was ever an opportunity to see if mutual ownership could work with a major club, Portsmouth would seem to offer a good case. Of course, one of the challenges would be to find funding, although other fans will often come to the aid of fans in difficulty.
After a succession of owners what the club badly needs is some stability so that fans can focus on the action on the pitch rather than off it.