Pompey CEO, Andy Cullen, has denied that Portsmouth are operating with a mid-table playing budget.
Speaking to Neil Allen from The News, Cullen wanted to place on record that the club’s budget is “competitive” and that suggestions of a mid-table budget are unfounded.
On top of this, he also stated that the ongoing works to Fratton Park, as well as the purchase of Roko Health Centre, are entirely separate and do not impact the playing budget.
The News published the following comments from Cullen:
“To suggest we have a mid-table budget is incorrect.
“Since I have been here, we have not reduced the budget in any way whatsoever, despite the ongoing economic challlenges and the work going on around the football club.
“The playing budget is entirely separate from all the stadium work – I have to keep reinforcing that point because there is a fear among the supporters, which I understand.
“People think doing all this great work must mean it’s impacting on the ability to compete. It’s not, that has been ring fenced and protected. We look at it every year.
“The owners don’t want to be a League One football club, they’ve come in to take the club forward into the Championship and be able to compete for the Premier League. That is why they continue to provide the funds to enable us to be around the play-offs.
“Every year you’re going to get clubs that exceed the norm and really push the boat out, but we want to run the club sustainably and also competitively.
“The resources we have – and what I’ve been given by the owners to put into the first-team budget – is competitive.
“I have been here 18 months. The budget when I arrived was set, that hadn’t decreased from the previous year, and we adapted to certain things that summer (2021) and put a bit more into it.
“We went into January 2022 and tried to do it astutely in terms of how we strengthened the squad. We went into last summer and again I had a decent budget – and everything we earned was put back into it.
“The budget has not been reduced, we have not taken any money out of the budget”
Cullen went on to say that, according to the Football League benchmarking report, Pompey have a “competitive budget, although I can’t say where we are”.
Portsmouth currently sit 10th in League One following Saturday’s dismal defeat at home to MK Dons, though the Blues do have 3 games in hand over 7th-placed Wycombe and only a 3-point gap.
Next up for Pompey is a Boxing Day trip to Exeter, followed by a Thursday-night clash against 2nd-placed Ipswich at Fratton Park.
The full article from The News can be found here, just make sure you’ve not already read 5 articles – https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/portsmouth-fc/portsmouth-chief-sets-the-record-straight-on-persistent-mid-table-budget-accusations-3962337
