History of Portsmouth F.C. place, thanks to academy director Paul Hart stepping in as caretaker boss, seven points clear of the relegated clubs, despite the disruption brought by the departure of Harry Redknapp and the subsequent sacking of his successor, former assistant manager Tony Adams. At the start of the 2008–09 season rumours began to fly around that Portsmouth were facing crippling debts due to their recent heavy spending and owner Alexandre Gaydamak was looking to sell the club. After Redknapp's departure many key players began to depart with Lassana Diarra and Jermain Defoe leaving in January. In May 2009, Sulaiman Al-Fahim had a
Portsmouth Stadium cost cutting exercises and Portsmouth suffered as a result despite the fact that the GRA had pledged a new state of the art Portsmouth stadium previously. Lee McAlpine replaced Dave Stow as Racing Manager before Eric Graham took over and in 1998 Jim Snowden left Catford Stadium to take over as General Manager from the retiring Bill Francis. During 2006 the tracks 'Inside Sumner' hare system was replaced by the 'Swaffham' In 2008 it was announced that Portsmouth City Council's long term lease was nearing its end and they were considering selling the site for redevelopment. Lease holders GRA offloaded