Eisners deserve huge credit amid new Portsmouth financial reveal
Portsmouth fans are in dreamland following the success of the last two seasons.
After so many years in the doldrums of the football pyramid, the club is now thriving in the Championship.
Credit must go to manager John Mousinho but also to the Eisners, who provided the platform for their manager to build a suitable squad.
Indeed, new financial data has revealed how difficult it is to sustain a club like Portsmouth in the second tier.
Kieran Maguire reveals cost of sustaining a Championship club
It’s commonly suggested that Portsmouth have one of the smallest budgets in the second tier, which made last season’s 16th-place finish all the more impressive.
However, football finance expert Kieran Maguire has lifted the lid on the extent that Portsmouth have to fight to remain sustainable.
In an interview with The News (18 June), Maguire suggested that the average Championship club suffer losses of more than £400,000 per week.
Pompey aren’t haemorrhaging money in that fashion, and Maguire believes the Eisners should be applauded for their approach to running a club.
“I think Michael Eisner has run a really sensible ship, and it’s a pretty well-run club. It’s not trying to buy its way out of the Championship, and that’s a very sensible approach,” he said.
Maguire pointed to the heads of Bristol City, Stoke and Derby as examples of owners who have poured fortunes into their clubs with little to show for it.
He said that Portsmouth’s slow and steady approach was similar to the likes of Brentford and Brighton, who have sustained themselves as Premier League regulars for many years.
Portsmouth fans must embrace a patient approach to growth
The slow and steady approach is exciting for football fans.
It’s far more titillating when a club spends a fortune on an unknown South American winger who will hopefully turn out to be the next Ronaldinho.
That is, until the money runs out, and it all comes crashing down.
Pompey fans already know what that feels like.
So, it should be easy for them to embrace the sensible approach that the Eisners have taken to growing the club.
| Portsmouth recent league standings | |
| 2022-23 | 8th in League One |
| 2023-24 | 1st in League One |
| 2024-25 | 16th in Championship |
The Blues might have to pass on the likes of Abdoulie Manneh and other multi-million-pound striking sensations, but these are intelligent decisions to make in the long run.
Thankfully, in Mousinho, the Blues have a manager who has an eye for a bargain in the transfer market.
If he can continue to unearth these hidden gems, and maybe sell them on at huge profits in a few years, we might see Pompey begin to compete financially with the big spenders at the top of the Championship.
But in a sustainable way.
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