Yes. They have been given seven days to decide if they wish to appeal. However an appeal can only be made on legal grounds, on a point of law, there has to be a reason for that appeal, not just hope.

If the outstanding bill with HMRC isn't settled by the hearing on February 10, what happens then?

If the bill is not settled by then the club could go into liquidation, if the judge grants the winding-up petition.

However a High Court judge might be reluctant to do this at the first hearing. Pompey would almost certainly ask for an adjournment. AFC Bournemouth Football Club were granted five adjournments in this position.

Pompey have to convince the judge why they should have an adjournment, mainly that they have funds coming in and will be able to settle the bill soon, the judge may then agree to it

If the club pay HMRC, will that be the end of the matter ?

No They are not automatically off the hook. Any other creditor could come along (And lets face it there are a few out there) and take over the winding-up petition, if they apply to the court to do so. If this was successful then the court would then set a date for another winding-up hearing.

What happens if the winding-up petition is granted?

Pompey or more specificaly the Club or Company would cease to exist and would go into liquidation. It would lose its Premier League status. The registration of all the players will automatically go to the Premier League. All assets would be sold off, down to the smallest items.

What happens if Pompey go into administration?

The club would hand in a petition to the court to go into administration. They could do this at the hearing on February 10 if the funds to pay HMRC have not been found.

They are docked nine Premier League points, which will make staying up virtually impossible

Insolvency practioners as in Begbie Traynor with Saints, would be appointed and they would take over the running of the club.

As we knowthey will need to find the money to pay for the club to continue trading on a day-to-day basis, if they cant do that then they have to liquidise the Club, all whilst trying to find another buyer for the club.

If they cannot subsequently find a buyer then the club would go into liquidation.

Not a great situation for Pompey to be in, if they cant find £2 million for the wages on a regular basis, then how can they hope to find anything approaching the debts, if they are in admin its hard to see that they can stay in it very long given the monthly running costs needed to be found.

I think the initial reaction of most Saints fans is glee, after all how many Pompey fans offered anything bar gloating to us, but there is a far more reaching consequence, speaking to a cross section of our support, I have generally found that whilst most have no sympathy they would not want to see Pompey go out of business, although 99% do seem to want to see them suffer and back to where they have been for most of the last 50 years ie below us.