Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Interviews

Catlin: Wembley Trip Still On The Agenda

Chief executive discusses the postponed Leasing.com Trophy final

26 April 2020

Mark Catlin
Photo: Joe Pepler/PinPep
Interviews

Catlin: Wembley Trip Still On The Agenda

Chief executive discusses the postponed Leasing.com Trophy final

26 April 2020

Mark Catlin hopes that a Leasing.com Trophy final clash with Salford in front of Wembley spectators is still on the agenda.

With football having now been suspended for six weeks, the priority is completing the league programme.

But with Pompey supporters having snapped up more than 50,000 tickets for the contest, it would have set a record for the biggest single fan-base at the current version of the national stadium.

The Blues are bidding to become the first side to claim the silverware for a second successive season, having dramatically beaten Sunderland on penalties last year.

And Catlin insisted that the showpiece event – originally scheduled for April 5 – had not been forgotten.

Pompey’s chief executive said: “I have had an informal, personal exchange with the managing director of Leasing.com and the EFL.

“Along with Salford, there certainly seems to be a consensus that, at this time, the priority is to try to find a solution to the relevant leagues.

"I struggle to see the point of playing it without having the fans there."

Mark Catlin

“We are all bitterly disappointed that the Leasing.com Trophy hasn’t been able to be completed at this moment.

“But it remains a fixture that we very much look forward to completing in front of supporters at some time in the future at Wembley Stadium.

“Personally, with regards to specifically the final, I struggle to see the point of playing it without having the fans there.

“However, we have contractual obligations, so that’s not say – if this pandemic carries on with no end in sight – we don’t, at some point, play it behind closed doors much further in the future.

“I can only tell you that my personal desire, shared by everyone at the club, is to see a Leasing.com Trophy final with a packed house at Wembley.

“From Pompey’s point of view, we are ready for that – whenever it may be. That’s our preferred ending and it’s shared by most in football I have discussed it with.”


Advertisement block

iFollow Next Match Tickets Account