It’s an unconfirmed record but I am willing to bet it is indeed a record for a forth owner to be taking control of a professional football in just one season. Yep, Portsmouth the in-debt club with more owners coming in and out in a season than player transfers has got yet another owner and this time you couldn’t write the script better in a cheesy soap drama.

The owner this time is Balram Chainrai, a Hong Kong businessman who literally seized control of the club when it failed to repay debts to him when he had loaned the club £17m a number of months back. The loan was made against the ground and the ownership of the club and when repayments failed to materialize, Chainrai’s patience expired and he moved in to take control. Unbelievable.

I wonder if this guy actually has the money to run the club properly because the other lot didn’t and I’m willing to be this is far from the white light of hope and security Portsmouth fans were hoping for. This club is in serious trouble and the future doesn’t look bright. And do you know what the saddest thing of all is when reading articles about this and seeing names such as Balram Chainrai, Sacha Gaydamak, Sulaiman al-Fahim and Faraj is the lack of British names in there. Football teams are clearly best owned and run (baring perhaps a few rare occasions) by British owners who have an assossiation with the clubs and a true love for them

On the subject: 2009/10 Premier League, Business of Football, Portsmouth | ALL SUBJECTS |

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