The terms for Mr Eisner’s proposed takeover of our club have now been published. Takeover News looks at the key issues involved.
Do Mr Eisner’s proposals meet the Trust Board’s conditions?
The Trust Board focussed on five key points. They achieved reassurances on some points but critically Mr Eisner’s proposals exclude a continuing community shareholding in our Club. They also exclude continuing fans’ representation on the Club Board.
What sort of investment do we need?
The information pack for PST members includes a lot of newly published financial information. The PST Board comments include:
‘The club is capable of maintaining an average League 1 budget based on current income levels’ (page 18)
New information includes an estimate of £5m for essential safety work at Fratton Park. The PST Board comments:
‘Between the Tesco monies remaining, a new PST share issue and presidents contributions, the PST Board believe that safety critical maintenance can be afforded as well as a significant amount of the general maintenance.’ (page 19)
If shareholders are hoping that Mr Eisner’s proposals will provide our Club with a modern ground they should be aware:
‘A full rebuild of Fratton Park would cost at least £50m. ……. There is no commitment from Tornante (Mr Eisner’s company – editor) to carry out this work’. (page 19)
Re-building our Club after years of neglect by previous ‘investors’ may be proving even more challenging than expected, but Mr Eisner’s proposals do not guarantee a short cut.
As Tony John commented on The News website (25/03/17):
‘It isn’t about whether Eisner is a ‘good chap’. It is about the fact that there is only one Portsmouth FC and once it is sold to anyone… they can sell it on to whoever they wish.’
We need owners for the long term, which we have now with fans ownership.
We also need financial fair play. This will not be achieved through more multi-millionaire owners but by helping more clubs to become fans owned.
Who is in favour?
Neither the PST Board ‘The PST Board do not have a specific recommendation on how you should vote’. (covering letter) or The Presidents and Club Board ‘The Presidents and the Club Board have not made any specific recommendations on the offer’. (page 23) make a recommendation to accept this bid.
The PST Board set out proposals to address the short term safety issues at Fratton Park. A wider debate is needed about options to address long term issues. Mr Eisner does not provide proposals on this issue.
No To The Takeover believes that we should retain control of our Club. In four years we have come a long way. We believe that we can make further progress by looking at the examples of other fans owned clubs.
FC United of Manchester have just completed their second season at a ground they funded themselves. Work has started on site for AFC Wimbledon’s new ground which can have a 20,000 capacity. They have also demonstrated that a fan owned club, with a quarter of our regular support, can compete in League 1. If they can compete in League 1 we should be able to compete in the Championship.
No To The Takeover believes that this bid should be rejected. This would allow time for the Trust Board to develop proposals for the next stages of the development of our Club while retaining the accountability and community control which currently exists under community ownership.
Who are We?
Takeover News and our blog No To The Takeover have been produced by a group which includes fans who have supported Pompey for over 50 years, from the fourth division to the first and back again. We believe in a sustainable fans-owned club playing at the highest level and support the wider development of fans-owned clubs.
We provided details of who we are to The News. Our spokesperson, David Maples, has regularly stood in Trust elections.
If you have concerns about the proposed takeover and want to retain community ownership, contact us at Notothetakeover@hotmail.com and our regularly updated blog notothetakeover.wordpress.com.
No To The Takeover 