Portsmouth FC slides into administration

Portsmouth Football Club announced at 10:20am this morning that it had been placed into the hands of UHY Hacker Young administrators at the behest of its main chargehold, Portpin Ltd.

UHY Hacker Young’s Andrew Andronikou,  Peter Kubik and Michael Kiely have been appointed joint administrators and Andronikou scheduled a 3pm press conference at Fratton Park to brief media on the club’s plight.

The club is reportedly in debt to the tune of £60m-£70m, with an estimated £11.5m in PAYE, NICs and penalty interest owed to HMRC. The club headed off a winding-up order on 10 February, but even with its fourth change of owner this season, it was not able to secure the necessary funds to pay off its outstanding debts.

Bottom-placed Portsmouth is the first Premier League club to enter administration and will be docked nine points, almost certainly guaranteeing its relegation and the consequent reduction in revenue.

In a follow-up statement, managing director Peter Storrie said new owner Balram Chainrai’s decision to put the club into administration “has kept the club alive and given someone an exceptional opportunity to take this great club on with fresh investment to steer Portsmouth in a positive direction”.

Storrie added that he would work with the administrators to help sell the business. “I hope that will be quick as there is already interest in acquiring the club,” he said, adding: “Once the sale is complete, I will tender my notice to the new owners as set out under the terms of my contract.”

Storrie, who also faces tax evasion charges in April, said that after 15 months of crisis he could no longer accept the personal abuse from club fans.

Further reading
Portsmouth case brings football down to earth
Tax and football: PAYE and NIC by Simon Sweetman
Leicester City FC chairman charged
Portsmouth FC trio face tax evasion charges
Football clubs under threat from HMRC
Money Laundering and Crime discussion group