‘Times are precarious’

UK football is ‘precarious’, but Blues still financially stable thanks to rescue deal and board’s efforts

Mark Catlin insists football remains in a ‘precarious’ state, despite welcoming the Premier League’s crucial rescue package.

And Pompey’s chief executive has praised chair man Michael Eisner and owners Tor nante for ensuring the Blues continue to defy the coronavirus crisis through remaining financially stable.

League One and League Two are to receive £50m following the Football League’s agreement with the Premier League.

All 48 clubs will be handed a share of a £30m grant, with a further £20 available as a ‘monitored grant’.

The agreement also takes into account lost gate receipts for the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, thereby benefiting the likes of Pompey, Sunderland and Ipswich, who generate bigger attendances.

The deal has been widely applauded, with Pompey now calculating how much they can expect to receive.

Regardless, Catlin is grateful to the Blues’ owners for their extra financial support during tough times since March.

He told The News: ‘We’ve been so engrossed in getting Saturday’s game on t hat I haven't really had time to look into the details of this package, let alone discuss it with our board.

‘Whatever our stance may be individually as Pompey, it represents a much-needed fillip for football and is going to be very, very welcome.

‘For t he greater good of football it seems to the face of it to be something that at least helps with the losses that the clubs are suffering.

‘Football was in a precarious state pre-covid and it’s in an even more precarious position now because the cash balances of many businesses are going to be sorely depleted, even with this bail out.

‘It’s not going to solve everything, although it will address things to a large degree. In our case, it is only addressing percentages of gate receipts, not the whole loss of gate receipts.

‘However, we are in a privileged position having this ownership group and the board of directors at this club.

‘While I’ve had sleepless nights throughout the period on a number of other things, I’ve probably had fewer sleepless nights than a lot of other clubs who are worrying about the future.

‘I have had the knowledge that Michael and Tor nante are there to support us, mitigating the huge losses we have been suffering.’

Unlike the vast majority of Football League clubs, Pompey are adamant they have not made any ‘covidenforced’ redundancies.

And he believes t hat statistic is indicative of the ongoing financial presence of the Eisner family.

He added: ‘It’s not nice, even during the pandemic, for myself as a CEO needing to rely on money from the board to get through. They are not nice calls to make.

‘But Michael and t he board have made it as easy as they can for the club.

‘We’ve not had to make any drastic knee-jerk decision in regards of staff, cuts and reductions, unlike almost every other club in the EFL.

‘And, to a large degree, the Premier League as well.’