kwsaint

When St Mary's was built there was discussion with the council about reopening the docks line for passengers. As well as at St Mary's, a station would also be reopened next to the old Terminus station. The idea was that it would be used during the week for commuters working in the offices at Ocean Village, as well as on matchdays. The sticking point was that the cost of electrification of the line, as well as the development costs, made the idea a non-starter. In fact, the old Northam station used to be on the line just behind the Chapel Stand. Long since demolished. The place to put a station was on the main line the other side of Northam bridge, so that regular passenger trains could stop there on match days. Unfortunately some muppet in South West Trains decided that this was a good place to put a carriage workshop, so this is no longer an option. So don't expect a rail link directly to St Mary's any time soon.

no-one can knock how we played. a proud proud team but ultimately we didn't have the legs to finish it off. in a strange way it means we can concentrate on the league but still gutted we didn't win.

If we lowered the pitch to install a few extra seats round the perimeter at SMS, then we would probably go below the water table. It would at least make an olympic size swimming pool.

Having lived in Winchester for over 20 years it is definitely in Saints patch. Get to Basingstoke and you have reached the land of replica shirts. Saw my first game at the Dell 40 years ago this month. All I can remember is Ron Davies scoring the winning goal with a far post header. Happy days.

COYR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's all I have to say on this matter.

Just goes to show that the chairmen (well this one anyway) is in a better position than the fans.

what about brighton?

Jaidi. Made a couple of mistakes in the first half but in the second half he was pretty strong. It will be sad to see him go but he hasn't been at his best for a long time now and retirement must be around the corner.

couldn't we just get prutton back. he always cheers me up.

Henri Camara. Scored a good goal for us against Norwich and I've always liked him since then.

could have been worse

So we scored goals in the last minute not let them in, right?

SMS was built so tht it could be expanded on three sides, the exception being the Itchen stand. IMO 42,000 would be a sensible maximum as it is the minimum for holding world cup matches, although I can't see any point extending at the moment, as even a 10,000 expansion would cost as much as the stadium in the first place. The money could be better spent. My guess is the Cortese has his eye on the gravel extraction site across Britannia road, as I seem to remember that there is talk of it closing. A 'Chelsea village' type development there would make sense.

Is there a link to this article?

Well the only sure way of finding out is actully hearing it in person from AP/NC. The echo in the past has published some stories which have turned out to be true but I just think this one has just come from the fact that ML wasn't at the game on Saturday and that we didn't make the play-offs. Personally, I don't think he'll go even if the echo is publishing speculation about it because, to me, the echo isn't a trust worthy source of information.

Come on Millwall.

We were still on -1 after 10 games, after a two week pre-season. 55 points from the last 28 games, which is top 2 form. I seem to remember discussions at the beginning of the season which talked about getting momentum at the end of this season to go up next, no talk of promotion this season - which seems to be where we are at. Would have liked to have made the play offs, but will be seriously disappointed if we don't go up next season, as I suspect will Mr Cortese.

It is still beyond belief that the ref did not book Beckford for simulation. The limp back to the half-way line after one dive was oscar material.

This has been a rubbish day for football. Portsmouth won and we lost.

Managed to get through on the 01271 335708 number after 5 or 6 tries. Thanks to whoever posted it as it saved a lot of hassle. Kids are delighted to be going to Wembley for the day. I know the ticket office comes in for some stick, but the lad I spoke to was very polite, although clearly seriously stressed out.

Portsmouth told to find £22 million before the end of the season From this morning's Guardian. I can't see how they can survive liquidation, unless they find someone daft enough to bail them out. I see that there are already plans for an AFC Portsmouth playing in Conference South next season.

Just got tickets for Pompey and Leeds games. Ticket office told me that they had around 2000 left, and that it would be a sell out by some time on Monday. They also appear to be taking quite a strict line on the customer database. Would have been simpler to keep the membership scheme but just charge a nominal amount for it.

You're right, it doesn't matter, although I have a Maths degree so do have a vague idea how loans work. When Rupert left the first time, he said that the club had no overdraft, just the stadium mortgage. At some point this loan has been rescheduled, either to incorporate other debts, to increase the term or to go to interest only. The rescheduling enabled further borrowing at the bank, increased the overall debt and supported the play-off gamble of two years ago. When this failed, the club was financially stricken. The point that I was trying to make was that it was failure to live within our means that was the problem, not SMS, as the extra revenue should have paid for it.

At the risk of reopening an old thread, why do I keep reading on websites on Pompey's problems that SMS was the cause of Saints financial woes. The stadium cost £32 million, and the club received £5 million from the sale of the Dell site. SMS was funded on a 10 year loan, fixed at 8%. So why was the debt on the stadium around £25 million after 8 years? At some point the loan has been rescheduled, possibly to incorporate other debts. The increase in revenue during the first four years at SMS was greater than the cost of the place. In my view it is down to complete financial mis-management, not the cost of SMS. Or am I missing something?

Pompey's problem is the same as ours was this time last year - large debt, poorly run club, disillusioned players. Anyone buying the club would be taking on the existing debt. It's quite clear that the current owner isn't putting any of his money in - he's probably got more sense. In the same way that no-one would buy us in these circumstances, I can't see anyone taking on Pompey. They are likely to go into Administration and someone will then buy them for a lot less money and with no ongoing debt. Sound familiar? They will survive, but we will be passing them on the way up in the next season or two.