Portsmouth Football Club was formed all the way back in 1898, but could 2013 be the year that the club ceases to exist? Today, we look into the recent highs, and the recent lows of the club, and where Pompey can go from here.
'NO MATCH' - Could this soon become a familiar sight to Pompey fans?
Amazingly, this isn't the only occasion the crisis stricken club has come close to liquidisation. In the 1998/99 season, a supposed year of celebration for the club, the atmosphere turned sour when Pompey went into administration in December 1998 and were a fraction away from extinction. Milan Mandaric would prove to be the saviour of the club when he took cash out of his own pocket to buy the club in May 1999. This would ultimately prove to be the start of a new era for Portsmouth.
In the year 2002, Harry Redknapp was appointed Manager of the club and within a year's time of being on the south coast he had lead the 'blue army' to the Premier League after winning the then Division One title. This promotion proving to be down to the willingness of Milan Mandaric to spend money on new players for the club and the fantastic fan support Harry Redknapp received.
Pompey would go on to record a thirteenth place finish in their first season in the Premier League and all seemed to be going well for the south coast club. However, midway through the club's second season in the top tier of English football, disaster struck as Harry Redknapp left the club after a dispute with the Chairman, Milan Mandaric. The club would go on to finish the season in sixteenth position and would slip a place to seventeenth in the year after. The only positive to be found from the third season being that Harry Redknapp made his return to the club.
2006 saw a new owner for Portsmouth as Alexandre Gaydamak bought the club from Milan Mandaric. His investment was immediate and numerous new players saw Portsmouth to their first top-half finish in the Premier League.This success continued into the 07/08 season as Portsmouth won their second ever FA Cup after beating Cardiff City 1-0 in the final at a packed out Wembley Stadium. This meant that Portsmouth would participate in the 08/09 season's UEFA Cup, the first time Pompey would take part in a European competition.
However, all of this success would come at a huge cost and at the start of the 09/10 season it was revealed that Portsmouth were in yet another serious financial crisis. This because of over spending on so called 'top players' who failed to perform in their time at Pompey and would eventually be sold on for big losses. During the season, new owner Balram Chainrai discovered that the club were in around £135 million debt and so Portsmouth became the first Premier League team to enter administration. This automatically en cured a nine point deduction and all but doomed Portsmouth to relegation.
Ultimately, the season would end in relegation for the club and a return to the second tier of English football, the Championship. However, after more financial troubles the club would slip even further down the English football pyramid into League One in 2012 after the club once again entered administration and suffered yet another points deduction.
So where does this leave Portsmouth now? Well the club currently sits bottom of League One after almost a year in administration and without new owners by the summer, Portsmouth will be kicked out of the Football League. However, the Football League's preferred bidders are the Pompey Supporters' Trust and bids from any other group or investor will be turned down.
With the end of the season growing ever nearer and the chance of a takeover becoming ever smaller, Portsmouth's future is only becoming ever more clouded. However, one thing that is for sure is that football always finds a way.
