Abbreviation PST Membership 2,300 Headquarters Portsmouth Type of business Official Supporter's Club | Formation 23 December 2009 Leader Ashley Brown Founded 23 December 2009 | |
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Legal status Constitutional Supporters' trust Purpose Represent the interests of Portsmouth F.C. Profiles | ||
Pompey supporters trust
The Pompey Supporters Trust, or the PST, is a supporters' trust consisting of fans of Portsmouth F.C., an English professional football club. The prime role of the group is to represent the interests of Portsmouth F.C..
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Since 2013, the Trust has also been the Club's majority owner.
History
Trust's first meeting was held in September 2009, after various people contacted supporters, talking about the possibility of starting a supporters' trust. On 23 December, the PST was finally created.
On 30 March 2012, after Portsmouth's successive relegations and administrations, the Trust launched a bid to try to buy the club, initially asking supporters to donate a minimum of £100. In August, PST announced a new bid, and also Members of the UK Parliament urged Balram Chainrai (Portsmouth's previous owner) to reach a deal with the Trust. On 18 October, PKF administrator Trevor Birch announced that the Trust was named 'preferred bidders' ahead of Chainrai's Portpin.
On 15 November, PST signed a conditional agreement with PKF, Portsmouth's administrators, to buy the club. The deal was delayed, however, due to Chainrai's refusal to reach an agreement to the sale of Fratton Park, the club's stadium. Six days later, it was announced that the case would be decided at the High Court of Justice on 13 and 14 December. On 14 December, the case was adjourned until 15 January 2013, and was delayed for a further three times until being set a deadline of 19 April 2013 on 21 February.
On 9 April, the Court Case was confirmed to the following day, at 10.30am. PST finally took over the club on the 10th, appointing Iain McInnes as the club's chairman.
A year after Portsmouth's takeover, the Trust had 2,300 shareholders and raised around £2.5m through individual pledges of £1,000. On 29 September 2014, after almost 18 months in charge, PST declared that Pompey was debt-free after paying back all creditors and legacy payments to ex-players.