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PST Statement of Clarification
By Mark Farwell
Added on 20 March 2015
PST Statement of Clarification
"Following recent media speculation, the PST Board would like to clarify the situation regarding the ‘Pompey’s 12th Man’ campaign funds raised by Pompey fans to assist PST member and Pompey fan Micah Hall with his costs resulting from a lawsuit filed by Pascal Najadi. The lawsuit followed a series of blogs written by Micah in 2013 when Pascal Najadi was part of a consortium bidding for ownership of Portsmouth FC.
At the end of May 2014, the ‘Pompey’s 12th Man’ campaign released the sum of £2,900 to Micah Hall (donated by fans for this cause) to help with impending legal costs which were causing him and his family significant financial worry. The payment of these funds was handled by the two signatories to the 12th Man Fund, and paid into an account agreed with Micah Hall. Both signatories had full authority at the time to issue the payment which at the time was not expected to be repaid.
This payment was discussed at a PST Board meeting in November 2014 having been raised by the 12th Man signatories, and following confirmation from Micah that he had not at this point received the anticipated legal bills, it was agreed that as the legal fees were not yet due, we should seek repayment and a plan was agreed with Micah, with £400 having so far been repaid.
The anticipated legal bill was received by Micah in December, and his lawyers have confirmed he has paid £2,000 of these legal costs directly. The £400 already repaid to the 12th Man Fund by Micah as part of the repayment plan will now be transferred by the PST directly to Micah’s lawyers with Micah also paying the remaining £500. This now accounts for the full £2,900 dispersed by the 12th Man Fund, which was raised to help Micah with his legal costs.
In light of this we can now confirm that the PST board has now assumed full responsibility for agreeing & actioning all future payments from Pompey’s 12th Man fundraising.
As the money has been used for its intended purpose we consider this matter closed and the position will be reflected in next year’s accounts.
We would also like to clarify the position of PST Board member Steve Tovey. Publication of the PST accounts were delayed this year – this delay was not linked to the transaction outlined above. Steve has taken full responsibility for the delay – and resigned as PST Treasurer earlier this year. He has confirmed to the PST board that he will not stand for re-election later this year.
We wish to stress that at no time did the PST or its officers breach any legal or financial regulations.
The PST accounts were approved by those members that attended our SGM and have since been accepted by our auditors and presented to the FCA.
Mick Williams’ decision to resign from the PST on a 'matter of principle' is linked to the above, but his reasons for resigning remain personal and are for him to comment on should he wish to.
Finally, we are planning to hold a general open meeting in the coming weeks to update members on all the latest PST news. More details about the meeting will be supplied shortly."
Bloke who does Rubi's Fantasy League. SEE LATEST TABLES HERE: PREM,CHAMPS & now the CUP
"In light of this we can now confirm that the PST board has now assumed full responsibility for agreeing & actioning all future payments from Pompey’s 12th Man fundraising."
This implies that prior to this they made the payment without the PST's full involvement/agreement.
Again, a right bl**dy mess and interesting that Tovey has gone as well.....
Unfortunately, the first I heard about a legal bill in December was this week, so I am also confused why there were repayments after that.
The statement says that my decision to resign was linked to the money being advanced to Mike Hall. This is not true. I advocated strongly for a simple statement as soon as questions were asked about it, but this never happened.
No mention of the fact that the 12th man account was brought under the Trust umbrella in November 2013 as evidenced by the fact that bank account balances, including 12th man, were reported at the PST board meeting.
No mention of the fact that we were told by Steve Tovey that the accounts would not be presented to the AGM at 1.28pm on 8th December, the actual day of the AGM.
No mention of the fact that we were told by Steve Tovey that the audit started late and would not be completed in time when in fact the auditors had received no information from him whatsoever.
No mention of the fact that on Thursday 11th December, I and a respected colleague offered to help Steve Tovey to get the accounts finished and to the auditor. He declined our help and promised to get the accounts to them on Monday 15th December which did not happen then or for many weeks.
No mention of the fact that Steve Tovey resigned from the role as treasurer and from the board. His resignation from the board was withdrawn and accepted by the PST board.
I consider Steve Tovey to be an honest man, a true Pompey fan, and that I believe he came to his role in PST with the very best of intentions. However, good intentions are not enough in such a role. I have never held the view that being a volunteer excused anyone from the requirement to deliver their very best regardless of their unpaid status.
I believe that the fans who make up the membership of the trust deserve much higher standards, in terms of the financial management itself, in the determination of the board to hold colleagues to account and to uphold the principles of honesty and transparency. If such standards are not to be maintained, then my only option was to distance myself from such an unsatisfactory situation via resignation.
I don't know if that link to POL will work, whether it's 'cookied' in my name (hopefully it'll ask you to log-on, or register if not a member). I've never really posted on there (like, at all).
I've just deleted my 'take' on it. But still think 'storm in a teacup' - and a big shame. But understand the need for clarification/transparency. ..and I'm sorry people have fallen out about this - and even (it seems) out of love with the club.
Bloke who does Rubi's Fantasy League. SEE LATEST TABLES HERE: PREM,CHAMPS & now the CUP
I don't know if that link to POL will work, whether it's 'cookied' in my name (hopefully it'll ask you to log-on, or register if not a member). I've never really posted on there (like, at all).
I've just deleted my 'take' on it. But still think 'storm in a teacup' - and a big shame. But understand the need for clarification/transparency. ..and I'm sorry people have fallen out about this - and even (it seems) out of love with the club.
Well, I've tried to take a step back from all these shenanigans and remain impartial, but whatever else happens, I can't believe any of the individuals involved could surely fall out of love with Pompey over this? If so, I personally have to question their commitment to the club. Sounds like they might be more committed to themselves!
I don't know if that link to POL will work, whether it's 'cookied' in my name (hopefully it'll ask you to log-on, or register if not a member). I've never really posted on there (like, at all).
I've just deleted my 'take' on it. But still think 'storm in a teacup' - and a big shame. But understand the need for clarification/transparency. ..and I'm sorry people have fallen out about this - and even (it seems) out of love with the club.
Well, I've tried to take a step back from all these shenanigans and remain impartial, but whatever else happens, I can't believe any of the individuals involved could surely fall out of love with Pompey over this? If so, I personally have to question their commitment to the club. Sounds like they might be more committed to themselves!
The creation of the PST was a political act. An act that became a controller of millions of pounds of investment and are regulated by the FCA and rules governing co-ops.
