So, we have now officially witnessed the first Premier League level point penalty, with Portsmouth's dire financial state surely costing them their top-flight status. But is this fair to the Pompey faithful?
Watching their team lose 4-1 to Liverpool on Monday, the Portsmouth fans could still be seen rallying behind their team, full of passion and tattoos, many shirtless, all blameless. Whilst the men that leveraged unfair deals, and borrowed finances they never intended to return, sit impervious another world away.
Having witnessed Pompey's most colourful fan John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood (pictured above), who legally changed his middle name by Deed Poll, it could be easy to state that a ten point penalty for teams going into administration serves only to punish the dedicated fans that care. The powers that be would only be concerned that Championship level TV rights do not compare with Sky's vast Premiership deal.
But it is now clear that Portsmouth's 2008 FA Cup win was based on buying and paying players with money that they did not have. By any definition, in any sport, that is cheating.
Unfortunately, we are seeing this trend continue throughout the lower levels of football too. It looks as though Notts County will achieve promotion from League 2 this year on the back of absurd salaries and vast debt. Stockport were similarly guilty when they won promotion to League 1 two years ago.
By achieving success in this way, clubs are depriving a smaller, more earnest club the chance. It is a new, intricate form of cheating, but cheating nonetheless. The worrying trend of owners attempting to "live the dream" without the concrete funds to support it, is killing the spirit of more fans than just their own.
What about the Cardiff fan-base who, now facing their own financial turmoil, could have tasted FA Cup glory themselves against an honest Portsmouth side? Or Bury, Chesterfield or Rotherham fans who would be in the race for an automatic promotion spot if not for the conceited overspending of Notts County?
So, although I have huge respect for fans who stick by their clubs despite their board's ineptitude, I have much more sympathy for the innocent clubs being deprived a merited shot at success. To give these grasping owners some perspective, maybe a 10-point deduction doesn't come close to what is merited. Perhaps a yacht burning sanction would suffice?
Watch John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood and other Pompey fans' reactions here (courtesy of ITN Sport):
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