Pompey Supporters’ Trust Sign Deal
The Pompey Supporters’ trust is one step closer to taking over Portsmouth FC before Christmas, after signing a conditional agreement with PFK, the club’s administrators.
The takeover is now dependent on the Court giving PFK permission to sell the club’s ground, Fratton Park. The sale will have to go to court after Portpin, who currently own the ground, refused PST’s bid of £2.75 million.
Trevor Birch of PFK said: ‘Portpin has rejected the offer for Fratton Park. So the sale has to be conditional on receiving the Court’s permission to sell the ground.’ However Birch added: ‘We can confirm that we have signed a sale agreement with the PST to acquire the business of Portsmouth Football Club.’
Portpin, owned by former Portsmouth Chairman Balram Chainrai, has been competing with the PST for ownership of the club which is in £61m of debt and has been in administration since February. Chainrai’s Portpin had initially been named by the PFK as the preferred bidder however the decision was reversed following concerns regarding Chainrai’s financial record at Portsmouth.
PST chairman Ashley Brown called the agreement ‘a special day for the club.’ Brown added: ‘This truly is fantastic news and the start of a new chapter for Portsmouth Football Club. We hope to finalise the sale by Christmas, and go into 2013 with a fresh start for our great club.’
However, Chainrai said he still believed the bidding process was not over: ‘We remain ready to complete the deal in a matter of days, should the Trust be unsuccessful.’
