Portsmouth court case asked to be adjourned by administrators

The administrators of Portsmouth have asked for an adjournment of Thursday's High Court case as they look to force the sale of the club's Fratton Park ground.

PKF have refused to disclose the reason for the request but it will be up to the Judge to decide when the case begins at 10:30 GMT.

The League One side are the subject of a takeover bid by the Pompey Supporters Trust, but the sale of the club is conditional on them taking control of the stadium.

Fratton Park is currently controlled by Balram Chainrai through his company Portpin, who is owed £12m by the club and holds the stadium as security.

In a twist to proceedings, another firm, P&A Partnership, claimed Portpin wanted them, and not administrator PKF, to manage the club's finances until a buyer could be found.

P&A's Brendan Guilfoyle, a well-known football administrator, said Portpin may be forced to shut the 114-year-old club down if a change of administrator was not secured.

"If I am appointed, I am confident that we can find a buyer to secure the long term future of this historic and important club," Guilfoyle said in a statement.

He added: "There has been a late development in that I'm told the solicitors acting for PKF have requested an adjournment because they have a major problem with their case.

"The solicitors acting for Portpin are trying to find out what that is but they're not being told. We don't know why, but it looks like there'll be an adjournment."

However, it is understood that PKF's request for an adjournment is not related to Portpin's request for Guilfoyle to take over as administrator.

Portsmouth have been in administration since February and are said to be £61m in debt.

The Supporters Trust has had Fratton Park independently valued and offered Chainrai £2.75m for the stadium, but he has refused to sell.

Chainrai has previously described the Trust's bid for the club as having "no substance", believing his firm, Portpin, was the only bidder with the "experience and money to return Portsmouth to its glories".

However, Chainrai has since suspended his bid for the club.