Amazing claim of ex-Blades owner McCabe who says he accepted £25m less in compensation for Tevez to help hard-up Hammers
FORMER Sheffield United owner Kevin McCabe has revealed how he lowered his demands over the Carlos Tevez row – because he feared that West Ham could go bust.
The sides meet in the league tomorrow for the first time since West Ham were ordered to pay compensation to United for breaking the rules on third-party ownership by signing Tevez.
His goals kept West Ham up in 2007 as the Blades were relegated on the final day, but McCabe says he was still overly generous when the clubs negotiated the compensation.
The Hammers’ then-Icelandic owners were in deep financial trouble due to the collapse of their nation’s banking system and McCabe feared they may go under.
He reduced his initial demand for £45million for loss of income and settled on £20m instead as he claims he wanted to help safeguard West Ham’s future.
“We set the amount,” said McCabe (below). “I wanted to do that because – even though we’d been wronged – I really did feel it was the right thing to do.
“They were really challenging moments, peculiar times. Iceland’s monetary system had effectively gone and, if we’d really pushed, there was a feeling the same thing might happen to West Ham as well.
“I had no interest in seeing a club potentially go out of business. I don’t think that’s what football should be about.
“People should always remember how important football clubs are to the communities they represent.
“I always enjoyed going to West Ham. I felt they were like the Sheffield United of London, a working-class club with no airs or graces.” West Ham’s rule breach emerged when Javier Mascherano – who had joined the Irons with Tevez in August 2006 (below right, with then-boss Alan Pardew) in the same third-party agreement – signed for Liverpool in January 2007. The Blades were outraged when the Premier League let them off with just a £5.5m fine instead of a points deduction – and cleared Tevez to play the remainder of the season.
More than 12 years on, the league’s handling of the affair still rankles with McCabe.
“To put it into perspective, it would have been like us signing Cristiano Ronaldo or another player, who usually would have been the preserve of a top-four club,” he said.
“The Premier League started looking into it and, right at the last minute, West Ham pleaded guilty, so they got a fine. Then, late one Friday night, we were advised West Ham had been given permission to carry on playing Tevez.”
McCabe, who lost his struggle for control of United with Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz Al Saud last month, claims that he bears West Ham no ill will.
“We’re playing each other in a new stadium,” he said. “I know David Gold and David Sullivan from their days at Birmingham and I respect them.
“Any differences between the two clubs are now a thing of the past.”
United boss and Blades fan Chris Wilder claims the acrimonious affair will “add extra spice” to tomorrow’s clash.
Although the sides met in a League Cup tie five years ago, tomorrow will be the first time they have tangled in the league since the Blades’
April 14, 2007.
“It does add extra space for the supporters,” said Wilder. “But there has been a lot of water under the bridge since then. It happened a long time ago.
“In terms of what happened, it had nothing to do with the players or the supporters.”
Hammers fans plan to taunt Blades supporters by wearing Tevez masks, even if both clubs have tried to move on. Yet, for at least one person inside the London Stadium, the Tevez affair means absolutely nothing.
In fact, current West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini claims that he knows nothing about it.
“Sorry, I don’t understand,” he said, with a frown when asked about it yesterday.
“I don’t know what you are talking about.” 3-0 win on