Warnock said. “No one has suffered more than him
and is absolutely delighted with the outcome.
Hopes that the Carlos Tévez affair had reached a
conclusion were dashed last night when Sheffield United’s players
said that they are threatening legal action against West Ham United
for loss of wages and bonuses.
In an unprecedented move in the English game, about 20 of the
squad who played for the Yorkshire club at the time of their
relegation two years ago are seeking compensation of between £4
million and £5 million in total. The move comes after West Ham
agreed to pay about £25 million in compensation to Sheffield United
in an out-of-court settlement to end the wrangle over the
eligibility of the Argentina forward to play for the East London
club during the 2006-07 season. West Ham were fined £5.5 million in
April 2007 for breach of league rules over the Tévez transfer but
escaped any points deduction.
But the dispute could escalate farther. Wigan Athletic and
Fulham have pledged to continue their fight for compensation after
missing out on prize money that they would have received had West
Ham finished below them. Neil Warnock, who was manager of Sheffield
United at the time, has sought legal advice about a claim. He
maintains that he would still be at the club had they not been
relegated. Instead, he resigned and has subsequently taken charge
of Crystal Palace.
“Sheffield United players are quite right [to take legal
action],” Warnock said. “No one has suffered more than me. I’m
absolutely delighted with the outcome. For personal reasons, I’m
disappointed that this was not sorted out sooner. We deserved to
stay up and if everyone had played by the same rules, we would have
done.”
West Ham said yesterday that they have not received a claim from
the players, but they are confident of fighting off any actions.
The renewed uncertainty will have an impact on potential buyers for
West Ham, who are £47 million in debt, because of concerns about
the unknown liabilities.
Phil Jagielka and Matthew Kilgallon are believed to be among the
players to have contacted Chris Farnell, a lawyer from IPS Law in
Manchester, which has taken up the case. “We understand, but have
not been informed officially, that the club’s dispute with West Ham
has been settled,” Farnell said. “However, the players’ claim will
continue. We have made correspondence with West Ham’s lawyers as
recently as the end of last week.”
Jagielka, for example, might have suffered no loss in wages
because he moved to Everton soon after relegation, but the England
defender would expect to have been paid a bonus for helping
Sheffield United to stay up. A Barclays Premier League player could
expect a bonus of about £100,000 to £150,000 for helping his team
to avoid relegation. Kilgallon, in contrast, remained at the club
and would probably have had his wage cut by half — the rule of
thumb for many contracts. Players in the top flight usually earn in
excess of £20,000 a week whereas they might expect up to £12,000 a
week in the Coca-Cola Championship.
The dispute could take a further twist depending on the outcome
of an investigation into West Ham by the Football Association and
Premier League. The governing bodies are considering whether the
club breached rules in assurances made to ensure that Tévez could
play in the final three matches of the 2006-07 season.
Any thoughts that this will be dropped after the settlement
between West Ham and Sheffield United have been ruled out by Wigan
and Fulham. Wigan are expected to raise the matter at the Premier
League’s quarterly meeting in three weeks’ time.
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