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Pompey Takeover Saga


Fitzhugh Fella

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@pn_neil_allen: 'Just too many cumbersome and fiscally imprudent contracts signed that in our view would only further plunder club all over again' #Pompey

 

And that was under the stewardship of Mr Lampitt. Will the cuurent Head of Integrity at the FA seek to interview the former, I wonder?

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But what can the football authorities do? Where will they let Pompey slip away to, exactly? I'm sure the Football League would prefer them to see out the season as it would obviate the need to adjust points totals (which would be messy and cause much gnashing of teeth, especially at West Ham and a few other clubs). The flip side of that coin, though, is the likely consequences of doing something to keep them afloat. Put simply, no team could realistically sue the FL for doing nothing more or less than applying its own rules (club is liquidated, points are expunged), whereas it's easy to envisage legal action if they go out of their way to prop up an ailing club to the detriment of others. Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if there were some senior figures at the FL who'd be quite happy to see a relatively high-profile club go to the wall, if only "pour encourager les autres".

 

The other factor is that what Pompey need is money - and rather a lot of it - just to get as far as the end of the season. Would the FL have that sort of money? I can't see it somehow. The Premier League might have, but what do they care? They were happy to advance money to PFC two years ago, as it saved them considerable embarrassment, and they knew full well that Pompey were never going to stay up, especially with the nine-point penalty. But now? They won't give a flying one, as it doesn't affect their precious brand. In addition to which, any action by the PL would be every bit as subject to legal challenge as would action by the FL.

 

As for the FA, they're all probably just sitting and giggling at it all. They couldn't do anything about a League matter even if they wanted to, and I very much doubt that they would want to anyway.

 

The way I see it, they need a massively wealthy, massively stupid buyer - and they need that buyer within a couple of weeks. History is all they've got, and history is what they'll be.

 

Don't get me wrong, I think they have really taken the ****5 for too long, I think the situation is dire and I wouldn't shed a tear if they folded, it's just that they have always manage to blag their way out of it (not worrying about who they have fooked over n the way).

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For those saying "when has a club of their size ever been liquidated?" I have two questions : when has a club even started their demise from the top league and when has a club ever continued to self-harm after an initial admin the way they have?

 

I'll offer Wolves and Swansea in the early 80's with Bristol City not far behind - they all got through it, but all three were in an era BEFORE wages were so high and a compulsory commitment to such large sums over and above turnover just didn't exist. The rules have changed and the sums dwarf the 80's debts - but the rules of insolvency and points removals have not.

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Nice

 

I do not want to see clubs go bust, or fans suffer unnecessarily despite our local rivalry... but sadly, there have been so many of your 'fans' that to this day feel that the club should be allowed to get away with the ridiculous financial policy that led to fleeting success and a fair amount of gloating when we struggled with fringe and low cost reserves and academy players, laughed at our -10 points and L1 status... Given the enormity of Portsmouths debt, the high rsik strategy and the aforementioned 'banter' do you really expect sympathy on here?

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Don't get me wrong, I think they have really taken the ****5 for too long, I think the situation is dire and I wouldn't shed a tear if they folded, it's just that they have always manage to blag their way out of it (not worrying about who they have fooked over n the way).

 

No worries - I certainly wasn't suggesting that you wanted to see them dodge the bullet. My point was simply that the football authorities are unlikely to be in any position to do anything about it, even if they wanted to. It's rapidly getting way beyond the control of the FA or the FL and into the realm of the law and due process. A whole different ball game, you might say.

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Good post FC . I hope the skates go bust what makes them any different to port vale Wimbledon Luton . Oh they cheated the system . I think the football league will be an 11th hour cavalry after all they are culpable re the fit and proper person stuff . We were well and truly stuffed by the footballing authority's and we only owed a few pence . I cannot forgive Mullwhinny for the way he screwed us . So put the skates to the sword

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I think portsmouth will fold, either during or at the end of the season. The thing that will kill them, IMHO, is ironically the thing that the bestest™ have been blaming all their woes on.

 

The FAPPT.

 

After all the cries in the press, there is no way that the next takeover will be looked at in the same laissez faire manner

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What's the score regarding football clubs being gifted money? Ive seen a few different outlets claiming it'll be unfair for West Ham losing 6 points compared to our 1. So if promotion hinges on those points is there any chance some wealthy hammer gifts them a few quid to survive?

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If its mid April and we win enough games then their lquidation could mathematically send us to the Prem. Couldnt have scripted a better ending for this thread. Sadly if they make it to mid April, they will almost certainly see the season out, even if they have to field traffic cones.

 

Good job we no longer have SWP - he'd still be caught offside.....

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What's the score regarding football clubs being gifted money? Ive seen a few different outlets claiming it'll be unfair for West Ham losing 6 points compared to our 1. So if promotion hinges on those points is there any chance some wealthy hammer gifts them a few quid to survive?

 

Thing it is only 1 point as we have only played them once. Assuming (hopefully) we would win the match at SMS we are talking about 2 points difference and that against a team that might well be sharing the top two positions with them. Plus by the time we find out how important those points are it would be too late so it would require WH to stump up millions on the chance that the points are needed in the end.

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What's the score regarding football clubs being gifted money? Ive seen a few different outlets claiming it'll be unfair for West Ham losing 6 points compared to our 1. So if promotion hinges on those points is there any chance some wealthy hammer gifts them a few quid to survive?

 

The wealthy Hammers are Gold and Sullivan.

 

I've a feeling that they might be a tad tired of giving football clubs large sums of money.

 

Mind you, if they don't get promoted I've a feeling that they're the next club in the brown stuff, they seem to be following a quality AND quantity policy which could backfire spectacularly.

Edited by Trader
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What's the score regarding football clubs being gifted money? Ive seen a few different outlets claiming it'll be unfair for West Ham losing 6 points compared to our 1. So if promotion hinges on those points is there any chance some wealthy hammer gifts them a few quid to survive?

 

If I were West Ham and their demise looked as though it would cause a problem(ie lose some points), then I'd take a few of their players on loan and pay hem £££££££s as a loan fee!!!!

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For those saying "when has a club of their size ever been liquidated?" I have two questions : when has a club even started their demise from the top league and when has a club ever continued to self-harm after an initial admin the way they have?

 

I'll offer Wolves and Swansea in the early 80's with Bristol City not far behind - they all got through it, but all three were in an era BEFORE wages were so high and a compulsory commitment to such large sums over and above turnover just didn't exist. The rules have changed and the sums dwarf the 80's debts - but the rules of insolvency and points removals have not.

 

QPR did, we are the only club to come out of admin with more debt than when we went in. The administrator took out a £10m loan secured on the ground worth £20m with £1m a year interest which had to be repaid after x years. Then the administrator quit and became a director of that dodgy company that gave us the loan. Somehow this was never investigated.

 

Watch the 4 year plan on sunday on BBC2 and see what a state we were in before Flav and Bernie took over. Its also a miracle we went up after you see the way we were ran.

 

Looks like Pompeys time is over and even though Im not a Saints fan, I dont have any bad feelings over it, they deserve it for ripping off multiple companies and local business.

 

The penalty for admin should be relegation and expulsion from the league for the 2nd time.

The FA should also ban people from loaning clubs money and borrowing money secured on the club like Man U. Owners should be forced to give their money if they want to run at a loss or run the club within its means.

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What's the score regarding football clubs being gifted money? Ive seen a few different outlets claiming it'll be unfair for West Ham losing 6 points compared to our 1. So if promotion hinges on those points is there any chance some wealthy hammer gifts them a few quid to survive?

 

They need an awful lot more than a "few quid".

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May 27, 2009: Portsmouth reveal takeover bid from Sulaiman Al Fahim.

July 1: Glen Johnson sold to Liverpool for £18 million.

July 21: Al Fahim passes Premier League's fit-and-proper persons test and immediately joins Portsmouth board.

July 27: Peter Crouch sold to Tottenham for £9m.

Aug 19: Club open negotiations with a consortium fronted by chief executive Peter Storrie over a possible takeover.

Aug 26: Al Fahim finally completes takeover.

Aug 28: Sylvain Distin sold to Everton.

Sept 1: Niko Kranjcar sold to Tottenham.

Oct 1: Club admit failing to pay players' wages on time.

Oct 5: Ali Al Faraj becomes new owner after acquiring 90 per cent of the shares from Al Fahim.

Oct 7: Avram Grant appointed director of football.

Oct 28: Premier League issue embargo on Portsmouth registering new players until they pay off debts to Chelsea and Arsenal for the signings of Glen Johnson and Lassana Diarra respectively.

Oct 30: Portsmouth receive loan of around £17m from Portpin Limited, a company which is owned by Balram Chainrai.

Nov 24: Manager Paul Hart sacked.

Nov 26: Club announce Grant will be their next manager.

Dec 3: Portsmouth confirm payment of players' wages has again been delayed.

Dec 4: Club announce players have been paid.

Dec 5: Grant earns his first points with a 2-0 win over Burnley at Fratton Park.

Dec 10: Portsmouth respond to speculation over their future by insisting they are not about to go into administration. In a statement they also reveal HM Revenue and Customs have been paid £2m and "other historical arrears are being dealt with on an ongoing basis." The club also stresses Storrie will not be leaving his post as chief executive.

Dec 19: Beat Liverpool 2-0 at Fratton Park.

Dec 30: HMRC issue a winding up petition against Portsmouth. Club say petition is in respect of "VAT, PAYE and national Insurance contributions which either have been, or are about to be paid, or are disputed". They outline their willingness to fight HMRC in the High Court.

Dec 31: Former owner Alexandre Gaydamak claims he is still owed £28m by Portsmouth. Confirmation that the players and staff have not been paid on time for the third time in four months.

Jan 28, 2010: Premier League lifts transfer embargo for loan and free transfers after confirming Portsmouth no longer owe other clubs any money. The league had diverted around £5m of Portsmouth's broadcast payments direct to other clubs.

Jan 29: Storrie suggests his position is almost untenable after negotiations to sell Asmir Begovic and Younes Kaboul take place without his knowledge.

Jan 31: Transfer window closes with Kaboul and Begovic sold for £8.5m. Premier League keeps £2m of those fees to go straight to other clubs that have payments due from Portsmouth at the end of January.

Feb 2-3: All Portsmouth staff and players belatedly paid for January.

Feb 4: Chainrai becomes fourth different owner of the season, taking the 90 per cent stake that was held by Al-Faraj.

Feb 9: Talks with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs break down as fears grow for Portsmouth's future as a football club.

Feb 10: High Court give the club one week to draw up a statement of its financial affairs as it bids to avoid the HMRC winding-up order.

Feb 17: Portsmouth present statement of financial affairs at High Court.

Feb 18: The club confirm they have asked the Premier League for permission to sell players outside the transfer window.

Feb 20: Bid to trade outside the transfer window rejected by the Premier League.

Feb 21: Storrie reveals a South African consortium is pursuing a deal to buy the cash-strapped club.

Feb 22: Former owner Al Fahim quits as non-executive chairman at Fratton Park and passes on his 10 per cent shareholding to the club's supporters' trust.

Feb 23: Chainrai confirms Portsmouth will go into administration if they have not found a new buyer by Feb 26. Earlier, New Zealand-based businessman Victor Cattermole admits his interest in buying Portsmouth, but says a deal will not be in place before the club's date at the High Court on March 1.

Feb 25: The club's owner's spokesman confirms Portsmouth have started the process of going into administration.

Feb 26: Portsmouth confirm they have gone into administration.

March 1: HMRC challenge the voluntary administration process.

March 6: A 2-0 home win over Birmingham in the FA Cup quarter-finals relieves the pressure at Fratton Park.

March 10: Administrator Andrew Andronikou confirms 85 of the club's employees have been made redundant but that he is receiving "enquiries on a daily basis" regarding a takeover.

March 12: Storrie steps down as chief executive, but continues to work for the club as a consultant.

March 16: HMRC officially drops its challenge over Portsmouth's move into administration.

March 17: The Premier League confirm Portsmouth have been deducted nine points with immediate effect for going into administration.

April 10: Relegation to the Championship confirmed as West Ham beat Sunderland.

April 11: Portsmouth reach the FA Cup final with a 2-0 victory over Tottenham after extra-time in a semi-final at Wembley.

May 15: Beaten 1-0 by Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley.

May 20: Manager Grant resigns following the end of the season.

June 1: New chief executive David Lampitt takes up his role.

Jun 17: Tax officials insist the club still owe £37m in unpaid bills to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Jun 18: Steve Cotterill signs a three-year deal to become the club's new manager.

Jul 15: HMRC lodge papers in the High Court to appeal the Company Voluntary Agreement with Portsmouth, which could prevent the club exiting administration.

Aug 5: HMRC lose their case in the High Court and say they do not intend to appeal, clearing Portsmouth to begin the Championship season at Coventry on Saturday.

Aug 7: Season starts with a 2-0 defeat.

Sept 24: Pompey beat Leicester 6-1 at Fratton Park to register their first league win of the campaign.

Oct 19: A fourth win in five Championship games - the other was a draw - moves Pompey to within five points of the play-off places after 12 matches.

Oct 22: Portsmouth issue a statement claiming "it appears likely that the club will now be closed down and liquidated" by the administrators as they are unable to support the continued trading of the club.

Oct 24: The Football League agree Portsmouth’s exit from administration on the condition that owner Chainrai cannot take any capital out of the club until all of the creditors are repaid.

Oct 29: Portsmouth confirm the appointment of Chainrai as the club's new chairman.

Dec 16: Portsmouth manager Cotterill's selection problems hindered further as club can't afford salaries of Richard Hughes and Michael Brown.

June 1, 2011: Portsmouth have another set of new owners after Convers Sports Initiatives, controlled by London-based Russian businessman Vladimir Antonov, confirm they had bought the Fratton Park outfit following approval by the Football League.

Oct 14: Cotterill leaves Portsmouth to become Nottingham Forest's new manager.

Nov 10: Pompey confirm Michael Appleton has signed a three-and-a-half-year deal to become their new manager.

Nov 23: A Europe-wide arrest warrant his issued in Lithuania for Antonov, the joint owner of Portsmouth, for alleged forgery.

Nov 29: CSI, the company that bought Portsmouth in June, goes into administration following the arrest of its main shareholder, Antonov.

Jan 24, 2012: Portsmouth issued with a winding-up petition by HM Revenue and Customs over an unpaid tax bill of £1.6million.

Feb 13: Portsmouth apply to go into administration for the second time in two years and face incurring a 10-point deduction from the Football League.

Feb 17: Portsmouth are separated from relegation by goal difference alone after the stricken Championship club suffer an automatic 10-point penalty for collapsing into administration under the weight of a £2m tax debt.

Feb 22: Cash-strapped club forced to make "a number of redundancies" to help aid their battle for financial survival.

March 1: Portsmouth administrator Trevor Birch reveals club may not be able to complete the Championship season. Birch says Pompey will not receive parachute payments from the Premier League as they will go straight to former owner Gaydamak.

 

Now we just need to add all Corp Ho's statements about minted new owners, all is well and Pompey is turning a profit during that time frame.

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QPR did, we are the only club to come out of admin with more debt than when we went in. The administrator took out a £10m loan secured on the ground worth £20m with £1m a year interest which had to be repaid after x years. Then the administrator quit and became a director of that dodgy company that gave us the loan. Somehow this was never investigated.

 

Watch the 4 year plan on sunday on BBC2 and see what a state we were in before Flav and Bernie took over. Its also a miracle we went up after you see the way we were ran.

 

Looks like Pompeys time is over and even though Im not a Saints fan, I dont have any bad feelings over it, they deserve it for ripping off multiple companies and local business.

 

The penalty for admin should be relegation and expulsion from the league for the 2nd time.

The FA should also ban people from loaning clubs money and borrowing money secured on the club like Man U. Owners should be forced to give their money if they want to run at a loss or run the club within its means.

 

I quite agree with your last paragraph - this should be the minimum punishment, after all Crystal Palace did not suffer relegation as punishment for their administration and only offered 1p in the £ in their CVA.

 

Regarding QPR, I hope you stay up but you should advise your new recruits not to grab opponents by the throat or kick 'em up in the air. :)

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I can see how this is going to end now (flash of insight!). The ultimate irony....

 

At the 11th hour, minutes before liquidation is officially confirmed, a super-wealthy investor steps forward and agrees to buy out chinney, the gun runner and clear all the creditors.

 

Plans for a mass party and caravan ****-in are ecstatically announced.

 

.....then the FL announce that the new owner has failed the FPPT due to a techicality (a minor conviction for smoking cannabis 20 years ago or something similar) and they get liquidated anyway

 

:lol:

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A friedn of mine (not a Saints fan, I should mention) has recently set up his own local culture and monthly listings magazine.

 

You'll never guess what he's called it......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Go on, have a guess......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toast.jpg

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Oh deer,how sad,never mind (in a welsh acksent) if i make spelling mestakes on porpose then the real ones won't be picked up by all the f*****g teachors on heer.

 

Teachors..........another name for police.

 

I don't tell teachors how to do spaniels (spanners) Ok so leeve it,(i can't type and this takes me ages,usally the subject has moved on so much my posts meen nouthing)

 

Anyway portsmuff go bye bye. New portsmuff start kicking a ball around in a field over on the dark side,many years pass and all the little six fingered gypsies don't wanna sea Ringwood come to town much rauther go to the beautiful plaice and watch liverscouse loo's to the gloriuoce SAINTS,tyme goos bye and moor and moor little gypsies opt for wearing stripes whist driving their horse and trap to market.As time passes more and moor of the beautiful city rubs off on them, tattoo's are spelt correctlee,caravans become a thing of the past,"watts lucky heather dad" ? asks Tyson without swearing,things stay where they are instead of dissapeering in the night,lead remains on church roofs and as a result Hampsheer improves enormouslyness (i like that word).

Everyone's a winner, portsmuff in the baloo square thingy 1500 loyal pikeeys, no debt, copper cable remains where it should,the holly in the forest isn't rapped every November and our gloriuooose stadium has two increese to 56000 to accomadete the massive catchment area that Southampton Football Club has inherited

 

God Bless HMRC

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Oh deer,how sad,never mind (in a welsh acksent) if i make spelling mestakes on porpose then the real ones won't be picked up by all the f*****g teachors on heer.

 

Teachors..........another name for police.

 

I don't tell teachors how to do spaniels (spanners) Ok so leeve it,(i can't type and this takes me ages,usally the subject has moved on so much my posts meen nouthing)

 

Anyway portsmuff go bye bye. New portsmuff start kicking a ball around in a field over on the dark side,many years pass and all the little six fingered gypsies don't wanna sea Ringwood come to town much rauther go to the beautiful plaice and watch liverscouse loo's to the gloriuoce SAINTS,tyme goos bye and moor and moor little gypsies opt for wearing stripes whist driving their horse and trap to market.As time passes more and moor of the beautiful city rubs off on them, tattoo's are spelt correctlee,caravans become a thing of the past,"watts lucky heather dad" ? asks Tyson without swearing,things stay where they are instead of dissapeering in the night,lead remains on church roofs and as a result Hampsheer improves enormouslyness (i like that word).

Everyone's a winner, portsmuff in the baloo square thingy 1500 loyal pikeeys, no debt, copper cable remains where it should,the holly in the forest isn't rapped every November and our gloriuooose stadium has two increese to 56000 to accomadete the massive catchment area that Southampton Football Club has inherited

 

God Bless HMRC

 

Are you, even by the smallest teensiest weensiest chance, related to Mack Rill no matter how distantly.....? ;)

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Oh deer,how sad,never mind (in a welsh acksent) if i make spelling mestakes on porpose then the real ones won't be picked up by all the f*****g teachors on heer.

 

Teachors..........another name for police.

 

I don't tell teachors how to do spaniels (spanners) Ok so leeve it,(i can't type and this takes me ages,usally the subject has moved on so much my posts meen nouthing)

 

Anyway portsmuff go bye bye. New portsmuff start kicking a ball around in a field over on the dark side,many years pass and all the little six fingered gypsies don't wanna sea Ringwood come to town much rauther go to the beautiful plaice and watch liverscouse loo's to the gloriuoce SAINTS,tyme goos bye and moor and moor little gypsies opt for wearing stripes whist driving their horse and trap to market.As time passes more and moor of the beautiful city rubs off on them, tattoo's are spelt correctlee,caravans become a thing of the past,"watts lucky heather dad" ? asks Tyson without swearing,things stay where they are instead of dissapeering in the night,lead remains on church roofs and as a result Hampsheer improves enormouslyness (i like that word).

Everyone's a winner, portsmuff in the baloo square thingy 1500 loyal pikeeys, no debt, copper cable remains where it should,the holly in the forest isn't rapped every November and our gloriuooose stadium has two increese to 56000 to accomadete the massive catchment area that Southampton Football Club has inherited

 

God Bless HMRC

I've gotta be honest, I gave up reading that.
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Adam Pinkney ‏ @adam_pinkney

 

 

It will be a loss to the football league if Pompey go bust before the end of the season. They should support uss all the way. #PFC #pompey

 

 

 

I can't believe some of the messages from the pompey fans on Twitter...Though I am getting a good laugh out of some too

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Surely Pompey should be kicked out now if there is a chance that they can't compete their fixtures. Why should some teams have to go through with a meaningless game, what with risking injuries etc, whilst others don't? They either can make the end of the season or can't. What is all this "might"??

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WTFILN?

 

Wasn't meant as a question about what it meant Stevie, just felt nice to post it. It's nice that we have been able to claim and embrace the tune, just like the black community with ******, and the homosexual community with queer, bender and gay.

 

:)

 

WTFILN?

 

And Turkish with mong.

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Adam Pinkney ‏ @adam_pinkney

 

 

It will be a loss to the football league if Pompey go bust before the end of the season. They should support uss all the way. #PFC #pompey

 

 

 

I can't believe some of the messages from the pompey fans on Twitter...Though I am getting a good laugh out of some too

 

It's great fun and it's sooooo easy to get them to bite.

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The League would be in deep mire if they propped up Pompey with say an advance of the TV money for this season, which in itself might not bring a points penalty. Pompey beat the drop and are bought at the eleventh hour and three other clubs are relegated.

 

The only thing the League can do is leave it to the Administrator and if they liquidate carry out the League rules.

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The League would be in deep mire if they propped up Pompey with say an advance of the TV money for this season, which in itself might not bring a points penalty. Pompey beat the drop and are bought at the eleventh hour and three other clubs are relegated. The only thing the League can do is leave it to the Administrator and if they liquidate carry out the League rules.

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