Storrie admits FA Cup transfer bonuses wrecked Portsmouth

Former Portsmouth chief executive Peter Storrie concedes their FA Cup victory cost them dear in transfer bonuses.

Lassana Diarra and Glen Johnson were the most lucrative sales, generating £15 million.

Storrie told the Telegraph: "We got good money but BBC Match of the Day ran a sheet of all the monies that had come in and asked 'where's all the money gone?' But what about transfer fees? Sell-ons?

"Take Diarra. He cost us £5 million and we got €18.5 million from Real Madrid – the rate was £16-17 million – but £4.5 million add-on had to go to Arsenal. We still made £8-9 million. We paid £4 million for Johnson, sold him for £15 million [to Liverpool] but there was a £4.5 million sell-on to Chelsea.

"Some of the add-ons we put into agreements were winning the Cup and getting into the Uefa Cup, things you'd never in 100 years think would ever happen! A club would say: 'Give us £500,000 extra if you win the Cup.' 'OK. No problem.'

"I never thought it would happen. It happened with Chelsea and Johnson. We had it on John Utaka with Rennes. The FA Cup final cost us £3-4 million. I got calls from clubs saying: 'Congratulations! Pay us the add-ons!'"