macca155

"Relax, we'll be fine" Not a 100% sure about that my Blue friend. Pompey won't go out of business but these money problems have been going on for years and have never really been resolved. In reality the situation with both teams is probably about the same. Similar size cities with similar size crowds and fan base. Marcus bought Saints for 13 million and that got him a modern stadium in good nick, state of the art training academy, building land, hospitatlity/conference set up, League membership desperate as it was, and most importantly of all no debt and sole ownership. All he needed to do is buy a team which in Div 1 is probably 5- 6 million maximum and fund higher wages to enable the club to climb out of this position. Not a bad investment really just a bit oif a long term one. Pompey have the highly prized Premiership status and that is worth millions but they are firmly positioned in the Premiership relegation league which will be perm three from any one of Pompey, Burnley, Stoke, Hull, Wolves, Bolton, Blackburn, and possibly Wigan. They have a debt that seems to vary every week but probably around 60 million. The stadium needs rebuilding and that's an eye watering 100 million before you start thinking about it. That can only be funded by a hotel/casino/shopping development and Portsmouth Council will not allow that as it will hit Gunwarth their own Golden Goose. Even with the transfer of some players the wage bill will eat up the money from Sky and 19K crowds. There aren't any players to sell as Pompey have had a policy of not paying money up front for years so when a player is sold precious little money comes through to the club unless they are home grown. Good young players are coming through but it takes years to see a return on that investment. For an investor who wants a Premiership football club he needs to wave goodbye to 200 million before seeing a return and hoping that the team can survive in the Premiership. If I had that sort of money a team like Forest or Sheffield Wed/Utd would be more attractive. Fratton Park is Pompey's secret weapon in the same way the Dell was for Saints and once they lose that with a ground half full of plastic fans survival will become even more difficult. If you doubt that just ask any Saints / Arsenal / Man City fan. The problem is that the difference between the lower teams and the upper elite is growing and the number of teams where possible points can be taken is shrinking. Unfortunately you have to add City to the top four now which means that's ten games where the best any team can hope for is a couple of points possibly a rare win. Next you have Villa, Spurs, Everton, and probably Brum, West ham, Fulham, Sunderland where points will be hard to come by. Look coldly at those facts and it looks bleak for Pompey but as you say beat Fulham on Saturday and everything will look a little brighter. Personally I want Pompey to stay in the Premiership and Saints to join them as quickly as possible. Obviously then Pompey should lose and frequently be relegated as that is the natural order of things However Fratton Park should be preserved as a national heritage site. Dump it may be but I have some treasured memories from there and some terrible ones as well. It stands as one of the last reminders of when teams played football on equal terms. A dark, cold intimidating environment and the only thing you could buy at half time was a bovril and a wagon wheel.... if you were lucky. I would suggest that Saints fans haven't exactly got a lot to crow about at the moment. Our hearts may be full of hope but the facts show Saints are cast adrift at the bottom of Division 3. Might be best to sdave it for a few weeks. Don't you love football six weeks ago Pompey were Billionaires and Saints were ...... finished. I wonder what things will look like in six weeks. Macca

Well here you are. Only a handful with terraces. We have the 2nd biggest ground let's hope we can fill it. Macca Brentford Griffin Park Capacity: 12,763 (Has terraces) Brighton & Hove Albion Withdean Stadium Capacity: 8,850 (all seated Bristol Rovers Memorial Stadium Capacity: 12,011 (seating 2500) Carlisle United Brunton Park Capacity: 16,981 (Some Terrace) Charlton Athletic The Valley Capacity: 27,111 (all seated) Colchester United Weston Homes Stadium Capacity: 10,000 (all seated) Exeter City St James' Park Capacity: 9,036 (3,806 Seated) Gillingham Priestfield Stadium Capacity: 11,582 (all seated Hartlepool United Victoria Park Capacity: 7,787 (Seats 4,180) Huddersfield Town Galpharm Stadium Capacity: 24,500 (all seated Leeds United Elland Road Capacity: 40,204 (all seated Leyton Orient Brisbane Road. Capacity: 9,271 (all seated) Millwall The Den Capacity: 20,146 (all seated) Milton Keynes Dons stadium:mk Capacity: 22,000 (all seated) Norwich City Carrow Road Capacity: 26,034 (all seated) Oldham Athletic Boundary Park Capacity: 10,900 (all seated) Southampton The St Mary's Stadium Capacity: 32,689 (all seated) Southend United Roots Hall Capacity: 12,392 (all seated) Stockport County Edgeley Park Capacity: 10,650 (all seated) Swindon Town County Ground Capacity: 15,728 (all seated) Tranmere Rovers Prenton Park Capacity: 16,587 (all seated) Walsall Banks's Stadium Capacity: 11,300 (all seated) Wycombe Wanderers Adams Park Capacity: 10,000 (2,100 standing home fans) Yeovil Town Huish Park Capacity: 9,665 (Seating 5,212)

Hi Derry Do you mean Daniel Fiszman? He was or is on the Arsenal board but he's sold a bunch of shares recently I think. Worth over 200 million a serious recluse hates publicity and lives in Switzerland! Ha ha what a coincidence. North London jewish community connection maybe...... Nah couldn't be could it

Same issue I bought the family tickets and when I went back to book some extra ticklets I was told that they had sold our seats twice. It took a while to sort it out but they had to ring the people up who thought they had bought our seats (halfway up on the halfway line)and tell them they didn't have a ticket after all. Interesting phone call Bet when we get to the game a load of seats have been sold twice, I hope the stewards have been warned. I got the feeling that I wasn't the first person this had happened to. Oh dear