Portsmouth's chief executive David Lampitt has shed some light on the shocking scale of the debts as the battle to save the club goes on.
Chief executive spells out money owed
Portsmouth's chief executive David Lampitt has shed some light on the shocking scale of the debts as the battle to save the club goes on.
Pompey announced on Monday that they are entering administration for the second time in two years.
That decision was a direct consequence of the club's parent company, Convers Sports Initiatives (CSI), going into administration late last year.
Lampitt told
Sky Sports News: "The company was put into administration in November and that has starved the club of one of its key revenue streams and led to the position we are in.
"There are a few different classes of debt. There is the secured debt from former owner Balram Chainrai of £17million.
"There is the debt to CSI, the most recent owners of the club, of about £10million.
Classes of debt
"And there is the CVA (company voluntary arrangement) of the old company that we estimate at £16million.
"There is also a bit of trade debt including the debt to HMRC which has precipitated the current situation."
The debts are believed to total just short of £50million, which is considerably less than the nine-figure sum owed last time Portsmouth went into administration in 2010.
When questioned whether the current situation was more manageable, Lampitt was circumspect.
"The secured debt was part of that previous figure and the CVA debt was arising from that situation," he added.
"But there's still a significant level of unsecured debt in the club."
