Peter Storrie has left his job as chief executive of Portsmouth. He said tonight that he had gone because he could no longer tolerate the abuse he has been subjected to over the club's plight.
Officially his exit was by mutual consent and it was not unexpected, coming after Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs yesterday withdrew its challenge to Andrew Andronikou's appointment as administrator. Andronikou had been obliged to retain an existing director until his own appointment was cleared.
Storrie has departed without a pay-off but Portsmouth's administrators said he would be "remunerated accordingly" for ongoing work on a range of matters, including the sale of the club and the FA Cup semi-final arrangements for game against TottenhamHotspur or Fulham at Wembley on 11 April at Wembley.
Tonight Storrie told ESPN: "It is best that I walk away for the sake of the club as well as my family and friends. Despite working non-stop to try to keep this club alive for the last 14 months, they need someone to blame and there is nobody left to blame but me. It is not fair on my friends and family. I can't take it any more, taking all the stick on my own, so I have decided to quit."
Storrie has already been trying to find purchasers for Pompey, who are around £78m in debt, and could return if his search is successful. "He has introduced one interested party," Andronikou, told the Guardian tonight. "They are credible and have shown proof of funds." It is understood that the potential investor has his own management team in mind, which may not include Storrie.
Storrie had taken a 40% pay cut this week after 85 of Portsmouth's staff were made redundant. Andronikou said this had taken the chief executive's salary to "significantly less" than £500,000.
In a statement tonight the administrators said: "The joint administrators at UHY Hacker Young have announced this evening that Mr Storrie, the chief executive of Portsmouth City Football Club, has after talks with his family and friends decided it is in the best interest of the club for him to leave his full-time employment.
"[We] would like to thank Mr Storrie for his undivided assistance and support over the past few weeks. Mr Storrie has pledged to continue to assist the club and the administrators on a range of matters including the sale of the club, the semi-final arrangements and other projects and will be remunerated accordingly."
Storrie, who joined Portsmouth in 2002, has been a constant through a series of owners this season. Last month he criticised the "very personal level of abuse" he had received from some fans.
