Pay Up Pompey,Pompey Pay Up!

[Batch]

It was reported that they were over £100m in debt when AA was administrator.

Perhaps he waved part of his fee

[suttonred]

I was talking football before a meeting yesterday, and after I said Rednapp left carnage everywhere he went and I wouldnt want him as manager, one guy piped up ( didnt know who he supported) and said he was brilliant, got us to the cup final! My riposte was he's also got you to the conference, the guy still didnt think they were screwed, and it's only a temporary hiccup, and they'll be challenging for the Prem again in 2 years. In his job he's a clever bloke, but jeez where footballs involved...

[joteddyred]

I was talking football before a meeting yesterday, and after I said Rednapp left carnage everywhere he went and I wouldnt want him as manager, one guy piped up ( didnt know who he supported) and said he was brilliant, got us to the cup final! My riposte was he's also got you to the conference, the guy still didnt think they were screwed, and it's only a temporary hiccup, and they'll be challenging for the Prem again in 2 years. In his job he's a clever bloke, but jeez where footballs involved...

Denial I suppose?  It must be fairly difficult to digest if you're a Pompey fan.

[Costanza]

Within 2 years?

07/02/2015: The best case scenario for Portsmouth will be challenging for League One... and at this point in time that would be quite a change of fortune.

[DMR]

Some of you over these 94 pages must be wincing at previous posts.

People in glass houses gentlemen...

[sonicyouth]

Some of you over these 94 pages must be wincing at previous posts.

People in glass houses gentlemen...

not even comparable

[Peter Gibbons]

Some of you over these 94 pages must be wincing at previous posts.

People in glass houses gentlemen...

This.

Those of us (me included) that were very confident that the sale would go through without problem or that Black would go on funding us until such time as the sale did go through, were left with egg on our faces the moment the Ritchie news broke.  Not saying it is all doom and gloom, but might want to rein in the public comments about other clubs in trouble until the ink is dry on the takeover deal, scarves in the air in the centre circle, and caravan parked behind the County Ground Hotel.

[Batch]

I feel sorry for Portsmouth fans. The price for winning that FA Cup was too high for them, and with hindsight I doubt they'd vote to do it knowing the outcome.

Anyway, having a superficial look at this Harris bid that was rejected I found this Guardian piece written before the FL said no:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/feb/07/portsmouth-administrators-takeover-bid-consortium

Under the deal proposed to the administrator, Trevor Birch of accountants PKF, Fratton Park will be handed back to Balram Chainrai, the Hong Kong-based previous owner of Portsmouth. Chainrai's company, Portpin, still has a mortgage over the club and Fratton Park for £18.6m. The trust is offering £3m to buy the ground, and although Chainrai refused the offer, as the trust's was the only bid, PKF has been pursuing court proceedings to force Chainrai to accept it.

Harris has now agreed a deal with Chainrai for Portsmouth to rent Fratton Park from Portpin, with an option to buy it outright, which Harris said he intends to do quickly after taking ownership of the club, although he will not commit yet to a firm date.

Some Portsmouth fans also suspect there may remain close links between Harris and Chainrai, as Harris acted as the adviser when Chainrai sold Portsmouth in 2010. Harris says no formal connection exists, and that ownership under him and his investors will be independent of Chainrai.

All sounded a bit messy...

[Peter Venkman]

Its not sounding too good for Pompey at the moment.

Makes me even more thankful for the Fitton, Wray, Arbib and Black takeover and for the future success of the new owners of us.

[horlock07]

It was reported that they were over £100m in debt when AA was administrator.

Wasn't that just the old Andronikou method of vastly increasing debt to such an extent that the HMRC debt was reduced in proportion so they couldn't block the sale to whoever he chose to sell to?

[tans]

How come they can still sign players? Arent they in a transfer of ownership or am i mistaken?

[pauld]

How come they can still sign players? Arent they in a transfer of ownership or am i mistaken?

Yes you are. They're not in the process of transferring ownership. They are in the shit, but it's stable shit in the sense that their situation hasn't changed. If and when the PST bid is able to go ahead (once the court has cleared the way for them to buy Fratton Park at a market value not Chainrai's value) then they'll be in a transfer of ownership. Assuming the court does decide in favour of PST. If not, they'll be in liquidation within a couple of weeks, I'd have thought

[Bob's Orange]

How much is Chanrai asking for Fratton Park out of interest? (Can't be bothered to check)

[tans]

Cheers paul

[pauld]

How much is Chanrai asking for Fratton Park out of interest? (Can't be bothered to check)

I don't think he's ever said "Give me x and you can have it" but his "debt"* of £12m+ is secured on it, whereas the administrators agree with the Trust's valuation of £2.75m IIRC. So obviously there's a discrepancy there - which is what the court case is about. The Administrators are seeking a ruling that they can sell FP to the Trust for the market value, over Chainrai's objections. He'd then be in line for a share (probably the lion's share) of that money as a standard part of the CVA coming out of administration.

*There are quite a few people who have cast doubt on the provenance of this debt and the various sums allegedly owed to the various alleged owners (seriously, it now seems at least one of them was actually invented) over the past 5 or so years