Portsmouth to hold talks over season tickets in face of threat of campaign being cancelled

And talks are set to take place this week over the way forward regarding season tickets if the global pandemic leads to the campaign being rendered null and void.

The Blues have 14,500 season-ticket holders, after selling the maximum allocation last summer with tickets also allotted for sell on match-by-match basis.

Those fans will be eager to know the way forward should the final nine games of the campaign - including four fixtures at Fratton Park - not be fulfilled.

As things stand, the season is suspended until April 3 following football authorities holding high-level talks on Friday.

It’s an unprecedented scenario with clubs in uncharted territory and fears the loss of revenue from games being cancelled will have a seismic impact on lower-league outfits.

Chief executive Mark Catlin has already stressed Pompey should be able withstand the fallout from fixtures not taking place, estimating it will cost the Blues £100,000 per game.

Catlin explained they are now set to look at their policy over what happens in the event of a cancellation to the season in the coming days.

He said: ‘It’s not been decided yet

‘We’ve been dealing with the health and safety of our staff and the general public.

‘We’re going to review our policies over the next week or two.

‘At this point we’ve only really been addressing internal operations and how we’re going forward over the next couple of weeks to prevent any spread of the virus.

‘It’s the health and safety issues that we’ve been concentrating on.

‘At some point in the next week or two we’re going to sit down and discuss contingencies should the season not continue.

‘We’ll be looking at our policies should that be a situation that happens.’

The numbers of people infected by Covid-19 is growing exponentially with medical experts anticipating there will no let-up on the virus’ spread in the coming weeks.

Reports suggest the government may be ready to ban mass gatherings this week in an effort to contain it moving through the population.

Catlin stressed Pompey’s approach has to be driven by protecting supporter and fan safety.

He added: ‘Our absolute priority is the safety of our fans - and fans generally.

‘We’ve also got to think of our staff and people generally.

‘Everything I’ve been told and read is there’s a very low risk in people under 50 in relatively good health.

‘When you go above 50, that’s the members of society we should be trying to focus on and protect while attempting to stop the spread of the virus.

‘That’s what we should all be trying to do at the moment - and we as a club are no different.’