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Portsmouth Turning Into A Farce Due To Financial Troubles

September 28th, 2008 By The Gaffer --> Comments

portsmouth-fc Portsmouth Turning Into A Farce Due To Financial Troubles

Alarming reports are coming out of England this morning regarding the future of Portsmouth Football Club.

According to The News Of The World, owner Alexandre Gaydamak has put the club up for sale to avert a financial crisis, and is looking to sell Pompey for an initial £20 million.

Incredibly, the newspaper is also reporting that a stunning 90 per cent of Portsmouth’s annual income is used to pay player’s wages, which is a definite recipe for disaster.

“The financial position of the club is fully audited and is consistent with its peers in the football industry,” said an official from Portsmouth FC in a statement from the club this morning. “The club’s owner has already stated that the club is not for sale but, as with all businesses, should the right offer be forthcoming, serious consideration would be given to the proposal.”

What an absolutely ridiculous statement by Portsmouth. First, the club fails to address the newspaper’s statements head-on and says that their financial position is similar to bigger clubs in football — which is a scary thought for the other clubs. So, they don’t deny they’re in severe financial trouble.

And second, they say they’re not for sale, but if the right offer came along they would be. What politically correct nonsense is that? The club owners are too proud to say the club is for sale, but behind everyone’s backs they’ll tell insiders that they’re for sale. At least Newcastle United owner Mike Ashley had the balls to tell the public he wants to sell his club.

The problem for Portsmouth is that they may face a difficult task trying to find an investor willing to buy the club from Gaydamak. Their Fratton Park ground only fits just less than 20,000 and their new 36,000 stadium on Horsea Island is still up in the air and won’t be ready until 2011 at the earliest.

I know that Harry Redknapp has a penchant for buying lots of expensive players, but what sort of wages is Portsmouth playing their stars if that amounts to 90 per cent of its income? Sure, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, David James and Lassana Diarra must be making huge wages. But other than those players, what other stars do they have? Kranjcar, Distin, Diop, Lauren, Hreidarsson and Utaka to name a few.

Either Portsmouth is paying more than they should for wages, or their income they’re bringing in is inadequate. Whatever the case, this looks like an extreme case of poor management by Gaydamak, which spells disaster for Portsmouth if a wealthy investor doesn’t bail them out soon.

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Tags: Alexandre Gaydamak · Horsea Island · News Of The World · Portsmouth · fratton park

Viewing 4 Comments

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    The other very real question is who actually owns Pompy. While Alexandre Gaydamak is listed with the FA. Most people believe that he is bankrolled by his dad, Arkadi Gaydamal.

    Arkadi is wanted in France for gun running.

    The joke of this all is the FA demand owners be "fit and proper persons". That didn't work out so well in Manchester City now did it. or some might even say at CFC.

    As for the money crisis at Pompy, I have my doubts. First the investigation was done by News of the World. Do I really need to say anything at all about that paper. Second, this could well be a ploy by Gaydamek's to get the stadium built.
    Or it could be that Gaydamek has simply grown bored of the Premier League...


    I really think that the League needs to get a bit more teeth into the financial deals at clubs. Given the current state of the global economy, borrowing cash will be difficult, if not impossible. So we will see more foreign owners who are flush in cash.


    and the crazy thing about the Gaydamek's is that to this day no one knows how he made million is Russia before moving to Israel. I think that's telling.
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    Patrick,

    When I was growing up in the UK, the News Of The World was a joke. But most of the big scandals and storylines the past 12 months have been broken by the News Of The World. They're definitely a different paper than they used to be and have some great writers including Chris Bascombe.

    Cheers,
    The Gaffer
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    Pompey does have financial issues, but they are no different than most clubs. They do not get the revenue from their stadium that most clubs get. They have greatly increased their player's wages in the last two seasons. Revenue staying the same while costs go up won't last long. Very little purchasing was done this summer, with those financial realities being the reason. The only major signing was Crouch. Most of the rest were loans. I don't see them adding anyone in January, with the possibility of off-loading one or two players, especially if they are already out of the UEFA Cup and the FA Cup.

    Alexandre Gaydamak claims he owns the club, but where did he get his money? Probably from his dad. His father is running for Mayor of Jerusalem, and had to list his assets, which included Portsmouth FC. Not sure why he did that, except that maybe he believes he owns it.

    The next couple of months will be interesting to watch. The stadium is on hold, which it has been for years. They have already started construction on the new training ground.

    It's obvious that things are going on behind the scenes and have affected the club. At least that's my excuse for giving up 10 goals and looking very poor in doing it last week.

    PLAY UP POMPEY!!!
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    This is the way the Prem is going. The prevailing logic is that you have to spend every cent you have just to keep up with debt-laden clubs like Man United, Liverpool and Chelsea. Yes, Chelsea's owner has deep pockets and can write off the debts but that's hardly a proper way to run a business. It's surprising how normally sharp business minds lose their way when they get involved in sport. I guess it's more about ego than financial success.

    As for Pompey, they've splashed out some big transfer fees and likely some big wages to get Crouch, Defoe, etc. looks like it's catching up with them sooner than they might have expected.

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