CEO Cullen: There has always been ambition, always a plan
Andy Cullen saluted Pompey’s owners and insisted: There has always been a plan and always been ambition.
Club directors Eric and Breck Eisner were present at Fratton Park on Saturday to watch John Mousinho’s title winners receive the League One trophy on a memorable afternoon.
Having taken over from the Pompey Supporters’ Trust and fan ownership in August 2017, the wait for a Championship return had been a long and often frustrating one. Nonetheless, the September 2022 appointment of Rich Hughes as sporting director and
John Mousinho’s subsequent arrival as head coach fourand-a-half months later transformed the Blues’ fortunes.
And Cullen applauded Michael Eisner and his family’s ongoing financial commitment, which has seen an additional £25m ploughed into a club which remains debt-free.
Pompey’s chief executive told The News :‘Iwantto especially thank the owners because they have supported us throughout this season, particularly with the recommendations made to them by Rich, John, Tony (Brown) and myself in terms of players we wanted to sign.
‘They gave us the funds to do that – and to go again in January to reinforce positions where unfortunately we had suffered injuries. They backed it 100 per cent.
‘They have also made us ready for the Championship in terms of stadium capacity and infrastructure at the training ground. Again it has been a not insignificant capital investment which has gone into those facilities.
‘They have resolutely stuck to their plan, to their principles of making sure the club is financially sustainable. They’ve given us the extra cash when we have needed it and we aren’t saddled with any debt.
‘We are one of the few debt-free clubs in English football. Everything has been funded by equity and that demonstrates their long-term commitment to Portsmouth Football Club – and we are incredibly grateful they have allowed us to build and grow.
‘There has always been ambition, there has always been a plan, you can see the plan in terms of it being delivered from day one when I walked into the club. By then the training ground had already been purchased and the work at the stadium was committed to.
‘The strategic plan in terms of player recruitment was already in place before John’s arrival (January
2023). We were working with (previous head coach) Danny Cowley on it – that’s how we were trying to transform things – and the investment