Portsmouth FC facing liquidation
Portsmouth administrator Trevor Birch has warned that he will have no option but to close the club down on 10th August unless a deal can be reached with the club’s highest earners.
Pompey are desperately trying to slash their wage bill but are being hampered by the stance of a number of senior players.
Birch believes the only solution is for the League One club’s remaining high earners to accept transfers away from Fratton Park
or agree to significant reductions in their wage packets.
But with an impasse seemingly appearing between the respective parties, Birch has stated that liquidation will become inevitable in just over two weeks’ time.
And he warned the players who are refusing to compromise that they could end up with nothing if the South Coast club goes out of business.
There are two interested parties waiting in the wings hoping to agree a takeover. The Pompey Supporters Trust and former owner Balu Chainrai’s Portpin group, but they cannot progress to bring the club out of administration until more players move on.
Birch told the Portsmouth News: “The facts are straightforward: under the terms of the offer for the club, in order to complete the CVA proposal, the players have to leave and conclude compromise settlements.
“This condition has been imposed by the Pompey Supporters Trust as well as by Portpin – both interested parties have made it clear that they won’t take on the club unless there is movement from the players.
“We will continue to do all we can to facilitate these deals but the club’s future hinges on the willingness of certain players and their agents to sign up to compromise agreements that are affordable both in terms of the amount and timing of repayments.
“Unless we make significant progress on this front by 10th August then we are likely to have no option other than to close the club.
“If the club is liquidated, players will not be protected by the Football Creditor provisions.
“They will become ordinary unsecured creditors in a situation where there is unlikely to be any
