Crisis club Pompey sack 85 staff

Portsmouth administrator Andrew Andronikou announced Wednesday that 85 of the cash-strapped club’s employees have been made redundant.

But he added he was receiving “enquiries on a daily basis” regarding a takeover for the bottom of the table Premier League side and that no players, who comprise many of Pompey’s biggest earners, had been sacked.

Andronikou also said he was confident the south coast side would be able to answer questions from British tax authorities and that Pompey chief executive Peter Storrie had taken a 40 percent pay cut.

Portsmouth are due to return to the High Court on March 15 to answer a winding-up order brought by British tax authorities.

If a judge decides Portsmouth cannot overcome debts said to be totalling 76 million pounds they could be liquidated and go out of business completely.

Meanwhile, they are facing the prospect of a nine points deduction for entering administration that would make their relegation from English football’s top-flight all but certain.

But last weekend Portsmouth, the 2008 FA Cup winners, beat Birmingham City to reach this season’s Cup semi-finals.