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Latest Pompey statement...

Pompey have issued a statement on The Pompey Site is reaction to reports that administration, or worse, could be on the cards for the club.

It says the board are 'disappointed' at recent 'media speculation' and administration WOULD have happened by now if that was going to be the case.

For more info read the statement below...

PLAY UP POMPEY!

PFC Statement

The owner and board of Portsmouth Football Club are disappointed at recent inaccurate media speculation regarding the club's finances and the threat of administration.

Ali Al Faraj and his associates took over the running of the club and inherited a business that had substantial debts. Dealing with the finances has been the priority since Al Faraj came in to pay the players before taking over the club from Sulaiman Al Fahim.

The club is not going into administration. If that were the case it would have happened at the end of September or early October. This week alone, HM Revenue and Customs were paid £2m and other historical arrears are being dealt with on an ongoing basis.

The new owner has not had the benefit of TV revenue to aid the club, with the next major installment due in January. However, he and his associates have already invested substantial funds to keep the club operating and will continue to do so.

The owner remains committed to the club and has shown that through his investment to date. He will also provide manager Avram Grant with all the tools he needs to ensure the club reaches a position the players' performances deserve - away from the relegation zone.

Despite media rumours Peter Storrie remains chief executive and has been holding talks on behalf of the club in other parts of the world.

Much is happening behind the scenes but constant malicious rumours and speculation do not assist with the proposed major long-term funding that is currently being put in place.

Finally, we would like to place on record our thanks for the unwavering support shown by our very loyal fans.

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Writer: pompeyrug

Date:Thursday December 10 2009

Time: 11:12AM

Your Comments

I dont think the club is doing themselves any favours but media speculation is destroying out clubs reputation and embarrasses the fans! COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY FED UP WITH IT!

brucey_main

A bit strange that the statement has now been removed from the OS! :(

sneakay

Some of the posters on other Pompey boards aren't doing the club any favors either 1.The whole Administration thing was started by a couple of posters, claiming to be 'ITK' with an 'alleged' e-mail. These posters were the 'Pompey Source' that the Telegraph/Express used. 2.The claims that police were not being paid and the whole accounting department was being laid off was started by a known Southampton fan on a Pompey board

yellowcheesemonkey

story said few months back that the debt was down to 10million now !!

pompeyhussler

Most of the press reports I have seen say that we are now 60 million in debt (including 33 million to Gaydamak to be paid by end January), we have failed to pay players on time, our sky monies are to be 'confiscated' to pay monies owed for Debts of £8 million still due to Chelsea and French club Rennes ( as we have fallen behind in payments on the transfers of Glen Johnson and John Utaka) if we do not pay soon, we owe agents fees from 2007, we owe Watford for Williamson and Smith and must pay soon, we have a ban on signing new players until debts are cleared and we have 2 weeks to do it in (before the January transfer window), we need to SPEND on several (maybe 5) proven players to keep us in the premiership.. It is nice? to know there is NO possibility of administration and any speculation is false!! hmm..because we have the bases covered and we are going to be signing players and staying in the premier league (according to the official site) which will add several million to our 60 million debt!! - and we haven't even found an investor from overseas yet!! I haven't seen direct headline references about us going into administration, in the press, but who in their right mind would think all is rosy if we are struggling to pay debts, wages and have been banned from signing new players, the club is having to go round the world to try and borrow, without thinking administration was on the cards?

PompeyExile

i WANT to believe the club when they make these statements but it becomes increasingly hard to do so as they have been known to 'bend the truth' with plenty of statements in recent months - the best way to prove that things will be ok is i guess when the premier league make some form of comment saying things are sorted? i would imagine if we say things are ok and they are not they will soon say so...
the official site needs looking at tho as this statement only seems to work if you view it through the 'home' section, going through 'news' or being linked to it via 'newsnow' does not seem to work, so this is making people fear that it has been 'retracted' when it has not...

pompeyrug

I've just read comments re the statement on various message boards and it beggars belief that so many people shout and scream that 'THEY WANT TO HEAR FROM THE CLUB' and when they do they say 'I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD OF IT!" ... I'm not targeting anybody in particular nor any specific forum either but as Pompey fans we have now had the statement from the club we having been waiting for.. It sounds positive.... 'PLEASE, (whatever you believe has or has not happened in the past) let's accept it and move on .. Ignore the journos in the tabloids - why would they know better ? - OUR CLUB has spoken.. let's believe what we have read (above) and get on with doing what we do best .. Supporting the best club in the world - PTID

Chix

looks bleak to me...in a crisis the weak die, we are weak, have been for years and years. people forget we have nearly died as a club so many times since the 70's onward...the club is, and has been badly run whether it was collet,Deacon,Gregory, Mandaric ( probably the best of the bunch) Gaydamak. al Fahim, or "The Mirage". Maybe this time it really is the end....

plymouth graham

i hear what you are saying Chix but HOW MANY times have we heard things from the club recently, only for this not to be how it actually turns out - i DO want to believe, and i am not saying it is not 'true' i have just become very cynical and become much more guarded as my faith has often been misplaced, as i have always accepted what the club tell me as being the truth - but since we have denied things in the past and then gone back on it i find it harder to do so...
like i have said on various areas on this site i HOPE that what the club say they are working to behind the scenes is actually happening, and those that 'run' the club are working as hard as they can to sort out the mess others have left, i really, really want that to be the case but i do not want to be taken in like i have previously...

pompeyrug

Makes me wonder who has issued the statement on the site... Very happy to know from the club that WE ARE NOT GOING INTO ADMINISTRATION... But we are still banned from signing players (and were told that would be settled last month).. only 2 anda bit weeks to see if the ban is lifted and we find investors....then I might start to believe...

PompeyExile

agreed chix. and put it like this who do you believe the club -you know the one you pay hundreds of pounds to follow- or the press -known for making ridiculous, outrages and lets face it down right stupid articles based on pieces of information that i wouldn't even present to a primary school teacher as fact let alone the general public!- ok i know the club bend the truth a bit but you've got to take their word for this alot more than the damn press surely....

pompeym@

Well said Chix! Unfortnuately due to some poor club management over the previous months, the club are now "damned if they do, damned if they don't"! It would be nice to have some explanation of what the debt is and how it is being managed because we are just bewildered by the sales, and yet still apparently a Huge debt!! HOWEVER, we should now try and get behind the club and see what happens......As much as curiousity is burning inside of me I will try and be as supportive as I can - January will speak volumes - But lets not be the cause of our own downfall. At least they have said something, and all we can do is take it at face value - maybe now the club will be a bit more forthcoming !! PUP

BarneyArmy

we are not weak ! look at westham they still are in 100+ million debt. they still owe shefield utd 20million

pompeyhussler

In these very uncertain times, when you never know what to believe, keep the faith & hope!

storagematt

Matt we as fans must do that. But we never have any 'concrete' facts to go on. We've heard the 'behind the scenes' comments ever since doc F took over. We have debts, players are not paid, end of the week statements about transfer embargo ending etc. so the journos put 2 and 2 together (perhaps making 5) and make stories out of it. At the moment it's like a JC story - if you have faith you must believe, but in this day and age we only believe what we see. I would like to have blind faith a la Chix, but as I'm not a religious person I take everything with a pinch of salt until I see the factual side of things. I think the Board are to blame for the speculation because of their own actions (or lack of).

PFCblue

Owners Blue, Owners !!! You can only blame a Board when it is a public Company and guided by the boards decisions. Our club is wholly owned by a succession of apparent numpties, who can tell the board what to do. IT IS THE OWNERS FAULT (ALL OF 'EM). Anyway back to my supportive mode :-) PUP

BarneyArmy

administration, premier league, championship, league one, league two, conference, i wont stop beleiving. POMPEY TILL I DIE!

southportpompey

Boring more talk about money ... when all of us started going to FP, we didn't go to examine the accounts or to audit the borrowings, we go to watch football. Ps good news zenden not playing on sat, Sunderland must be down to the youth squad to defend against us on sat. Avram will win on sat, he's a born game winner, back to back wins hey! wow!

GoldenBoot

Good shout Goldenboot.. None of us our accountants and the only two that are are Peter Storrie and Mark Jacobs.. We must believe them... Others can all moan about the history but the CURRENT owners we have to believe .. in fact ...will somebody tell me EXACTLEY what Al-Fahaj has said that he hasn't done ... Moan all you like but you are monaing about past owners and a past regime .. Look up and look forward not backward and stop blaming the current board (most of which have only been there five minutes) for the errors of others .. Plymouth Graham i really think we can stop blaming John Deacon now ;)...

Chix

never! Deacon will always take the blame Xd hehe, but seriously as much as i agree, al fahaj did promise to hvae this embargo liften by now and he hasn't which i understand but you can see why some people are having trust issues

pompeym@

Chix - when you have an embargo ongoing that we were promised would be lifted weeks ago and when your players aren't paid on time for a third month running - one does not need to rely on the media to draw conclusions. Whilst I would love to concentrate on the football, and I would, cos the game really fascinates me and I am learning all the time - I find it difficult to isolate what happens on the pitch from what is happening behind the scenes. Lets face it, what happens on the pitch is very much driven by what goes on behind the scenes, hence we lost our Manager, all our star players, our prominent position in the league and all our aspirations as fans. What we might still lose is our position in the Prem. It is also wrong to say we don't have any accountants amongst us, cos we do. Pompeytim is one. All that said, I will support my team (for as long as we have one).

gandor1

Nobody from the Fahaj adminstration has promised to have the ban lifted .. that comment was made by the discredited Al-Fahim.. See M@ .. you are putting the blame at Al-Fahj's door for something he hasn't done.. I rest my case ;)

Chix

I say to my children " boys if your ever having trouble getting to sleep at night, just ask daddy to explain what "due diligence" is" Maybe we should start a rule or movement for supporters call Football NOT finance!

GoldenBoot

Promises, promises thats all we ever get. I think if the owners were postmen, they still wouldn't deliver anything. I think the word 'TRUST' and the owners should never be used in the same sentence ever again, as they are mutually exclusive. (even if I just did) And I am getting fed up with being patronised in their statements thanking us for our support and loyalty, they don't bloody know the meanings of the words.

Mike1954

maybe the programme fwd should be wriiten by an accountant its getting that boring! at half time we get the FTSE results not the scores. As Dindane scored his header, I didn't think "yes, now how will that effect the cash flow" some supportters are getting themselves right at it ..

GoldenBoot

Finally - failed economic jorno's .. writing sports columns investigating finances! .. because they have no real passion or interest in football (telegraph, times columns) .. then 3rd rate jornos in the mirror and the sun copy there style and articles, because they crave to climb out of the gutter press, meanwhile, Pompey mastmind a massive 2 - 0 win over Burnley. Lets talk abouth Dindanes header .. text book! brilliant

GoldenBoot

Another Bloody Statement! We want action!

PompeyFcMad

Of course people are going to think the clubs in trouble, when there's a transfer embargo, players not getting paid etc etc. We've had false promises for months. A year ago I believed the club when they came out with a statement like this. Not any longer.

tracyc

What do you want Mad a ******** video showing Storrie in a meeting ??....or footage of Al-Fahaj showing his bank statement.. The statement spells out what they are doing.. isn't that action ?? .. Jump off the Pompey Knockers Bandwagon for ***** sake

Chix

Tracy .. a year ago we had different owners and a different administration ... doesn't this one deserve a chance ? ...

Chix

Chix - going back to your earlier comments there are some accountants about!! But as we have not seen the figures and all the contracts how can we accurately assess the level of debt? Of course the various statements issued by the club have without doubt contradicted themselves which leads the fans to doubt their words.

Must also agree with Chix that it is all about supporting the best club in the world. PUP

eastneydave

Dave .. "how can we accurately assess the level of debt?" - Is that our job as supporters ... Also I bet you can not find an 'offical statement' by the CURRENT adminstration that has contracted itself .. I can't .. now there's a challenge !

Chix

One thing that is useful to be aware of is that just as we are still paying off Utaka etc, we also will have money COMING IN for all those players we offloaded last summer - e.g. Johnson, Crouch etc. So we will be receiving a few mill here and there over the next few years. That's why the debts seem so high, as we haven't received a huge amount yet for those summer player sales.

StuartM

i agree with southport pompey...i have a sneaking admiration for the AFC Wimbledon-despite hating their pre curser-fash the bash etc, and i Love aldershot as a local team too

plymouth graham

Plymouth Graham .. You're plan as great as it is will take at least six years .. surely we need something a little more immendiate ;)

Chix

all i was saying guys is the majority of us (on here anyway) will be there come rain or shine - no mater what s*** is thrown our way! and i see Knightie has joined Kevin Dillon at Aldershot as well and now Mariner is in charge at Plymouth - whats next Micky Quinn for Wigan :) "who ate all the ......." PLAY UP POPMEY !!!!!!!

southportpompey

Bolton will lose to Man City and Wolves will lose against Spurs. When we beat Sunderland away we will be 3rd from bottom. Believe!

blueexile

POMPEY even lol !

southportpompey

chix - I have never doubted what the club has said in the past, and i'm not going to now. However, one statement, denying potentially damaging rumours does not count as taling to the fans. Any buisness - fans or no fans - would be releasing statements denying they were about to go into administration (probably, even if they were about to. not that I'm saying pompey are though). And having been *****ed around by the club for the last year, most fans don't care who the actual owner is - the cheif executive has stayed the same, and (possibly?) a lot of the board too.

pompeycarpet

I have an enormous respect and envy for the true Pompey fans who sit in the Fratton End (and other stands) and support the team through thick and thin, no matter what. Its because of them tht we have such a wonderful reputation and I try to emulate them as much as I can. But just now and again, I can't help feeling that PFC are taking the pee. I try to ignore it but I can't. And Chix, I am nearly certain that Mark Jacobs (who represents the Mirage) told us that the embargo would be lifted "by the end of the week". But he didn't say which week.

gandor1

As some one who has ead the odd passage of scripture in the past, there is a passage about GOSSIP being a TASTY MORSAL...The Sun/Mirror, and The Awfull "talkSport" and the mouth all mighty's of that CHAVVY station...exist on these tasty morsals...Its sad and annoying, but dont read them or tune in.thats my advice. However, when that anti SAF blogg was around when he was in charge plenty of Fans decried that site and supported al fahim, and look what a twit he turned out to be...Sadly i am worriedthat this time we are in deep Poo Poo,but the game is so corrupt now all the clubs are its like global warming, Ivory poacing, the minig and destruction of the rain forrests, and every other crime that is going on around us ..greed and Money.... surely alll we want is to watch a game of footie and cheer on our team ...what a mess the whole thing has become.

plymouth graham

I'm starting to hate the premier league...truelly, and pro football to be honest

plymouth graham

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