Read the article about Pompey going back into administration.

Blog the characteristics that you would you like to see in the new owner(s)?

Portsmouth enter administration & are docked 10 points Portsmouth Football Club have been penalised 10 points after entering administration for the second time in three seasons.

The deduction puts the Championship club just above the relegation zone.

Portsmouth had been issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs on 3 January, freezing the club's bank accounts.

The administrator will be Trevor Birch of PKF, a firm with a track record of dealing with clubs in administration.

Portsmouth had asked the court to appoint Andrew Andronikou , who oversaw the club's last administration two years ago, and is currently handling the same process with Pompey's parent company.

The administration order enables Portsmouth to access their bank accounts and continue trading while Birch, who was proposed as administrator by HMRC, searches for new owners.

In a statement, HMRC said it had been concerned about a possible conflict of interest had Andonikou been appointed.

The statement continued: "HMRC is pleased that the Court agreed with our view that the creditors of any business have a right to expect that the administrator in these circumstances is completely independent."

Mr Birch said he hoped the club's supporters would also be happy to see a new face in charge.

Trevor Birch
  • Former professional footballer with Shrewsbury and Chester
  • As Chelsea chief executive brokered Roman Abramovich's £180m takeover of the club
  • Has also served as chief executive at Leeds United, Everton, Derby County and Sheffield United
"The intention is to try and sell the club as a going concern," he said.

"I'm used to dealing with clubs in crisis. You could say most of the Championship is in crisis, with 30% of clubs paying wages in excess of 100% of their turnover.

"You have to travel hopefully and confidently. Maybe the new appointment will encourage someone to come out of the woodwork and bid [for the club]."

During the hearing at the High Court, it was revealed that Portsmouth currently owe around £2m to business creditors, as well as a similar sum to the Inland Revenue in unpaid tax.

Continue reading the main story “By going into administration other opportunities will come up for investors, who would have been reluctant to buy the club with a winding-up order hanging over it”

Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt Among those creditors are fellow football clubs West Bromwich Albion, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bristol City, as well as the Football League itself. Portsmouth City Council is owed £78,000.

It also emerged electricity and gas suppliers have been threatening to cut off power to the club's Fratton Park stadium for non-payment.

And, although Pompey are set to be docked 10 points for going into administation, they could lose further points at the discretion of the Football League as a result of it happening for the second time in such a short period of time.

Remarkably, this is the third time Portsmouth have gone into administration in recent years. The club also went into administration in December 1998, prior to being taken over by the Serbian businessman Milan Mandaric.

Pompey then became the first Premier League side to enter administration in February 2010, following which they were relegated to the Championship.

Going into administration for a second time in such a short period was "disappointing" but the only way the club could go forward, according to Portsmouth North MP Penny Mordaunt.

"By going into administration other opportunities will come up for investors, who would have been reluctant to buy the club with a winding-up order hanging over it," she said.

Earlier this week it emerged 
Portsmouth had received their parachute payment from the Premier League early, however, chief executive David Lampitt told BBC Radio Solent it would be up to the administrator how money in Pompey's bank account - understood to be around £2.5m - is spent.


Alistair Randall
2/20/2012 06:57:44 pm

Anyone entering a business needs to make sure they have the funds to be able to grow and develop a bussiness. For to long football clubs have been run as a rich persons toy rather than a stable, profitable business. THe new owner needs to be young and enthusiastic and be in for the long run rather then short term success. The new owner needs to treat the Fans as a customer rather then taking them for granted and make the match experience worth the money therfore attracting new fans

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Vicky Durow
2/28/2012 03:49:27 am

you smell

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Ali Parlar
2/20/2012 07:43:41 pm

In my opinion the new owner must have a very strong leadership background and must be a leader in character willing to use a paternalistic approach to be able to motivate members of Portsmouth FC that all decisions are made for their benefit. Also looking at the case that Portsmouth FC has an on going reputation of going bankrupt, the new owner must be loaded with assets and cash, so that large investments could be made in order to re-establish Portsmouth FC and enable it to become successful.

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sam
2/20/2012 11:38:42 pm

In my opinion, portsmouth football club has been a failing business for years and the FA has done nothing about it. A background check must be done on every owner of the club but still three owners have passed and all of them have failed, gone bust or ended up in jail. There have been far to many backhanders of money and mistakes have built up. The clubs finances need to be completely re structured and a owner with a clean record that is serious about keeping the club afloat. Futhermore if our manager didn't run of to a worse club like tottenham, we would be winning games, selling more tickets, attracting more media and earning more money. Gareth bale dived when he played liverpool, it looked like he had speained an eyelash. I was not impressed

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Tom
2/21/2012 08:06:06 am

I would like to see that the new owners are truly interested in the future of the club, it needs to be someone that is 100% dedicated to leading the business, rather than a background project. There needs to be a paternalistic approach, as the business obviously needs to be guided because they cannot afford to be put into administration for a third time in such a short period of time. This should also be someone who is prepared to take large risks, as the business is in a significant amount of debt which would need to be paid off before any financial improvements are to be made.

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Matt
2/21/2012 03:48:47 pm

I don't know a great deal about football so as far as I'm concerned as long as the new owner has heap loads of cash to spend on players the club will be in a better position than they have been previously.

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Kat
2/21/2012 06:06:02 pm

It is really difficult to make a judgment about what sort of leader Portsmouth football club needs. As it previously had several owners and there is no doubt each of them had different personalities and ways of dealing with financial as well as other issues.Personally, I think that the owner has to be a strong leader, with a good years worth of experiance, who sees football club wining in the future not just profit maximizing. Furthermore, it has to be someone who is prepared to invest a great deal of money into this project.

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