'Supporters shouldn't worry': Portsmouth chief's reassurance after key Michael Eisner funding change revealed
According to latest Blues accounts, the owners have loaned the club £8m
Andy Cullen has moved to reassure Pompey supporters after it emerged owners Tornante have started to invest into the club through loans.
Accounts filed at Companies House for the year ending June 30, 2025 show the Blues posted losses of £4.3m for their first Championship season in 12 years.
Another stand-out is Tornante loaning Pompey £8m during that period, representing the first time equity hasn’t been put into Fratton Park since taking over in August 2017.
The switch in funding method has come to light at a time when Michael Eisner’s succession planning has prompted key ownership changes at the club, with the transfer of 73.5 per cent of his shares to his three sons - Breck, Eric and Anders.
With a further £9m loan since the accounts’ year end, it means Tornante’s total investment to date is £54m - of which £17m is now in the form of loans from the club’s owners.
Naturally, considering Pompey’s bleak ownership history until the fans saved the club from liquidation at the High Court in April 2013, there will be concerns among the Fratton faithful over the funding change.
However, Cullen insists the loans are from the owners, are unsecured against assets and come with no repayment deadline - and points to the vast majority of Championship club owners also now using a ‘loan instrument’ to meet escalating financial requirements.
‘Every single club in the Championship relies on significant owner support’
Pompey’s chief executive told The News: ‘Understandably, supporters may be concerned when they see a loan instrument has been introduced to fund the football club. Those concerns would be based on previous experiences which happened at Pompey.
‘However, there are some important points to get across. First of all, as we saw last week with the transfer of shares to the sons, this is all part of that succession-planning programme to ensure the long-term continuity of the football club.
‘Every single football club in the Championship relies on significant owner support to take it forward and every football club has an element of loans as part of its funding. For example, we know Championship owners provided £555m in 2023-24, of which just under £300m was loans.
‘At Pompey, we have a situation where no repayments are being made on those loans until the football club’s balance sheets reflect its ability to do so - and we’re unlikely to see the club being in a position to do that anyway over the next few years.
‘There is no external debt, so we don’t owe any money to any third parties whatsoever, such as banks or specialist football lenders who charge high rates of interest.
‘Supporters shouldn’t worry’
‘The loans are also totally unsecured. Previously when the club had loans, as have a number of clubs in the Championship, some of those are secured against assets of the football. That is not the case here.
‘Supporters shouldn't worry that repayments of loans are going to happen anytime soon and undermine spending on players at all, it is totally immaterial.
‘It’s a good route forward in terms of succession planning for the football club. It doesn’t undermine our day-to-day operations in any way whatsoever.
‘We hope that will give the necessary reassurances that, by shifting a bit from equity into new funding by loans, it will not cause any concern or materially affect our day-to-day operations.’
Pompey have released a loan funding Q&A to help answer supporters’ concerns over the financial developments, which is viewable here.
Commercial and sponsorship revenue is recorded at £2.29m, representing a rise of 25.34 per cent, while £4.6m was spent on player transfer fees and agents.
And Cullen is adamant owners Tornante have ramped up their financial ‘commitment’ towards Pompey over the last 18 months.
‘There is a really, really hefty increase in the owners’ commitment’
He added: ‘Our latest accounts show we required £8m of investment to fund our operations last year, in terms of cash to improve our spend on players and to improve the day-to-day working capital of the football club.
‘The startling statistic is there’s a further £9m we’ve had to draw from the owners between July 1 and December 30, as noted in the accounts.
‘The accounts will show there’s a significant switch in terms of where that investment is being used. That is more funds going into players and less than the proportion going into infrastructure works.
‘We will then see in the second half of this year, from the period between January and the end of the season, more investment going in. This will again be in next year’s accounts.
‘There is a really, really hefty increase in the owners’ commitment towards Portsmouth Football Club over the last 18 months.
‘What we are seeing is more and more funding coming into the football club, which will continue to allow us to progress and compete in the division.’