One true, irrefutable fact that cannot be denied any which-way you twist or turn is that if you want a football club – any football club – in Portsmouth in the future, Balram Chainrai will have to have some of his money back.

In this he is not unique. Any private owner of a football club will want money he puts in to yield a return. This is why the private ownership model in football is failing in every direction you look. From Liverpool to Wrexham and all points in the Leagues between, private owners have struggled to sustain clubs in a way that ensures they do not lose their money. Many have failed, exiting to leave the local community to bail out what surely should be run as a community asset rather than a profit-making business. For most clubs, trying to emulate the big four is an unsustainable proposition.

What is unique about Balram Chainrai is that he has told us that he does not want to own a football club. I don’t believe he ever did. Every step of the dance since Portpin’s initial badly advised loan to Falcondrone in October 2009 has involved him trying to manoeuvre himself into a position that will let him exit with both a cash return and some shreds of a reputation as a businessman remaining.

This is why I believe him when he says he will not let the club be liquidated. Liquidation leaves him with an enormous loss of both face and money.

So this is the position we find ourselves in. No liquidation but two declared rival bidders. One interested in money and personal reputation – Balram Chainrai. One interested in running a sustainable football club in the long term – The Pompey Trust. Talk of another bidder says only that they are nowhere near as advanced as these two rivals. Time is running out as we have to convince the Football League that Pompey will be able to fulfil League One fixtures by 2 June.

Financially the club is in no position to make anyone any money over the next two or three years. Even assuming that the purchase price – whatever it is – will be the amount available to cover a CVA, the onus placed on the club by two contrary bits of football legislation makes PFC a very unattractive financial investment. Firstly the football creditors’ rule ensures we have to cover the wages of any player still contracted to the club. Secondly the Salary Cost Management Protocol (SCMP) operated in League 1 kicks in for real next season. This limits our spending on players’ wages to 65% of turnover. Next season penalties will be applied to any club breaking this ‘wage cap’. The rules state: Any club that is deemed to have breached the permitted spending threshold will be subject to a transfer embargo. Wherever possible, The League will seek to tackle the issue 'at source' by refusing player registrations that take clubs beyond the threshold.

The League tells me that in our case, having been relegated: If the club has any players on contracts of three years or longer they are allowed one season to sell these players or renegotiate a smaller wage, outside of SCMP.

In effect this will stop any owner doing what CSI did and subsidising the wage bill beyond paying players that we already have on contract for one more season. Investment in infrastructure is allowed but not in a team. We will still have the parachute payments as part of turnover, but we have to face the fact that the lack of investment in Pompey’s infrastructure in the past means our income will not be one that pays for high-salaried players. The fraught situation whereby Sacha Gaydamak still holds land needed to make any inroads on stadium development further makes such investment a very moot point. Gaydamak has so far had no negotiation with Chainrai on the land situation. Nothing that is known encourages anyone to think this will change.

So, anyone taking the club on from now on in needs to be committed to the long-term if they expect to get any sort of a return or to run anything other than a club that continues to slide down the leagues. This has been said many a time and oft. There is no profit in Pompey. Those looking for a Saviour in the possible second bidder had better hope they are of a philanthropic turn of mind. Those that think Mr Chainrai taking us back on now will buy us time to find a philanthropic hero may like to consider the matter a little more carefully. Why would such a saviour wait to buy from Chainrai – at his price – rather than taking the club on now at a price of their own making?

If there is no profit the motivation for owning the club rests most strongly with those who already have ‘skin in the game’. Chainrai has money and face to lose. The Trust, as representative of the fans, has something far more meaningful invested already, the fans’ hearts and souls. Logically the two parties would be best suited if they could work together, if Chainrai could bend towards the idea of a community club and the Trust could overcome the distrust he has engendered in a large number of fans. Whatever we feel, the club can only continue to exist if Chainrai gets some money from the deal – even in liquidation he will be paid something. Co-operation could be in the interests of both parties.

However, it seems that Mr Chainrai is still not willing to speak to the Supporters Trust even at this late stage. This may be a grave mistake on his part. More than ever he is going to need the fans with him if he takes the club on again. If he wants to maximise his return he needs the fans to provide the income to keep the club going. He needs those parachute payments to be available for more than the day-to-day running costs of the club. There is every chance that the Football League will yet again embargo him from removing funds from the club as before; lobbying has probably already taken place if HMRC run true to form. His previous form would suggest no matter what he says, what he does makes parsimony the most likely course of action. Another season of make-do-and-mend on the pitch is the most likely outcome. In the meantime, if another charge is placed on Fratton Park as before, the potential for the ground and the club to become separated remains and the level of debt increases yet again.

The Trust need Chainrai less than he needs them. Funding for Community Interest Societies or Community Interest Companies can be found from many sources (See here and here), as can potential lines of credit at reasonable rates of interest. Assets (such as the ground) are locked in to the business, transparency and democratic decision making are mandatory. Local Councils are far more able to give assistance to such businesses. Investment in them has a wide range of benefits for investors beyond the profit motive. Here is where your true philanthropists are more likely to be found - among the community of fans themselves.

Everyone from those with a few pounds to donate to a fighting fund to those able to contribute to some level of shareholding has a greater motivation than Chainrai can begin to understand – a contribution to the wellbeing of themselves and the wider community. A club truly run for the fans can only really be run by the fans.

The more fans support the Trust bid the more likely we are to have a truly sustainable future. Details are here at Community Pompey.

Photo: Action Images

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