Portsmouth rescue mission: Premier League set to hand debt-ridden Pompey a lifeline
By Martin Samuel
Premier League chiefs are hoping to push through dramatic emergency measures to ensure Portsmouth stay afloat and fulfil their fixtures this season and their survival could depend on the 19 other teams in England’s top division.
Richard Scudamore, the chief executive, will conduct a ring round of Portsmouth’s Barclays Premier League rivals this weekend. He will ask if they object to the club’s parachute payment, in the region of £11million, being brought forward and paid immediately toward a £12.1m bill from the taxman.
The Premier League has already taken the drastic step of advancing a payment of roughly £2m to all of its members, so that Portsmouth will be able to at least meet some of the demands of HM Revenue and Customs in the High Court next week.
The initial payment, part of the Premier League’s standardised cash flow arrangement that gives some money to the clubs in instalments through the season, was not due for another two months.
But the 20 clubs will receive that payment this week as Scudamore scrambles his resources in an attempt to keep Portsmouth solvent and avoid a humiliating hit for the Premier League brand.
The issue of the parachute payment is more sensitive, however, as all clubs stand to gain or lose materially if Portsmouth cease trading and have to withdraw from the league. In that event, their results for the season would be wiped out, which would potentially be of benefit to some teams.
Chelsea, for instance, would lose three points, while Manchester United would lose six, meaning the gap at the top would widen from one point to four.
Liverpool, who lost at Fratton Park earlier in the season, would not drop a point, while Arsenal and Manchester City, who have already beaten Portsmouth home and away, would lose six each.
A revised league table without Portsmouth’s results would see City fall to seventh place, behind Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.
This is why Scudamore is anxious to conduct a straw poll of clubs before making a decision, although he will impress on the chairmen the wider issue of damage to the image of the Premier League should a club fail to complete their fixture programme.
Giving Portsmouth the parachute payment made to those relegated to the Championship each season does not make the presumption that the club will go down.
It is merely the guaranteed minimum amount Portsmouth can expect to receive from the Premier League on August 1.
Scudamore will argue that if any club were in Portsmouth’s position, even Manchester United, this is the most the Premier League could do.
He will make the case that no extra money is being found to fund Portsmouth, and that the club are not being favoured in any way.
They are merely receiving in advance money that is already due to be paid later in the year, to stave off a unique financial situation.
He will argue that it is of paramount importance that the league season continue without disruption. Together, the advance payment made this week and the advanced parachute payment would more than meet the total bill owed to HMRC, although Portsmouth dispute a percentage of it.
Yet there could be objections, particularly from the small group of clubs with least to lose if Portsmouth go under when the High Court deadline passes at 4pm on Wednesday.
Liverpool, Wigan Athletic, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Burnley would stay on the same points total if Portsmouth went bust, while Sunderland would lose only two points and Hull City one.
These six, plus Chelsea, could be claimed to have a vested interest in Portsmouth’s demise — although all bar Sunderland still have Portsmouth to play and may be hopeful of collecting three points.
Scudamore will ask the clubs to put any selfish considerations aside, however, and focus instead on the harm to the prestige of the Premier League, particularly abroad, if one of their members were to fold mid-season.
The ongoing fiasco at Portsmouth, now on their fourth owner this season — Balram Chainrai, whose first act was to announce the club are up for sale — is already a source of embarrassment to Scudamore.
Although the Premier League have never lost a member to liquidation, it is a myth that clubs do not go bust in English football.
Aldershot dropped out of the Football League in March 1992 and all their results were declared null and void, and the following season Maidstone United failed to start the campaign for financial reasons.
The demise of these clubs is the reason the top four divisions still number 92 teams, not 94.
