From the Snooze (Friday)

General chat room. Pompey related or not, but PLEASE keep it reasonably clean.

Moderators: Kingofstar, Chris_in_LA, lakespfc, Admin, General Mods

Post Reply
User avatar
stefeni
Interim Manager
Posts: 6030
Joined: Thu May 11, 2006 3:50 pm
Location: Gosport

From the Snooze (Friday)

Post by stefeni »

FORMER Pompey chief executive David Lampitt has been officially confirmed as the new head of Supporters Direct.


It is a body which works with club’s supporters’ trusts to help them influence their clubs.

The Pompey Supporters’ Trust was working closely with Supporters Direct when it looked likely that Pompey could be liquidated and the fans would have to form a new club from scratch.

David Lampitt was employed at Pompey by Balram Chainrai’s Portpin and lead the club out of administration when it was sold to Convers Sports Initiatives.

But he was let go when Pompey went into administration for a second time this year.

He said: ‘It is a real privilege to be given this opportunity to help represent the interests of sport’s most important stakeholders.

‘I look forward to working with some outstanding staff who should be rightly proud of Supporters Direct’s achievements, attracting over £30m of new finance into football and rugby league clubs since 2000.

‘These sports continue to face significant economic challenges and I am very pleased to play a part in promoting the value that supporters and community involvement can bring to that process.’

Mr Lampitt will start his new job on June 25.


Trevor Birch has step-ped up attempts to thrash out Tal Ben Haim’s Pompey future.But he fears there may be no quick resolution to remove the club’s highest earner ahead of any Fratton takeover.

The Israeli international’s reported £36,000-a-week salary is a massive sticking point for any prospective owner, with Balram Chainrai currently closing in on a return to the club.

Birch held telephone talks with Ben Haim on Wednesday as he attempts to solve the problem.

The administrator made his latest move in a bid to negotiate the former Bolton defender’s much-needed exit.

Ben Haim currently has 12 months of the four-year deal he signed in August 2009 remaining.

If he stayed next season, it would cost Pompey just under £2m.

The situation remains one of the biggest headaches for the Pompey administrator as he attempts to move the club forward and deliver a £5m League One wage bill.

Birch insists there have yet to be any approaches for Ben Haim, despite agent Pini Zahavi last month claiming clubs were pursuing his client.

Regardless, he is urgently seeking a swift resolution to Ben Haim’s future.

Birch said: ‘I spoke to Tal on Wednesday. I am currently talking to him about what is going to happen, whether he wants another club or a compromise agreement at some stage.

‘For anyone to buy the club it is obviously going to be an issue. I have to say it is a very big issue.

‘Tal is just waiting, though. For him it is a waiting game.

‘He is just not playing his hand at the moment and, unfortunately, we have not got the cash to offer him. We have not got a terribly strong hand in this case at all.

‘Tal is very much his own man in terms of he will do the negotiations himself. I have not spoken to Pini Zahavi.

‘There is nothing at the moment I can do, nothing I can give to him. At some stage, the players have to weigh up whether it is worth having something spread over time as opposed to liquidation and nothing.’

Zahavi last month told The News his client would not be prepared to play in League One and would quit Fratton Park.

He also claimed there was interest from other clubs, including some outside of England.

But Birch said: ‘I have not had any offers or interest put to me.

‘Whether it has gone directly to his agent I don’t know but that is how it stands at the moment.’


It’s a journey which started at Buckland in the heart of Portsmouth.And this weekend it will see Marlon Pack walking out at Wembley in the League Two play-off final for Cheltenham.

In between, there has been stop-offs at the likes of Copnor North End and Moneyfields and an education coming through the ranks at Fratton Park.

But the 21-year-old has also had to contend with the pain of rejection at his hometown club.

That clearly hurt the local lad but now, nearly a year to the day since his departure, Pack has turned his Pompey setback on its head.

A season to remember for the Robins has seen him get 52 appearances under his belt.

Pack’s performances saw him short-listed for the League Two player of the season award and named in the division’s team of the year.

Then came his world class free-kick last week to put the seal on his side’s win over Torquay in the play-off semi-finals.

Now the fulfilment of a dream will be played out at the home of football on Sunday. The Buckland boy’s done good.

‘It’s been a memorable season – more than I could ever wish for,’ said Pack, as he reflected on the whole campaign.

‘It’s ridiculous, really! I’m born and raised in Buckland and went to Flying Bull School and then City Boys.

‘I’m a proper Buckland boy and a proper Pompey boy.

‘It’s a cliché but it’s every boy’s dream to walk out at Wembley.

‘It’s going to be the biggest moment of my career. I was lucky enough to play at White Hart Lane this season in front of 32,000 fans.

‘I’ve only been to Wembley once before – and that was to watch Portsmouth in the FA Cup final in 2008.

‘So to be there on the pitch playing – to go from watching, to people watching me – will be a dream come true.

‘I suppose it shows if you keep your head down and work at things you achieve what you want to achieve.’

Pack’s childhood and youth is ingrained in Portsmouth and its institutions.

Educated locally and turning out for the football clubs in the area, he is thankful for the grounding it’s given him.

Now the midfielder is a single game away from a return to Fratton Park next season – in the colours of Cheltenham.

Pack said: ‘I played football locally when I was younger.

‘I was playing every Sunday until I was in year seven.

‘I was playing for Copnor North End the year above me but they went to 11-a-side and I wasn’t allowed to play – so I went to my own age group.

‘I was supposed to be playing for Portsmouth’s centre of excellence but that got scrapped, so I ended signing for Moneyfields.

‘At the end of that season I started playing every week for Portsmouth.

‘As a young footballer, I look back to those times and the youth team years with happy memories.

‘You don’t get much better banter than you got in the youth team. I still speak to all the boys there.

‘We had a close-knit team and I’m still in touch with a lot of them like Matt Ritchie, Joel Ward, Callum Reynolds, Paris Cowan-Hall, Ryan Woodford, Joe Collins and Louis Castles.

‘There are a few local boys there who went all the way through the age groups.

‘It didn’t work out for me at Portsmouth, though. I suppose everyone has their opinions. That’s football.

‘It hurt at first but I guess it’s worked out well. I’ve played all season for Cheltenham, which is what I wanted.

‘And now I’m in a play-off final at Wembley. I’ve got to be happy with that.’

Chris Neville has been putting England players through their paces after winning an international call-up.Pompey’s strength and conditioning coach has been selected as part of Roy Hodgson’s backroom team for the 2012 European Championship.

For Neville, it is a return to the England camp where he previously served between 2004 and 2008.

During that time, he acted as a masseur and worked at the World Cup finals in Germany in 2006, as well as during the Three Lions’ qualifying matches.

Now he’s back as part of Hodgson’s revamped set-up preparing for next month’s tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

Neville helped take training yesterday at the Etihad Stadium ahead of tomorrow night’s friendly with Norway.

The Oslo fixture will mark Hodgson’s first match as England boss.

Neville’s selection is recognition of the reputation he has established since first arriving at Fratton Park in 2002.

While working at Pompey, he studied sports science at the University of Portsmouth, graduating in the summer of 2005.

His ability as a masseur also saw him involved in the England team over a four-year period, travelling the world with the players.

In January 2008 he quit the Blues to become fitness coach at LA Galaxy in the MLS over in America.

But he returned after a year to become an integral member of the backroom staff under bosses Harry Redknapp, Tony Adams, Paul Hart, Avram Grant, Steve Cotterill and now Michael Appleton.

Neville was a promising goalkeeper with Ipswich until injury finished his career after one first-team appearance.

Earlier this month, he turned out for Linvoy Primus in a Faith & Football match at Westleigh Park.

And this summer he will be a crucial part of the England set-up as Hodgson seeks to get off to an encouraging start as manager.


TV presenter and local personality Fred Dinenage has joined the Pompey Supporters’ Trust bid to buy the football club.Fred, a former Pompey director, will follow his daughter Caroline, the MP for Gosport, in making a pledge.

The Dinenage family has been keen supporters of Portsmouth Football Club, with Caroline and her mum Beverley travelling to away matches more often than Fred.

He said: ‘I would love to get involved with it, and so would my wife, because she and Caroline were real fanatics and went to every single away game.’

One bid to buy Pompey was this week being finalised by former owner Balram Chainrai’s firm Portpin.

Details are due to be sent to all Pompey creditors as soon as the bid is complete.

Meanwhile the Pompey Supporters’ Trust is continuing to appeal for pledges to its pre-share scheme.

The PST is hoping to lodge its bid in the next week or so, and is well on its way to its target number of pledges to do so.

To find out more, and for those who want to pledge more than the minimum, see communitypompey.co.uk.


HER Majesty’s Revenue and Customs has lost a High Court challenge on the controversial Football Creditors’ Rule.Under the rule, if a football club goes into administration, its creditors from the footballing world are guaranteed to get all their money back, while other creditors only get a proportion.

HMRC launched its bid to get the rule overturned after Pompey went into administration in 2010, because whilst football players, agents, clubs and others were guaranteed their money, HMRC would see only a tiny proportion of the £37m it was owed by the club.

Today, High Court judge justice David Richards dismissed HMRC’s attempts to have the rule overturned.

The decision will be appealed against by HMRC.

Pompey are considering their training ground future.
But the Blues have not been forced out of their home at Eastleigh.

Administrator Trevor Birch admits the club are now looking at their options over where the first team will base themselves.

Pompey have used Wellington Sports Ground as their training ground since moving there from HMS Collingwood in the summer of 2002.

Southampton’s King Edward VI School own the facility and share use of it along with Pompey.

It is also used to host the club’s Academy, who play their fixtures there.

Training facilities have long been a problem for Pompey.

They were given the green light to build a new base at Lee-on-the-Solent in 2008, after plans to move to a site at Titchfield were turned down.

That never materialised, though, as the club’s financial difficulties developed.

Birch explained the lease at Eastleigh is now weighing heavy on the Blues through their latest problems.

But talk circulating that Pompey had been thrown out is wide of the mark.

Birch admits the club are considering what the best move for them would be.

Finding a suitable venue with the right facilities is proving problematic, though.

A return to HMS Collingwood has been mooted, along with other options in and around Portsmouth.

But, according to Birch, there have been no developments as things stand.

He said: ‘There’s nothing to report at this stage.

‘It’s quite an expensive lease for us (at Eastleigh) but there are no alternatives at the moment.

‘There are a few sites mentioned which have been publicised.

‘One of the issues we have to deal with is facilities, though. They are few and far between, really.’
In transition to the real me, Currently on hold after surgical review until I loose 10kg anyone got a hiding place for it :-) hopefully will be fully the true me now in 2017.
Post Reply

Create an account or sign in to join the discussion

You need to be a member in order to post a reply

Create an account

Not a member? register to join our community
Members can start their own topics & subscribe to topics
It’s free and only takes a minute

Register

Sign in

  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post