Portsmouth FC Administrator Makes Things Seem Bleak At Fratton Park

For the second time in three years, Portsmouth FC is in administration. Last time, the club was in the Premier League, was in the process of selling off lots of valuable players, and was about to get relegated and receive parachute payments for dropping into the Championship. At that time, Portsmouth were in trouble, but were not in any serious danger of going out of business. This time around, things seem much worse.

Pompey administrator Trevor Birch painted a very dreary picture on Thursday, indicating that the team might not to be able to finish the season.

“We had previously stated that there was a real danger of the club running out of cash before the end of the season. The risk of this happening increases substantially without the money from the football authorities. Unless something significant happens, there is a real possibility that we may not be able to fulfil the season’s fixtures.”

The team finished in eighth place in 2007-08 and comfortably avoided relegation in 2008-09 before finishing bottom of the Premier League the following season. The level of financial mismanagement at the club over the last five years has been staggering, and they will do well to simply finish the season’s fixtures and compete in League One next year. Anything more than that might take a miracle for Portsmouth.