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Rolling With The Inland Revenue
Rolling With The Inland Revenue
Wednesday, 24th Feb 2010 14:41

Although most Saints fans reaction might be to laugh at the plight Pompey are in, we should have some sympathy. 

Lets get one thing straight from the start of this article, being A Southampton Supporter means that the old enemy are and always will  be Pompey, football is all about rivalry and seeing your local rivals doing badly, but that doesnt mean we shouldnt spare some thought for Portsmouth Fans.

The truth of the matter is that last year when we were in trouble, Pompey fans made hay, indeed when the first of their fake sheiks arrived they revelled in the fact that they thought they were minted and we were down the pan, however we all have to remember that deep down we are all football supporters and whilst I have little sympathy for the plight they are in given all of the circumstances, I do genuinely feel for those loyal supporters who are now looking at seeing their team disapear of the face of the Earth, how would you feel if it had been Saints.

True that they bring it on themselves sometimes due to the antics of Westwood and their constant bragging about being the best supporters in the world etc and that now leaves them with little sympathy this end of the M27, but they do have some good loyal supporters, not as many as they would have you believe, but truth is they are a bigger club than many and to that end it will be sad to see them implode.

However over the years they have let this happen to them, in the 90's whilst most clubs started having Independent Supporters Associations, they didnt feel the need, the formation of their Supporters Trust comes four years after the formation of ours, in truth they couldnt read the signs on the walls or rather didnt want to, as Pompey stayed in the Premier league and won the FA Cup they didnt care who was paying for it and the consequences, now they know.

Sadly I cant see Pompey being saved, the debts are too high and despite pinning their hopes on a number of people this season I fear that they are all of the same ilk, picking at the bones of the corpse and the end result is that having said the right words, the likes of Chainrai etc willhope that will make them enough of heroes in the eyes of Pompey fans to be trusted to build a fitting memorial on the site of Fratton Park, IE housing and retail developement.

But the future will go on for Pompey, their best bet is to re form and start up down the pyramid, initially playing perhaps at Havant & Waterlooville, the ground should be sufficient for that level of football and the monsy coming through with their support willprovide enough backing to buy their way through the system quickly.

They will then have the potential to rise through the leagues again, an investor will come forward and perhaps start to build them a stadium and help them grow, in perhaps 4 years they could be in League 1 and ready to move into that ground.

Pompey do have better support than most n the 92 league clubs, its not the best in the world Premier supoort, but in truth it is mid table Championship, not burdened with debt I feel that a new club can emerge from the ashes, and the legacy to football will be the fact that it will have shown both the authorities and football fans the state of English Football and that it is now time to step back and stop chasing the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, our role model should be the Bundeslige in Germany not the Serie A or La Liga.

I feel that Saints supporters have learnt from our experience last year and hopefully Pompey's will benefit likewise, the Premier is a grasping league that promotes greed and jealousy, it breeds a type of fan that is there in the good times but deserts as quickly as it arrives, football clubs have to start spending in line with their status, not risking all as Pompey, Hull etc have done recently and the likes of Bradford did a decade ago, all for few fleeting moments in the sun followed by oblivion.

When Fratton Park is a B & Q many who were at Wembley in 2008 will smile as they buy their fence panels and remember the great day at Wembley for Pompey, but for them they wont care, they long found something else to do on a Saturday bar watch Portsmouth, however for many it will be something that was a big part of their life gone in an instant, due to the greed of others.      

Photo: Action Images



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