BITTER BATTLE FOR THE BLADES
Boardroom feud puts skids under Sheffield United
ON THE surface, Sheffield United are easing into their second season back at Championship level in sound health and good spirits.
Chris Wilder and his staff signed new contracts amid interest from Sunderland and the sale of David Brooks to Bournemouth for £ 11.5million has enabled the manager to recruit.
John Egan arrived from Brentford for £4m and David McGoldrick has joined on a free from Ipswich to join loan signings Dean Henderson from Manchester United and Ben Woodburn from Liverpool.
Last night they struck a deal with Manchester City to sign 21-year-old Kean Bryan, a highly rated central defender, and are determined to resist offers for centre half Jack O’Connell, who has been subject to two bids from Brighton.
Paul Coutts is close to returning from a broken leg, an injury which disrupted the rhythm of Wilder’s team after their flying start to last season.
The Premier League is the target and the prospect of a return to the good times was stirred when nearly 19,000 packed into Bramall Lane for a friendly against Inter Milan, a night when the South Stand was renamed in honour of Tony Currie.
Sheffield United’s greatest ever player is a club ambassador and the ‘ TC’ legend could be woven more deeply into the club with an invitation to join the club’s football board. It is all part of a careful process to preserve the heritage of one of English football’s most famous clubs as they prepare to start the season at home to Swansea on Saturday.
Yet behind the veneer rumbles a bitter boardroom feud.
Since 2013, Sheffield United have been owned equally by companies controlled by Kevin McCabe and family (Sheffield United Ltd) and Prince Abdullah Bin Mosaad Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( Up The Blades).
Prince Abdullah paid £1 and invested £10m in return for 50 per cent of the club, then in League One, while McCabe kept the other half and full ownership of its properties, including stadium and training ground.
McCabe boasted of finding the perfect investor for the Blades, a Saudi royal and sports fan with the connections to build a bright future.
Prince Abdullah had considered Leeds, Derby and Charlton before turning to Sheffield United but his interest seemed to drift, and he became Saudi Arabia’s minister for youth and sport in June 2014.
He continued to pay his way and play a key role in the decisionmaking process but has been spotted at Bramall Lane only twice in nearly five years and those employed to represent his interests have not made a positive impression.
Moreover, the partnership has failed to transform Sheffield United into anything it wasn’t before. Although back in the Championship, the club still operate at a loss, and are propped up by the co-owners, whose working relationship soured before it collapsed after promotion in May 2017.
McCabe decided to end the partnership, even if this meant also ending his family’s long association with the club. In December, he offered to buy the Prince’s 50 per cent for a deliberately low price of £5m, aware this would trigger a ‘Russian Roulette’ clause in the original deal which meant the prince had to accept the offer or counter it at the same price. If the counter- offer was made the first shareholder was bound to sell. But if the prince bought McCabe’s share for £5m it would trigger another clause, because any one party owning 75 per cent of the club would be obliged to buy the properties owned by McCabe at their market value. Prince Abdullah served his intention to buy at £5m but not until two days after moving 80 per cent of his own shares to a brand new company called Up The Blades 2018. By parking shares in UTB 2018, he could take full control for £5m without breaking through the 75 per cent barrier with a single company, thus avoiding the obligation to buy properties which are currently on a long lease at a favourable rate from McCabe. When McCabe realised what had happened he refused to sign off the shares, the prince launched legal proceedings against McCabe for breaking the terms of agreement and McCabe responded with his defence and a series of counter-claims.
As the nation feasted on the World Cup in Russia, they headed for the courtroom, where Mr Justice Fancourt said the ‘manoeuvre’ by the Prince has ‘caused consternation and considerable upset for the McCabes’ who felt ‘tricked out of their entitlement’.
Sheffield United’s executive officers told the court the club needed an injection from its owners of £2.5m to stay solvent and a further £7.5m for transfer fees and new wages in order to satisfy Wilder and keep building towards the Premier League.
But as the two sides bickered and reached an impasse about how to provide the money, the sale of Brooks to Bournemouth, with £4m up front, presented a convenient solution.
Even with the sale, recruitment has been limited, and the same problem will recur until the power struggle can be resolved.
With a court date months away it will be a testing season for Wilder and the co-owners. This dispute must be resolved before Sheffield United can truly prosper.