Rescue package may hurt Blues’ progress in the years to come
Mark Catlin admitted Pompey accessing the £50m football rescue package could slam the brakes on the club’s development.
And the Blues chief executive explained that will make for a tough call over deciding whether to use the fund in its entirety, as they continue to battle the seismic financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Premier League and EFL yesterday reached agreement over the distribution of the fund after weeks of discussions.
Reports suggest each club in League One will receive £375,000, with a further £15m distributed according to a lost gate revenue share calculation.
The remaining £20m will then be accessed via a ‘monitored grant’ which will have conditions attached to it.
It’s those strings which could impact Pompey in the longer term with Catlin suggesting it could put them in a financial straitjacket.
He said: ‘For a lot of clubs this is going to be great news, but it’s not such great news for Portsmouth or any of the larger clubs.
‘It’s a grant and there are some other areas which have conditions which probably don’t work for Portsmouth.
‘We’ll have to see the real, fine detail of that and get the model in for how much financially it comes to, then see whether it’s worth taking that conditionality as part of the deal.
‘To a degree, the second tranche of the money, within the conditionality, is the means testing part, so the strength of our owners becomes our weakness in regards of how we want to take the club forward.
‘By accessing all of the money we tie our hands up quite significantly.
‘That’s something we have to discuss as a board and make a decision on how we want to proceed.’
Although highlighting the potential issues surrounding the package to a club like Pompey, Catlin was at pains to stress the support is warmly received. But with the Blues haemorrhaging £750,000 through Covid, it’s clear the initial tranche being made available will not stretch too far.
Catlin added: ‘We’ve looked at the bailout and anything helps.
‘Anything helps whether that be furlough, rates relief or what’s being called a bailout.
‘I wouldn’t call it that, I’d call it short-term assistance money.
‘We have to put our football hat on as well, though.
‘For a lot of clubs this will be good news so I don’t want to be critical of what is effectively free money.
‘It’s helpful, but for Portsmouth it’s not the silver bullet.’