Pompey Virtual Alliance: Fratton Faithful Statement

Portsmouth Football Club has been bought. The transfer window is closed. The time has come for a united front.

We welcome the takeover of the club by Sulaiman Al Fahim in principle. In moving decisively to buy PFC, he has seemingly ensured the spectre of administration has been exorcised for the foreseeable future and that the dead hand of Sacha Gaydamak has been lifted.

Al Fahim has pursued the club with a single-minded dedication and clearly wants to take it forward.

He brings energy, a flair for entrepreneurialism and a contacts book to die for. We await with interest to see to what extent he is willing to invest himself and bring investment into the club ahead of the next transfer window.

We would also like clarification as to the means by which the takeover was financed and its implications for PFC.

The interests of PFC are also served by ensuring Peter Storrie, the club's Chief Executive Officer, is allowed to continue, at the very least, in his current role.

We recognise and are grateful for the work Storrie has put in to ensure PFC remained on a relatively even keel during the last ten months. We also acknowledge his role in bringing an alternative consortium to the table, which we hope may yet have a significant part to play in the longer-term future of the club, especially if they really are able take the club to a 'level you wouldn't believe' as Storrie thinks.

We feel that there is a golden opportunity for a coming together of all parties in the medium to long term to ensure Portsmouth Football Club is able to finally engage in the vital infrastructure projects it needs to ensure its financial self-sufficiency.

These include a new stadium and training ground, as well as investing prudently in team building to maintain Premier League status. Above all, the club needs to cultivate improved relations with its fan base.

To that end, the supporters represented by the websites in Pompey Virtual Alliance are seeking clarity, reassurance and a sense of common goal.

PFC has been - and remains in some quarters - an easy media target. Many damaging statements have been allowed to gain currency among fans and foes of the club alike. It is time to come together to clear away the uncertainty which has sapped morale in the past six weeks.

We seek clarity and detail on the long-term vision for PFC, already outlined by Mr Al Fahim. We seek reassurance on the ownership status of the club and its ongoing debt position.

We seek acknowledgement that a successful future for the club is intrinsicly bound to engaging in constructive dialogue with fans, leading to a shared sense of a common goal.

Play Up Pompey

The Pompey Virtual Alliance are:

Fratton Faithful (portsmouth-mad.co.uk)
truebluearmy.com
pompey-fans.com
pompeyonline.com
portsmouth.vitalfootball.co.uk
pompey.org (Anoraks)
thepompeychimes.net
pompeyrama.com
playuppompey.net
venneravpompey.com
The Pompey Cardigans