Supporters Direct issued the following statement yesterday evening:

Trust to take majority control after successful legal battle

Portsmouth FC are to become the biggest community owned club in Britain following the resolution of the case brought by the Club's administrator, Trevor Birch, today in the High Court in London, over the sale of Fratton Park.

The deal, which means that Fratton Park can now be sold to the Club, removes the final hurdle which has seen fans of the Club pledge funds to a Pompey Supporters Trust Community Share Issue, and which will result in majority ownership by the Trust. They now have a further year to purchase as many shares as they can.

Kevin Rye, spokesman for Supporters Direct, said:

"This is of course a fantastic day for the supporters' trust movement, and we think something that football should celebrate as well. The work that went into making this possible is extraordinary, and I don't think its significance can be underplayed. However what has made this possible at its heart, beyond anything that any one single individual or organisation did alone, is that the fans of the club, and the community of the City of Portsmouth, united to ensure that their club can now be in the hands of the people who sustain it."