Portsmouth fans relieved as administrator sells FA Cup final place on eBay

ADMINISTRATORS FOR debt-stricken Portsmouth have sold their place in this year’s FA Cup final, just hours after they beat Tottenham in Sunday’s semi-final at Wembley.

The final spot was placed on eBay by power seller PompeyFC2010 on Sunday evening and a quickfire auction was won for the price of £20,000.

Administrator Andrew Andronikou has justified the move, saying “I think the fans will be happy to go out on a high and accept that we’ve not only had a lovely day out at Wembley but also made Harry Redknapp very sad.”

Betting markets indicate that the buyer – thought to be an individual football fanatic – was either British millionaire Alan Sugar, Russian oligarch Dr. No or music’s Taylor Hanson.

The winning bidder is expected to play as a rush keeper in a 1-0-0-0 formation in the final and then field a team of friends, celebrities and people available on a Thursday night in next season’s Europa League campaign.

Andronikou declared himself “well pleased” with the money received for the cup final berth: “Some people say the FA Cup has been devalued in recent years, but if you ask me £20,000 is a bloody good price for a spot in the final of such an old competition.

“To put things in perspective, Randy Learner told me he had not received one bid for Aston Villa’s Carling Cup final place when he put it on Gumtree.”

Sunday’s unexpected win for Porstmouth – who have had a tumultuous but exciting season after plans to nationalise the club fell through in January – brought back memories of the club’s triumphant FA Cup run of 2008. But after the joy of beating Spurs had sunk in many fans were worried that the club would now begin another new era of over-spending and hubris.

Tattooed man and famous fan John Portsmouth FC Westwood called 6-0-6 last night to applaud the club’s decision to sell its final place: “We don’t want to enter another vicious circle of signing good players on big wages in an attempt to win matches.

“This year we’ve had a sensible business model of administration, mysterious owners and selling all our players to Spurs. That’s what Portsmouth FC is all about now. Another final would only give us ideas above our station.”

Published April 12, 2010

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