Pompey Director and Trust Executive Board Member Mick Williams explains the context of the introduction of £450,000 of equity by the Presidents into Portsmouth Football Club.
This money has been introduced by the Presidents as equity (ie an investment, which is therefore at risk, not a loan) which is why the PST shareholding position has reduced to around 53%.
When we took over the club we were aware that there were some outstanding works which were required at Fratton Park. The full extent of these was only fully revealed when the club applied for its safety certificate in the summer ahead of the season.
In consequence, we had to reduce the capacity from around 21,000 to 18,200. Fans should be aware that there is no guarantee that this capacity will be maintained if we didn’t complete this work. In fact, it is very likely we would be facing a further reduction for next season.
These essential works will primarily ensure that there are no further reductions in capacity due to Safety Certificate requirements. It should also be remembered that we have two wooden stands, the loss of either due to a fire, could be disastrous for our club. The sprinkler systems and electrical work will go a long way to averting such a potential disaster. 'Overdue Safety Work' is the truth here and something we just have to deal with.
I think it is also helpful to repeat this extract from a thread I posted in April on the PompeyOnline.com forum which explains the way the shares in the club are allocated and the relationship between the PST shareholding and that of the Presidents:
"Portsmouth Community Football Club Ltd (PCFC) is the company that owns Pompey.
The shareholders of PCFC are 11 Pompey fans (Presidents) who have invested between £50,000 and £250,000 each (totalling about £1.6M) and the Pompey Supporters Trust (PST) which is rapidly approaching £2M investment. The exact percentage of shareholdings will not be known for months as we are still looking for new Presidents and fans are, hopefully, going to continue to convert their pledges and make new applications. The 11 Presidents paid the administrators, on a weekly basis, cash to cover the losses and stop the club being liquidated for a number of months last year.
The shareholders agreement precludes dividends and restricts the sale of shares. It also lists a number of 'Reserved Matters' which the board may not action without a shareholders vote, such as issuing loan capital, acquisitions, disposal of the business or varying the rights attached to any shares. These Reserved Matters require a 75% or 90% majority, depending on which list they are in.
The original directors of PCFC were the three members of the PST Executive board, Mark Trapani, Ashley Brown and me [Mick Williams], plus Iain McInnes who was asked to join with us and invited to be PCFC Chairman elect. We also asked Mike Dyer to join the board and agreed that two other Presidents, Chris Moth and John Kirk, would have the option to become directors if their workload permitted. Happily, they have now exercised that option and are now directors.
PST members, which includes shareholders, vote each year for members who stand for election to the executive board. From the elected board, three will be selected to become PST directors of PCFC.
The day-to-day running of the club will be controlled by the CEO, Mark Catlin, who will report to the board. You will also probably have heard that Mike Hall has also joined the team as Engagement Manager. Mike Hall The profiles of every director and the CEO are here: Directors
Now, the board of PCFC has an extensive mix of skills and business experience and there is no question of there being any sort of split along PST/President lines. Each director will have an equal say in decision making and each will have a free vote should the need arise. All are Pompey fans wanting to make the right decision for the sake of the club they love.”
I have been at every Board meeting and not once has a vote been decided on ‘Trust’ and ‘Presidents’ lines.
The truth of the matter is all the Presidents are Pompey fans and have invested in the club because they want to see it thrive and prosper as we all do.
I am proud Pompey is a community club and that the Trust holds the majority stake in it. However, I can say, hand on heart, we are a club which is 100 per cent owned by the fans. We are lucky to have such terrific fans who are able and willing to invest in our club at whatever level they can afford.
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