CSI Complete Takeover

Last updated : 01 June 2011 By Jim Bonner

Convers Sports Initiatives has officially taken control of Portsmouth FC after buying the club for an undisclosed fee from Sports Holdings (Asia) Ltd.

CSI has become the fifth Pompey owner in two years after the deal was finalised after "months of negotiations" and Vladimir Antonov, Roman Dubov and Chris Akers all passed the fit and proper persons test.

In an official statement, Antonov has been saying the things you'd expect new owners to say in regards of Portsmouth fans being "amongst the most passionate supporters in the game" and having bought the club because of its "history, loyal fans base and potential to return to the Premier League."

Of course, we all know that CSI are really here simply to make money like every other business but for Pompey to be profitable it has be successful, which means a significant amount of investment will be needed in the right areas to take the club forward.

David Lampitt seems convinced that Antonov and co. are going to be here for the "long-term" but who knows? It's not as if the previous four owners have been here to stay for long, have they? The average tenure of a Portsmouth owner theses seems to be about nine months so if they're still here next season then they would have done well!

Still, whilst I (along with virtually every other Pompey fan) remain skeptical about what CSI will bring to Pompey and how sincere they are, I have to hold my hands up and say that I thought that this day wouldn't come, certainly not as fast as it has.

I was expecting this saga to drag until the end of the summer as both parties struggled to reach a satisfying conclusion to their negotiations as the false rumours continued to churn but to get the deal done in reasonable time is commendable and we can now all look forward to the summer.

Of course, there are many questions still to be answered about the takeover and the new owners themselves. For example, does this deal mean that this is the last we'll hear of the previous owners who have played their part in Pompey's downfall and has CSI also secured the land around Fratton Park from Sacha Gaydamak?

And how much debt does the club have now that it has been taken over and will CSI attempt to service these repayments with more loans?

It'll also be interesting to hear of CSI's plans to develop the training ground and a possible new stadium but the top priority right now has to be building the squad and I'm sure Steve Cotterill will be desperate to know mow much money he has to spend in this transfer window.

I should also take the time to begrudgingly thank Chainrai and co. for keeping the club afloat when it looked like it was going to die and then (eventually) selling up, but I'm sure I speak for the vast majority of Portsmouth fans when I say that I'm glad to see the back of them and I hope he and his associates having nothing more to do with our football club.

So, has today marked the start of yet another "promising" new era or are we in for yet more disappointment? Only time will tell but I'm already looking forward to the first press conference.