League 1: Stricken Portsmouth Head Towards Extinction

By Joseph Dempsey / August 15, 2012

Stricken League 1 outfit Portsmouth face the very real possibility of liquidation after potential owner Balram Chainrai withdrew his offer to purchase the club. The club have been in administration since February after parent company Convers Sports Initiatives folded in November, leaving the club saddled with £58million worth of debts. As a result, Pompey were docked 10 points by the FA, which effectively doomed them to relegation from the Championship last season. They will also begin life in League 1 with another 10 point deduction this season - one of the conditions of the Football League accepting the clubs membership. Chainrai's company Portpin have been vying for control of the club for several months, but the former owner, who twice oversaw the club enter administration, has finally admitted defeat. In a statement released to Sky Sports, he remarked:

"Portpin Ltd regrets to announce that it is withdrawing its bid for Portsmouth Football Club. Unfortunately, our efforts to save the club once more from extinction have hit a wall of rejection and lacking co-operation from the administrator and other interested parties."

Chainrai retracting his offer to purchase the club has come as another set back for the former Premier League outfit, with their only remaining hope of survival being a potential offer from the Pompey Supporters' Trust. The club have had to release all of their senior players to stave off the threat of liquidation, and last night fielded nine teenagers - seven of which had never played a league game before - as they were drubbed 3-0 in the League Cup by Plymouth. And with budget cuts hindering manager Michael Appleton's efforts to steer the club back into the Championship this season, he is certain the club will end up going the other way and end up in league 2, as the side once guided to FA Cup success by Harry Redknapp just four years ago lurches from one catastrophe to the next.