Portsmouth Fans Takeover

dd972 · 11-04-2013 11:06am #1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/apr/10/portsmouth-future-fratton-park-ownership

Not a PFC fan myself and don't expect many hits on this thread, just acknowledging this achievement by genuine football supporters, hopefully there'll be a resurgence in fortunes built on more solid foundations on the pitch.

Amirani · 11-04-2013 11:07am

I like clubs who adopt the fan ownership model. Hope things go well for them.

GavRedKing · 11-04-2013 12:40pm

There is a Portsmouth fan around here, or there was, Fratton Fred.

Hope it goes well for them.

Yakult · 11-04-2013 1:11pm

All the best to them.

Fratton Fred · 11-04-2013 1:13pm

It has taken a long time and a lot of effort from some very devoted people.

Ultimately I dont think the supporters trust will have the funds to take the club back to the heady heights we were at a few years ago, but we still have our club and it will be run the way we want, not as a glorified money laundering machine for unscrupulous businessmen.

PUP.

Leiva · 11-04-2013 1:25pm

Delighted for Pompey.

Zaph · 11-04-2013 1:52pm

I really hope that's the end of all the crap that Portsmouth fans have had to endure over the last few years. As a Leeds fan I know what it's like to have the club ripped apart by financial mismanagement and knowing that there's little or nothing the fans can do about it most of the time. As Fred said, it's unlikely the fans will be able to afford to get the club back to where they were, but the most important thing is that they still have a club to follow.

Neil3030 · 11-04-2013 2:21pm

How many shares did this fella get?

Fratton Fred · 11-04-2013 2:44pm

Neil3030 wrote: »

How many shares did this fella get?

John's not short of a few bob believe it or not. He runs a very successful book shop with his parents.

Honestly, he does!

Neil3030 · 11-04-2013 3:27pm

Fratton Fred wrote: »

John's not short of a few bob believe it or not. He runs a very successful book shop with his parents.

Honestly, he does!

Might be short of a few other things....

11-04-2013 6:11pm

Good on them.

kryogen · 11-04-2013 11:54pm

Fair play to them, hopefully its the end of their troubles

GavRedKing · 17-04-2013 1:09pm

Relegated last night to League 2 but the fans supporters trust is set to take over in the coming days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22182724

Darkglasses · 17-04-2013 1:30pm

Fratton Fred wrote: »

John's not short of a few bob believe it or not. He runs a very successful book shop with his parents.

Honestly, he does!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1278203/The-strange-case-John-Westwood--Dr-Jekyll-Mr-Portsmouth.html

uch · 17-04-2013 1:41pm

Is that Lady in the dark jersey beside him his Partner ? As I've seen Photo's of him sucking/licking her Tit at a match

Neil3030 wrote: »

How many shares did this fella get?

Francie Barrett · 17-04-2013 1:43pm

Have Portsmouth's debts been wiped out?

The_Kew_Tour · 17-04-2013 1:45pm

uch wrote: »

Is that Lady in the dark jersey beside him his Partner ? As I've seen Photo's of him sucking/licking her Tit at a match

If they were, they could produce 1 ugly child.

Fratton Fred · 17-04-2013 6:48pm

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Have Portsmouth's debts been wiped out?

when you come out of administration you have to agree a Creditor voluntary agreement with the majority of your creditors. This was done some time ago and i think pompey will pay back about 20% of what they owe. the bulk of this is to previous owners though who have already taken enough out of the club.

If anyone is interested in how a club can get in to so much debt, take a read. Micah Hall's blogs aren't conspiracy theorist stuff, or at least if they are, he is very very convincing. http://www.fansnetwork.co.uk/football/portsmouth/fb_news.php?storyid=18346

Rascasse · 19-04-2013 8:56pm

Pompey officially out of administration tonight. One wonders for how long. The PST don't see to be awash with cash and they owe the council a few million.

I assume the 10 point deduction will be applied next season considering they are relegated already?

CSF · 19-04-2013 9:02pm

Rascasse wrote: »

Pompey officially out of administration tonight. One wonders for how long. The PST don't see to be awash with cash and they owe the council a few million.

I assume the 10 point deduction will be applied next season considering they are relegated already?

Well they're not going to get an extra 10 points deduction for coming OUT of administration, are they? They weren't relegated when they went in so it should apply to League One.

As for the future, when you get that many people pulling in the same direction, things come together that bit easier when you've the whole fanbase opposed to the owners. Think the future should be a bit brighter for Portsmouth now, but I'd be surprised if they ever got back to where they were, or even back to the Premiership for a long long time.

Dozen Wicked Words · 19-04-2013 9:06pm

GavRedKing wrote: »

Relegated last night to League 2 but the fans supporters trust is set to take over in the coming days.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22182724

Sad for Portsmouth fans of course, but from a purely selfish point of view, Pompeys drop to League 2 is brilliant news. They will bring terrific away support to the grounds, and it will be an excellent away day for the other teams.

Rascasse · 19-04-2013 9:07pm

CSF wrote: »

Well they're not going to get an extra 10 points deduction for coming OUT of administration, are they? They weren't relegated when they went in so it should apply to League One.

As for the future, when you get that many people pulling in the same direction, things come together that bit easier when you've the whole fanbase opposed to the owners. Think the future should be a bit brighter for Portsmouth now, but I'd be surprised if they ever got back to where they were, or even back to the Premiership for a long long time.

I thought the rules were changed when Leeds went into administration when already relegated a few years back. To stop more clubs using relegation to clear debts penalty free the rule is if you're relegated it gets taken off following season.

CSF · 19-04-2013 9:11pm

Rascasse wrote: »

I thought the rules were changed when Leeds went into administration when already relegated a few years back. To stop more clubs using relegation to clear debts penalty free the rule is if you're relegated it gets taken off following season.

But Portsmouth went into administration a good bit back, and got a points deduction already, no? They're coming out of administration now, surely won't get punished for that?

Rascasse · 19-04-2013 9:14pm

CSF wrote: »

But Portsmouth went into administration a good bit back, and got a points deduction already, no? They're coming out of administration now, surely won't get punished for that?

No points deduction yet, hence the discussion when it's to be applied.

CSF · 19-04-2013 9:18pm

Rascasse wrote: »

No points deduction yet, hence the discussion when it's to be applied.

Oh, my bad. With them having been in administration for so long now, seems unfair to punish them the season after they get out of it. Not like they were pulling a Leeds.

Rascasse · 19-04-2013 9:23pm

A lot of the articles say that the league may want to make an example of them. They've been a continual problem for the last 4 years, they could have been kicked out of the league by now, so -10 in league 2 would be a stark warning for other teams (and future owners) to have their houses in order.

Pro. F · 19-04-2013 10:04pm

Great news. Fair play to them.

This bit from the article in the OP interests me:

The Trust has been in pole position to buy the club since the Football League made clear that its bid was the only one it would approve and set a deadline of the end of April for its future to be resolved. But the deal was complicated by a last-ditch bid from a consortium represented by the football dealmaker Keith Harris, who offered £6.3m for the club.

I wonder is that a sign that the Football League will be giving preference to fan based ownership bids from now on. Or was it simply the fact that the fans' bid was the only credible one on the table?

Rascasse · 20-04-2013 3:00am

Pro. F wrote: »

Great news. Fair play to them.

This bit from the article in the OP interests me:

I wonder is that a sign that the Football League will be giving preference to fan based ownership bids from now on. Or was it simply the fact that the fans' bid was the only credible one on the table?

There was a late bid from Keith Harris (not the Orville guy) who owns an investment bank and was one of the 'Red Knights'. He was offering twice as much as PST for the stadium and was also willing to give 15% of the shares to fans. In the end I think the fact the bid was very late and that PST refused to deal with them stopped progressing. I think they may live to regret it as Harris has the money to get Pompey back up the leagues quickly.

Pride Fighter · 20-04-2013 3:35am

Visited Portsmouth a few years ago. The people there love their football and are mostly so sound. I have an irrational hatred of Southampton now because of them

There is still only one club in Hampshire and they are now owned by their fans. It's great news. I think they'll clear their debts and be back in the championship in around 5-7 years. Cannot see them going further though.

Delighted for them. The biggest and most successful club south of London and the longest holders of the FA cup. Would have been a shame to see a team with so much tradition go by the wayside.

PUP

yabadabado · 20-04-2013 12:52pm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22167294
good news for Portsmouth ,10 point deduction will be applied this season.As they are already relegated it makes no difference and they can start in league 2 with a clean slate.

Rascasse · 20-04-2013 12:54pm

Boo. Football league have no spine.

Pro. F · 20-04-2013 1:17pm

Rascasse wrote: »

There was a late bid from Keith Harris (not the Orville guy) who owns an investment bank and was one of the 'Red Knights'. He was offering twice as much as PST for the stadium and was also willing to give 15% of the shares to fans. In the end I think the fact the bid was very late and that PST refused to deal with them stopped progressing. I think they may live to regret it as Harris has the money to get Pompey back up the leagues quickly.

Fan ownership is much better than having more money and rising up the leagues quickly imo. The fans can make sure that the club is run properly rather than having to trust that some non-fan owner will look after their club properly.

The fans could still fúck it up themselves of course, but at least they have their destiny in their own hands.

Fratton Fred · 22-04-2013 8:52am

Pro. F wrote: »

Great news. Fair play to them.

This bit from the article in the OP interests me:

I wonder is that a sign that the Football League will be giving preference to fan based ownership bids from now on. Or was it simply the fact that the fans' bid was the only credible one on the table?

There had been so much fraud and mismanagement at the club, I think the football league just wanted to force an end to it all and the PST were the only option that guaranteed that.

I would really recommend reading the blogs I linked to earlier, they make interesting reading.

Pompey was not a club that over spent to buy glory (well, no more than any other club does) but when the likes of Diarra and Johnson were being sold, the club didn't see the money, but was still liable for the sell on fees.

There were fraudsters at the club who literally took all the incoming cash and left the club to pay all outgoings, so the debt just built up and up. When they had taken all they could, they hightailed it back to Israel.

The club now has no connection to anyone who isn't a pompey fan, so I believe the league decided that any further punishment was not warranted.

Portsmouth Fans Takeover

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