Portadown’s Christmas survival fears ahead of another ‘heartbreaking’ fight to save club

The return of Premiership football to the Ports’ Shamrock Park home last weekend after life outside the top flight marked a day Stinson and many others felt beyond hope at times in the recent past during efforts by a dedicated team to get the four-time Irish League champions back on track.

Points deductions, a transfer ban, fines and mounting debt in relation to past problems left Portadown facing a significant rebuilding operation on and off the field.

Promotion as last season’s Championship winners signalled a key step forward and Stinson considers the bond between fans, players and officials “better than I can remember” but cannot see the Ports “surviving much past Christmas” if current coronavirus restrictions on attendance figures continue or proposed NI Executive support fails to arrive.

A NIFL management meeting with Premiership clubs has been organised for tonight as speculation continues over Irish League football following the behind-closed-doors moves of rugby and GAA.

“In the past I didn’t think we would ever see the club back in the Premiership, so Saturday was special for so many even with a limited capacity,” said Stinson. “But, even with 400 or so tickets sold for a capacity crowd and revenue from another 400 approximately paying for our club stream, it is still some way short of our calculations showing income from 800 fans on average per week over the season just to break even.

“The work of stadium manager Ronnie Thompson and his team, our volunteers, We Are Ports supporters’ club members, loyal sponsors and fans all pulling together again on Saturday was a wonderful example of the club unity better than I can remember and also how we can follow matchday protocols with safety paramount.

“But, having finally cleared our last legacy debt in March, I think the very real prospect of another fight to save the club would be heartbreaking for everyone and beyond us.

“Without outside aid, surviving much past Christmas is unlikely but the football club is still such an important role in people’s lives so I would hope for a combination of fans still through the gates alongside Government support.”

--

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper whenever you are able to do so.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world.

But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper when you can safely.

You can also enjoy unlimited access to the best news from across Northern Ireland and the UK by subscribing to newsletter.co.uk

With a digital subscription, you can read more than five articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit https://www.newsletter.co.uk/subscriptions now to sign up.

Thank you