Portsmouth, currently at the bottom of the Barclays Premier League and risking relegation, may also be the first English premier football club to enter administration. Its future is very much in doubt.
The club is estimated to owe £70 million in debts, including £12 million in unpaid tax. The Inland Revenue has issued a winding-up order for the club and a High Court meeting has been scheduled for Monday to decide on this.
The 112 year-old club has a wage bill of over £35 million for this year alone, on top of transfer fees and past players' bonuses. It is said to be spending significantly more than it earns from match day and Premier League TV income.
Its current owner, Balram Chainrai, is reported to be in talks with a South African consortium to buy the club. However, it is also reported that Chainrai has held discussions with insolvency practitioners in preparation for taking the club into administration.
If the club does go into administration, this will allow the club's debts to be frozen, so that the administrator can re-negotiate these debts. It could, in fact, make the club's financial position more stable and render it a more attractive investment option to financial institutions and other investors.
See also: this week's blog post on
Notts County Football Club's problems.
