The deal is all in place we now need a court date

Portsmouth City Council has now agreed the terms of the loan to the Pompey Supporters Trust putting in the place the final piece of the funding jigsaw for the bid. This came despite a late effort from Keith Harris to derail the process by telling Councillors by email that if they promise money to the Trust they should give the same treatment to his consortium.

With the Court`s deadline fast approaching the Council met urgently yesterday and approved the details of the £1.45m loan and the relevant terms and conditions. Those conditions are detailed and are available for all to read on the Portsmouth City Council website . Council tax payers of the city should be assured that the whole process is transparent and I calculate that the City Council will benefit to the tune of approximately £25,000 on the deal; interest is payable at 5%. The terms allow for the sum to be repaid in full in August when the club receive a parachute payment for the FA Premier League of £5.5m.

The report also includes a valuation of Fratton Park although not as a football stadium but as a site for development. The District Valuer - a government service - was asked by the council for valuations based on either 40 or 80 homes built on the site. These range from £101,000 to £800,000. The valuations are depressed in part due to the need for demolition the stands and the possibility of the lad being contaminated. Demolition is anticipated to cost £1m with £200,000 allowed for remediation works.

The figures are interesting but sadly are no assistance in the case due to be argued in the High Court shortly (we hope). They also include one glaring error in this section where says 'the West Stand runs parallel to and abuts residential gardens` - they surely mean the South Stand!

Better off!

Council officers have also run a fine toothcomb over the Trust`s business plan and the purchase price of the club etc. It is worth a read for anyone still undecided about whether to invest and contains some interesting figures. The officers also told Councillors yesterday that the club was now in a better financial situation than in August when they previously agree to loan and the Football League had confirmed that the Trust bid was the only one being considered. They also added that 'The parachute payments due to the club are £4m more than was previously set out in August`s business plan.`

After the meeting Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson said: 'If we had said no then the bid would have fallen and the club would have gone into liquidation.`

Fix the date

All we wait for now is the High Court to fix the date. Everything is in place -
• The fans converted pledges
• The High net value money
• The City Council Loan
So please no more waiting. The club is dying on its feet and the people who are NOT to blame are those who are suffering most, death by a thousand cuts seems to be the most used term that I hear.

We need to get out of administration, take the ten point deduction, probably now next season and then start to rebuild OUR club brick by brick. It will be a very long process and we need to get started NOW.

PUP and Trust in the Trust!

Click here to join in the debate on the club forum.