It needed something big to overshadow Portsmouth’s achievement at reaching the FA Cup final for the second time in three years. Unfortunately, their debts were revealed this week to be very big indeed.

Joint administrator Andrew Andronikou, of “turnaround and recovery” specialists UHY Hacker Young, made public his 70-page letter to Pompey’s creditors, detailing the £122.8m debts racked up by the club in recent years.

In February, accounting company Vantis produced a statement of Portsmouth’s affairs for the High Court which put Pompey’s debts at £76m. And the figure was far higher than Andronikou had previously suggested.

 

Portsmouth’s major creditor is former owner Sacha Gaydamak, owed up to £38m in various guises.

But current owner, Hong-Kong based businessman Balram Chainrai, is the sole “secured” creditor, who is guaranteed to receive in full the £14m he claims he is owed. “Football creditors” will also be paid in full.

The letter reveals a list of over 400 creditors, including a litany of small businesses and the inevitable St. Johns Ambulance.

Pompey also allegedly owe Tottenham Hotspur £1m for the transfer of second-choice goalkeeper Asmir Begovic, a transfer which never happened. This has been cited as a prime example of Pompey’s financial profligacy.

Tottenham, of course, were Pompey’s victims on a memorable Wembley afternoon for manager Avram Grant and his already-relegated side.

They beat their fancied opponents, managed by their 2006 cup-winning manager Harry Redknapp, thanks to extra-time goals from Frederic Piquionne and a late penalty from former Spurs man Kevin Prince-Boateng.

The appalling Wembley pitch was directly responsible for Piquionne’s goal, as his marker Michael Dawson slipped on the much-maligned surface.

And Pompey got the best of some poor refereeing decisions later in the game. But few neutrals could begrudge Portsmouth their win, after the tribulations of the season and the remarkably hard-working display in the semi-final.

Pompey will now meet Chelsea in a final between the competition’s last two winners. And Pompey were boosted by the news that on-loan striker Aruna Dindane will be able to play.

The 29-year-old’s parent club, French side RC Lens, had insisted that if Dindane made another appearance for the cash-strapped South Coast outfit, they would claim £3.5m which would then be due from Pompey under the terms of his loan.

With Pompey obviously unable to pay, it was thought Dindane would miss out on the final. But Lens this week relented, allowing Dindane to play in any Pompey game this season without triggering the payment.

The team, however, will not be allowed to play in next season’s Europa League, for which they qualified by reaching the FA Cup final, against Champions League-bound Chelsea.

Portsmouth missed a March deadline for applying to enter the competition, as their financial maelstrom wouldn’t allow them the UEFA licence required. And the FA, who have the delegated authority to issue the licence, this week refused Portsmouth’s late application.

Administrator Andronikou made an unsurprisingly high-profile intervention, however, saying “we will go to Uefa and explore every avenue before we admit defeat.”