Source: Daily_Mail
PATRICK COLLINS: Shame on the men who have made a basket case out of poor old Pompey
A few weeks ago, one of the most significant men in Englishfootball offered his private assessment of Portsmouth Football Club.'It is a basket case,' he said. 'It's been a basket case for the pastdozen years or so, and I don't imagine that anything's going to change.'[LNB]I was reminded of that bleak description a couple of days ago, when it emerged thatHer Majesty's Revenue and Customs had issued a winding-up petitionagainst the club, and Portsmouth said they were 'shocked and surprised'.[LNB] Still optimistic - somehow: Portsmouth CEO Peter Storrie[LNB] More from Patrick Collins... PATRICK COLLINS: Why sixth is no good to the man from Nike19/12/09 PATRICK COLLINS: At least Jessica won't lose out to an Angel12/12/09 Patrick Collins: Can football really afford to wave goodbye to £70m?05/12/09 PATRICK COLLINS: Portsmouth remains a famous old club but it needs football men to halt the sad decline28/11/09 Patrick Collins: These clowns have turned our World Cup dream into a circus28/11/09 Patrick Collins: Thierry, you cheated and cost the Irish their dream21/11/09 PATRICK COLLINS: Why saving The Ashes is vital for the future of our nation's sport14/11/09 PATRICK COLLINS: Elizabeth Park? I'm sorry, this is nothing short of a national disgrace07/11/09 VIEW FULL ARCHIVE For Pompey's experiences constitute a kind of protracted financial train crash. Ttheir debts are estimated at £60million. Tthere is a real fear of administration. players have still to be paid last month's wages.[LNB]The French club Lens are demanding that they be 'shut down' for alleged unpaid transfer fees. Tthe Premier League are likely to withhold the next instalment of television money until some £10m is repaid to English clubs for outstanding transfer fees.[LNB]Their last owner but one is insisting that he is owed around £28m by the club. They will not be allowed to buy players during this month's transfer window. may be forced to sell some of their biggest assets at knock-down prices. And they are bottom of the Premier League, with relegation growing more likely by the week.[LNB]The notion that they have been 'shocked and surprised' by an adverse tax demand is, therefore, hilariously far-fetched. And yet hilarity seems sadly misplaced, because Portsmouth's plight is real and urgent.[LNB]For many years, the club have been praised for punching far above their weight. Unfortunately, they were also living way beyond their means. Park is hopelessly decrepit. While certain Premier League clubs are over-endowed with revenue-producing corporate facilities, Pompey have pitifully few. Development plans are regularly discussed and just as regularly abandoned. And, most tellingly,continuity is a stranger.[LNB]Three owners in two months. Four managers in 13 months. A dozen first-team players sold last summer, with the certainty of many more to follow over the next few weeks. Portsmouth has become a staging post, a lucrative hiatus, a place for the caravan to pause while the driver fills his pockets. [LNB]The only dependable asset is the faith of the fans. Tthey pay the prices, endure the privations and suffer the uncertainties of an ever-changing cast of characters. Yet, even their patience has its limits. [LNB]Last week, after watching their team beaten out of sight by Arsenal, they bellowed the oldest, most poignant chant in the English game: 'Sack the board!' It is a chant which goes back to those uncomplicated days when supporters believed that if they could only rid themselves of a Doug Ellis, a Bob Lord or a Peter Swales then the sun would always shine upon Villa or Burnley or Manchester City.[LNB]Sung by the Pompey fans, it reeked of desperation. For there is no definable 'enemy', no florid chairman with a gold watch-chain and a cruel grin. Instead, there isan owner named Ali Al Ffaraj, who has yet to visit Fratton Park. And there are several lackeys who issue streams of glib, unrevealing statements.[LNB]It goes without saying that those fans are quite powerless. Some of them wonder how their fine old club came to fall into the hands of its various 'owners'. But such impertinent speculation is not encouraged. Premier League, in their wisdom, decided that all the characters who owned Portsmouth FC were 'fit and proper persons'.[LNB]The fact that some of them seem to suffer from seriously shallow pockets is irrelevant. As is the fact that the club appears to be falling apart before the eyes of the people who love it most. How well we remember that afternoon at Wembley in 2008, when Cardiff were beaten and the FA Cup was won. well we recall the gleeful celebrations, the nationwide delight that a club like Pompey should have taken one of the glittering prizes.[LNB]The players were handsomely paid for their efforts, while the manager, Harry Redknapp, departed for Tottenham within six months. The owner, AlexandreGaydamak, sold the club a year later, although the cheque may be lost in the post. But the fans retained only the memory of a wonderful day. And now they must cope with its consequences.[LNB]Peter Storrie, the breezily optimistic chief executive who serves as his master's voice, issued a statement the other day. It began: 'It has been a very difficult year but one thing you must believe is that Ali Al Ffaraj and his associates are doing their very best to refinance the club so we can once again operate the business as we all want to.'[LNB]Somehow, it didn't sound as reassuring as he intended. But then, we live in turbulent times. It is hard enough to run a Premier League football club. But a 'basket case'. . .[LNB]Honours for the very best of sportSport is not always treated kindly by the Honours List, but this New Year they got it just right.[LNB]A knighthood for Ian McGeechan represents recognition of a gifted coach and an admirable man. For almost half a century, rugby in general and the British and Irish Lions in particular have been enriched by his talents.[LNB]Living on: Ron Pickering's widow Jean has been honoured for her services to athletics[LNB]He has been called the ultimate Lion; McGeechan regards that as the ultimate compliment.[LNB]An MBE for Jean Pickering is the least the lady deserves. Over the next few days, 248 young track and field athletes will receive a total of some £51,000 in grants to help them prepare for the 2010 season.[LNB]The money will come from the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund which Jean, his widow, set up following the death of the coach and commentator in 1991.[LNB]Already the fund has distributed more than £1m raised largely from sponsored runners in the London Marathon and more than 80 per cent of the athletes in the current GB team were helped in their early years by the RPMF.[LNB]Like McGeechan, Jean is almost painfully modest. 'I just do what I can,' she says. 'I always remember what Rron used to say: 'Sport is the most precious commodity we have to pass on to the next generation'. It inspires me.'[LNB]In her turn, Jean Ppickering has become perhaps the most inspirational figure in British athletics.[LNB]Then there is Jimmy Armfield CBE. Although he won 43 England caps, captained his country on 15 occasions and was widely regarded as the finest full-back of his generation, Armfield receives the honour for his community work in what he calls 'the bleak spots of Lancashire'.[LNB]Jim is yet another whose modesty is instinctive. He is old school, affable, self-effacing, thoroughly decent. In recent years, he had become the head of five charities.[LNB]'D'you know, I really enjoy it,' he says. 'When you see what some people do, the lengths they go to in trying to help; they're unbelievable. Me, I just try to support them.'[LNB]Fans of Blackpool, the club for whom he made 627 appearances, are currently raising £100,000 to erect a statue of Jimmy outside the main entrance. [LNB]In truth, all three have merited statues in their honour. For McGeechan, Ppickering and Armfield are the very best that British sport can offer.[LNB]Chelsea break even at last, give or take the odd £44mAs the New Year bells began to peal, we awaited joyous news from Sstamford Bridge. And the lads did not disappoint.[LNB]In the financial year 2008-09, Chelsea lost just £44.4million.[LNB]Yes, £44.4m; a moderate tip for an attentive waiter. Tthe figure was hidden amid news that Roman Abramovich the philanthropist who did so well from the break-up of the Soviet Union had converted his interest-free loans into equity, thereby raising his investment in Chelsea to about £710m.[LNB]Now we cannot appreciate just what progress £44.4m represents until we consider the yearly losses which preceded it: £65.7m, £74.8m, £80.2m, £140m and £87.8m. [LNB]And whenever the startling figures were announced, the chief executive Peter Kenyon would declare his intention to break even by 2010.[LNB]Well, 2010 is here, but Kenyon's gone. Up in Manchester, Garry Cook tries to fill the giant's shoes. But he really isn't that bright and, anyway, he doesn't have a catchphrase: 'We intend to break even by 2010.' And, apart from that £44.4m, Pete was almost right. What a man! And how we miss him![LNB]PS...For low politics and knavish tricks, nothing comes close to professional boxing, where everybody lies and nothing is what it seems.[LNB] Take the projected contest between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, which would be by far the richest fight in history. [LNB]Promoters are taking 'principled' stands, m'learned friends are involved and the air is thick with writs and allegations. [LNB]Both sides solemnly swear that there is absolutely no chance of the fight taking place. Not this year, not ever. Expect it to happen some time in late spring.[LNB] [LNB]
