Pompey website shut down over lack of cash

The extent of Portsmouth’s financial difficulties were underlined today when the club confirmed their official website has been shut down.

Pompey’s perilous financial position has resulted in their failure to maintain payments to Juicy, the company responsible for running www.portsmouthfc.co.uk.

A club spokesman said: “Our website is down because the club has failed to keep to the payment plan agreed with our service provider.”

Supporters attempting to access www.portsmouthfc.co.uk are greeted with the message ``Website Unavailable''.

The website will continue to be offline until all outstanding payments have been made to Juicy, who have refused to comment on the matter.

It is a staggering development for a club that now has no direct means of communication with supporters, although the spokesman stated local media, radio and television will be used to make announcements.

The spectre of becoming the first Barclays Premier League club to enter administration looms large at Fratton Park with Portsmouth reported to be £60m (€69m) in the red.

Player wages have gone unpaid, leading to fears of a walkout by disgruntled squad members, and the transfer embargo that has been in place since October has only just been lifted.

But it is the failure to maintain their financial commitments to a nuts-and-bolts part of the operation such as the website that really rams home the depth of the crisis.

Indeed, the cost of keeping the website running will pale into insignificance when compared to honouring the players’ salaries yet even this minor part of the operation has suffered.