Portsmouth go into administration

[mizer]

Portsmouth, with debts of about £60m, have become the first Premier League club to enter administration.

 

The club will also be docked nine points as a result which means relegation is almost certain.

 

Pompey were due to face a winding-up order on 1 March but decided to go into administration unless a buyer for the club was found.

 

It was reported that four parties were considering a takeover but Thursday's deadline passed without a conclusion.

 

Administrator Andrew Andronikou, of insolvency experts UHY Hacker Young, now has the responsibility of beginning the process of cutting costs at the club to try to keep it as a viable entity.

 

It follows weeks of speculation over the survival of the cash-strapped south coast side and is a stark warning for all football clubs.

 

Portsmouth employ nearly 600 people - directly or indirectly - and accountant Nick O'Reilly of Vantis, who recently examined the club's books, said the club was "completely dysfunctional" and warned them to expect a "rocky" time ahead.

 

"The next few months are crucial to the business," he said. "People will lose jobs, but hopefully the club will come out the other side."

 

As well as struggling at the bottom of the Premier League, currently seven points behind second-placed Burnley, Portsmouth have suffered a catalogue of ongoing financial woe.

 

Players have been paid late on four occasions this season, while the club is also involved in a separate dispute with former owner Sacha Gaydamak over whether they have missed a deadline in paying a £9m chunk of the £28m they owe him.

 

The Premier League also withheld £2m of transfer payments and diverted a £7m slice of TV revenue to Chelsea and Watford to cover the signings of Glen Johnson and Tommy Smith.

 

They are also being sued by former defender Sol Campbell for £1.7m for unpaid image rights.

 

Despite their precarious financial position, O'Reilly believes the club will continue to exist, while former Pompey boss Paul Hart, sacked in November after just four months in charge, thinks administration could provide a platform for a "fresh start".

 

He told BBC Radio 5 live: "I think the club can be strong again if they use some foresight and planning and adopt a restructuring programme.

 

"It looks like administration is necessary and hopefully will give the club a chance to recover."

 

Hart added: "The supporters have been long suffering and there are some very good, conscientious people who work there we should be thinking about because their jobs are in a precarious position."

[dave_min]

Was reading that they've sold over £100million worth of players in the last 18 months, how can they still have £60million worth of debt on top of that?!

 

Anyway- Fuck them! Anybody we could sign on the cheap?

[Ptayles]

Was reading that they've sold over £100million worth of players in the last 18 months, how can they still have £60million worth of debt on top of that?!

 

Anyway- Fuck them! Anybody we could sign on the cheap?

Kanu?

[manc_don]

I actually feel bad for their fans. They have probably the best fans in the uk and its not their fault that the club has been run by arabic vultures.

[maverick sheep]

I actually feel bad for their fans. They have probably the best fans in the uk and its not their fault that the club has been run by arabic vultures.

 

Not just Arabic. Eastern European and Middle Eastern vultures plus a couple of the most blatantly corrupt Englishmen in sport. A cocktail like that would fuck anybody!

[Harcus]

As has been alluded to in other threads, it seems like something has to give in English football, and sooner rather than later. That's Pompey, Cardiff, Southend, Bournemouth all in serious financial trouble, as well as the arguably two biggest clubs in the country, Man Utd and Liverpool, saddled with hundreds of millions pounds worth of debts. Fucking great I say, anything to see the SPL gain some ground and credibility.

[Sharpie]

I actually feel bad for their fans. They have probably the best fans in the uk and its not their fault that the club has been run by arabic vultures.

 

Better than Burnley?

[manc_don]

Better than Burnley?

 

 

Aye

[mizer]

Rumours just out just now that the club are in liquidation.

[Kowalski]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/portsmouth/9120108.stm

[Madbadteacher]

Glug, glug, glug?

[Kowalski]

 

Do you think his wife warned him that he'd regret those tattoos one day?

[Madbadteacher]

Do you really think he has a wife?

[dave_min]

Do you really think he has a wife?

 

Perhaps he has a mail order Thai thing at home? 

[Madbadteacher]

Souldn't that be Thai Ting?

[dave_min]

Souldn't that be Thai Ting?

 

This is more your specialist subject than mine...

[maverick sheep]

For some reason this didn't even make BBC sportsday. Would've thought while Mandaric and Redknapp are in court someone would have thought the disgraceful state of Portsmouth a relevant story.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/16706372.stm

 

Portsmouth issued with HMRC winding-up petition

 

Portsmouth have been issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over unpaid tax.

 

A source at HMRC confirmed to BBC Radio Solent that the petition against Pompey over unpaid tax has been published.

 

Chief executive David Lampitt confirmed on Saturday that Pompey had failed to meet two payments to HMRC.

 

Portsmouth are searching for new owners after parent company Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI) entered administration in November.

 

"Ensuring tax is paid on time should be at the centre of a football club's business strategy just as it should be for any other enterprise," said a HMRC spokesman.

 

"Any business that regards paying tax as an optional extra after other expenses are met, or that uses tax collected from employees or customers as working capital, is potentially heading for trouble.

 

"It is only fair to those clubs and to other taxpayers who do meet their obligations that HMRC enforces payment of tax debts owed - and if need be, issues a winding up petition or seeks to appoint an administrator.

 

"There is little HMRC can do for a business - be it a football club or not - whose viability is dependent either on not paying the UK taxes to which they are liable, or on special treatment not available to other customers with similar tax affairs." (take note you hun scumbag cuntpunchers)

 

Italian businessman Joseph Cala pulled out of a deal to buy Pompey on Friday.

 

There is an urgency to complete a deal with fresh backers, as investment is needed if Portsmouth are to meet ongoing running costs.

 

"This period, while we search for a new owner, was always going to be difficult from a cash flow point of view," Lampitt said on Saturday.

 

"The club does not have the funding that would have been there if our previous owner had been in place. It has been a difficult two months to balance the financial position of the football club.

 

"We are in a difficult position and will remain in a difficult position until the ownership is sorted.

 

"For the time being, it is a matter between us and HMRC and we have to manage that as best we can."

 

CSI's administrator Andrew Andronikou said on Friday that he hoped to finalise a deal to find a new owner within a week.

 

He also revealed that Pompey has missed two payments of £800,000 to HMRC totalling £1.6m.

 

"The process of finding a new owner continues. We have got other interested parties, and we have had other interested parties all along," said Andronikou.

 

BBC South understands that any purchaser would need to provide £12m as proof of funds, and assurances they could meet another £20m in repayments to former creditors, Balram Chainrai and Alexandre Gaydamak.