Portsmouth FC are on the brink but what do the remaining 3 players do?
It is always a sad tale to see a football club in severe financial problems. In the recent past we have seen the demise of Wimbledon, Chester, Gretna, Rushden & Diamonds and even the mighty Glasgow Rangers. Now with Portsmouth FC on the brink you have to wonder how this has happened.
When I sat in my Winchester local surrounded by vociferous Pompey fans cheering proudly as their little team from the south coast did battle with the mighty AC Milan in 2008 I never envisaged this situation less than 4 years later.
With only 3 senior players on the books; all of which have to go; the club is teetering on a precipice of financial meltdown.
What is amazing however is how the players being asked to leave are not exactly deadwood. Recent signings on huge paypackets such as Tal Ben Haim, Liam Lawrence and the recently departed Erik Husseklep make you wonder how inept somebody claiming to be a businessman running a professional football team can actually be.
Now, the players are being victimised for signing a lucrative ‘job offer’ less than a year ago, being left owed millions of pounds and potentially facing a season in the wilderness. I know it is easy to say ‘footballers earn to much’ et cetera et cetera and that may be true; but you live to your means. If I was owed X amount of millions and have been living off X amount of millions for the last 10 years of my life I am certain my lifestyle would require a certain amount of money to continue.
These players are also an interesting age; Kitson is 32, Ben Haim and Lawrence are 30; approaching the twilight of their careers they will have families to support and the remainder of their lives to financially sustain after the wages of professional football dry up with the inevitable early retirement in comparison to the average Joe.
It is hard to swallow but the players are not obliged to give up the money they are owed and at the end of the day, unfortunately, once again the people who miss out will be the loyal fans of Portsmouth Football Club.
Finding a suitable buyer for the club is difficult. For all its history and quaintness Fratton Park is dilapidated by modern standards and despite a loyal following, it is not exactly the largest. It sounds harsh but after years of punching above their weight on borrowed money Portsmouth FC are almost certain to pay the price of greed and ambition like many a club before them. But the people who pay the price won’t be the greedy or the ambitious, just the loyal fans of the club they love.
image: © joncandy
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