Pay Up Pompey,Pompey Pay Up!

[Highland Robin]

I am having to go through a major cultural crisis here......I have hated and despised Pompey since the days (a very long time ago) when I first started supporting STFC, because I was at a school where 90% of pupils supported Pompey (and it wasn't even in Portsmouth!), and I had a tough time being the lone Town supporter.  But now I fee quite sorry for them....

[suttonred]

Haven't seen it confirmed, but it seems like HMRC are after the wendies now. Business must be booming at the tax office!

[Samdy Gray]

Well, they do have a £105m website to pay for.

[leefer]

I am having to go through a major cultural crisis here......I have hated and despised Pompey since the days (a very long time ago) when I first started supporting STFC, because I was at a school where 90% of pupils supported Pompey (and it wasn't even in Portsmouth!), and I had a tough time being the lone Town supporter.  But now I fee quite sorry for them....

Dont be soft..i have hated them since i got chased down County Road...Cup finals etc dont come cheap and they spent beyond there means.

[suttonred]

Well, they do have a £105m website to pay for.

I saw that, I'm so glad I'm an upfront honest taxpayer, and my money is beniffiting society! Can't wait until the real Labour excesses are revealed. I get the feeling the tories/press will have some in their back pockets come the time.

[jonny72]

Haven't seen it confirmed, but it seems like HMRC are after the wendies now. Business must be booming at the tax office!

It's on the BBC website. It's funny how they've got the money to sign eight new players over the summer, yet don't have the money to settle a £500k tax bill. It's shit like this that the authorities should be clamping down on, if a club is not servicing its debts on time they shouldn't be allowed to register new players.

[jayohaitchenn]

Edited to bring it in line with forum rules.

Much better, please doin't let it happen again.

[townforever]

Now I'm no fan of the Tax man but how come so many clubs, so say highly regulated by the FA and the Football League / Premier League and FIFA etc be in so much trouble. Every business I have ever worked for knows the cost of annoying HMRC. 

Do most Football chairmen / Clubs think they are above paying whats due??

Its beyond a joke, I can understand clubs not having money etc but signing players and throwing cash around, then missing a payment to HMRC.

 

[Summerof69]

Now I'm no fan of the Tax man but how come so many clubs, so say highly regulated by the FA and the Football League / Premier League and FIFA etc be in so much trouble. Every business I have ever worked for knows the cost of annoying HMRC. 

Do most Football chairmen / Clubs think they are above paying whats due??

Its beyond a joke, I can understand clubs not having money etc but signing players and throwing cash around, then missing a payment to HMRC.

Until the last 6 months or so, that is what's been happening. Diamandis and co. got away with with it here for so long, that by the time they left we owed £3m to HMRC, which is just about our annual turnover !!!

It's good that HMRC are being more strict, but they should've been doing this as soon as they lost their preferred creditor rating. We might have got rid of Diamandis and co. a lot sooner, and Pompey would not be owing between £17m-31m (or whatever it is).

[pauld]

Cup finals etc dont come cheap and they spent beyond there means.

There's more to Pompey's saga than just the old "living the dream" leefer. See the current article on twohundredpercent:

http://www.twohundredpercent.net/?p=8187

Fortunately for all the shady characters involved (one of whom may or may not be the owner who put them into admin, Chainrai), it looks like Andronikou's trying to weasel out of holding the investigation creditors (and fans) were promised in the CVA vote. Which would leave the way clear for the club to be handed over to Chainrai, stripped of a substantial amount of debt, by AA without any of that unfortunate digging up the truth about what really went on which could be soooo embarrassing for some. Makes you wonder why on earth it was that HMRC kicked up all that fuss about Chainrai appointing Andronikou and him not being properly independent.

No wonder Andronikou described Chainrai as "the only bidder who ticks all the boxes" - see this article from a Pompey fan about how may boxes he ticks that don't say "Pays Andronikou's fees" - http://www.fansonline.net/pompey-fans/article.php?id=204

[townforever]

Until the last 6 months or so, that is what's been happening. Diamandis and co. got away with with it here for so long, that by the time they left we owed £3m to HMRC, which is just about our annual turnover !!!

It's good that HMRC are being more strict, but they should've been doing this as soon as they lost their preferred creditor rating. We might have got rid of Diamandis and co. a lot sooner, and Pompey would not be owing between £17m-31m (or whatever it is).

It might of also turned out a little different as well, Thankfully it didn't.

I suppose it goes to show how many people take charge of Football team as a status symbols rather than, remembering that
1.  its a Business - no matter how much the media seem to think it isn't, you still need a strong FD & Chairman working to secure a strong longterm future

2. Its Normal Folks Escape from the Harsh reailty of Working 9 - 5 and as such shouldn't be a status symbol for the worlds "get rich quick" groupies

[pauld]

Making directors personally liable for the club's crown debts might focus a few minds on what constitutes a priority. But while we live in a world where Southend chairman Ron "What tax bill?" Martin can be appointed to the FL board, I wouldn't hold your breath

[townforever]

Fair point,

well illustrated

[Sippo]

If things couldn't get worse for Pompey:

From their North America tour:

[url width=600 height=470]http://theglovebag.com/uploads_forum/680/558.jpg[/url]

— The tour started with a 42-hour journey from England to San Diego because of a cancelled connecting flight.

— Midfielder Tom Kilbey and goalkeeper Jon Stewart (not that Jon Stewart) suffered injuries during the second game of the tour against Edmonton.

— The trip from Edmonton to Washington, DC left the team stranded in Chicago for nearly 28 hours because of a lightning storm. "The time it took us to get here, we could have flown to Australia," new Pompey manager Steve Cotterill told Reuters.

— All of the club's luggage was left outside in the rain during the storm and 14 bags never made it to their destination, including the kit bag.

— The team had to play DC United in 100-degree heat after just four hours of sleep and without training for three days.

— Since Portsmouth had no kits of their own, they had to wear DC United's away strip

[LucienSanchez]

That could well have been our Jon Stewart... is he still there?