Why does Pompey owner Michael Eisner care so much about a footbridge?
- Published
Portsmouth owner Michael Eisner's ambition for a walkway from Fratton Station to Fratton Park has hit the buffers
One of my BBC South colleagues is obsessed with bridges, so maybe I should have got him to write this column. I think the bridge from Langstone to Hayling Island is the only bridge I've ever had an argument about.
Although I guess this isn't about an actual bridge but a theoretical one. It's not publicly known exactly how it will look or its precise start and end points.
But it does matter for the future of Fratton Park and Portsmouth Football Club and that's why Pompey fans need to be aware of it.
In case you don't follow news of bridges in Portsmouth closely, the essence is that a new walkway from Fratton Railway Station, heading directly towards Fratton Park, and improved rail infrastructure is said to be a requirement for the major project of redeveloping the stadium's North Stand.
This could see Fratton Park's capacity increased from 20,000 to somewhere near 30,000 but also include new hospitality boxes, which are vital for revenue, as well as a hotel and housing.
When Michael Eisner pitched to buy Portsmouth, slow, methodical infrastructure improvements were a key message. The current improvements to the stadium were expensive, much needed and will be finished in a few months, but it is the development of the North Stand and area behind which can take the club to the next level. This is what could finally bring the beloved Fratton Park into the 21st Century.
As things stand though, there are no public drawings of how it may look, no speculative dates as to when things may progress and only estimates of the cost, which started at £35m last year but are likely to increase.
In Eisner's homeland it's common for sporting teams to secure eye-watering levels of public funding for new stadiums. The tiniest threat of the club leaving for another city gives teams great leverage.
Portsmouth owner Michael Eisner (left) with chief executive Andrew Cullen at Fratton Park on the opening day of the new league season
However this is a very different situation. There is no suggestion from anyone that public money should be used to improve Fratton Park itself. Even if you believe that Michael Eisner is a wealthy man and should fund everything, you would be able to see his perspective that the other parties who will gain from infrastructure improvements around the stadium should contribute. Those parties being Portsmouth City Council and Network Rail.
But seeing his perspective does not mean you agree with it. Some will, some won't.
'Reached an impasse'
When I sat down with Eisner ahead of the start of the season, he didn't hold back in his criticism of Network Rail. They have declined to put in £15,000 for a feasibility study into the bridge.
Sometimes interviewees go off on a tangent and criticise people or groups without necessarily having originally intended to. For example, I don't think Kenny Jackett really believes Tom Naylor is a winter footballer. But this didn't feel like one of those incidents, Eisner knew what he was doing.
And his comments to me - and perhaps more pertinently to Jordan Cross of the Portsmouth News, external, where Eisner suggested Network Rail chief executive Andrew Haines should leave - certainly caught Network Rail's attention. They hit back saying they were supportive of the bridge and had already put some money into the project, but that it's not for a taxpayer-funded organisation to invest in a project to benefit the football club.
Catching someone's attention and getting them to work with you are two different things and sources at Network Rail have been very bullish and clear in their position.
This is not about £15,000. That's relative pocket change to Portsmouth and/or Michael Eisner and probably not a huge sum to Network Rail. This is all about precedent - of who is and who isn't putting money into this project. The Council are happy to put money in but Network Rail are not.
So we have reached an impasse. Portsmouth won't pay money they believe Network Rail should. Network Rail won't pay money because they don't believe it's a project they should fund.
Something has to give. The new North Stand and surrounding projects will take years to get through planning processes and to be built. Until this is resolved, that process cannot get even close to starting and the wait for Fratton Park to combine the beauty of the past with being a genuine modern arena will go on.
You can hear every Pompey match live on BBC Radio Solent with Andy Moon and former Blues striker and manager Guy Whittingham.
