Exclusive: PST Look to Revive Portsmouth

By Ismail Uddin

Portsmouth Supporters Trust (PST) Chairman, adiposity Ashley Brown has revealed they will look to re-energise the English League One team following its recent decline.

The PST have agreed a provisional deal for the financially stricken club which will be finalised once Portpin, who own Fratton Park agree to sell the stadium and administrators PKF are going to court to secure the rights.

Brown is optimistic that once the takeover is agreed they the long-term stability of the club will take precedence over short-term goals.

“Consolidation of the club and avoiding relegation would be a good start but stability is the key that’s where all football clubs are going to think about longer term. We got to be realistic, you can’t spend money the club hasn’t got and find ourselves back in front of the courts being wound-up and liquidated. We have to base it on sound business ground,” he told iSportconnect.

Brown also suggested that league progression may take several years and the Premier League would be difficult in the short-term.

He said: “There are going to be some quick wins and things we can do fairly quickly behind the scenes. But we have to be realistic; climbing back up the divisions may take a number of years. I thinks it’s realistic to think we can bring the club back into the Championship in the relative short term but everyone knows that climb between the Championship and Premiership is hugely difficult.

“You are competing now with a lot of clubs who have benefitted from parachute payments and therefore can equalise wage bills, so that final step (to the Premier League) will undoubtedly be a tough one.”

Brown also went on to criticise the previous management which left the club in it’s current predicament.

“We have had for a number of years where the club has suffered from serious mis-management even going back to the premiership years. Pompey had seven years of Premiership money coming through the doors and we have been left with no tangible benefits from that time.

“We still got a relatively basic ground and missed the opportunity to buy our own training ground. Of course we won the FA Cup which is tremendous and brought a great deal of excitement but so much money slipped through the fingers of previous administrations. Not only do we end up having nothing to show for it but we ended up owing millions and millions of pounds too many people,” he added.