Sheffield United: Widow upset over ‘injustice’ to fans who lost thousands on their Blades shares

But the widow of a former shareholder believes she and other fans who bought shares in the club many years ago before it was taken over by its current owners have lost out and suffered an injustice over their money.

Jenifer Henry’s husband, Roy, who was a regular in the John Street stand, bought 5,540 shares in the club in the 1980s for around £500 – which she believes would have been the equivalent of thousands of pounds today. Roy was a massive Blades fan, but sadly died aged just 46 in 1988. His obituary was included in a club match programme.

Jenifer, aged 76, recently decided that she wanted to sell those shares, hoping that they would pay for a holiday for her. But her efforts have left her upset and fearing that the whole investment may have been lost.

Officials at Scarborough Group, the major shareholder, have told her that her shares are currently of little value, and that there is no recognised market for them.

She told The Star: “I just thought that this should be brought to people’s attention – it can’t be just me who has been affected by this. I just want some sort of justice. I feel it’s wrong that the whole thing seems to have been just swept under the carpet. There are people like me who had shares in good faith and have been disregarded in what has happened with the club.”

She said she never received any notification to suggest that the shares were no longer valid.

Cutlers Holdings

Jenifer has contacted both Sheffield United and Scarborough Group to ask what she can do. Scarborough Group are the main shareholder in Cutlers Holdings, which is the name of the company that Jenifer’s shares are now in.

No comment was available from Sheffield United.

It is understood that the shares Jenifer holds are no longer Sheffield United shares, as they were shares in Sheffield United Ltd, the company that was previously in control of the club during the Kevin McCabe era.

The organisation later changed its name to Cutlers Holdings, and no longer has a connection to the club, since 2020, when the whole of Sheffield United was sold to its current owner, Abdullah bin Musaid Al Saud, paying Sheffield United Ltd for the ownership of the football club. It followed a court case over the club’s ownership.

Scarborough Group Ltd

The majority shareholder of the old company, which is now known as Cutlers Holdings, is Scarborough Group Ltd, which has told Jenifer that the company relies on majority shareholder support from Scarborough Group International Ltd, and that it would go insolvent without that input.

Scarborough Group bosses have told her that her shares are currently of little value and only have future value if the Company’s financial circumstances change. They have told her that Scarborough Group have also lost all of its historical investment in the company too, and that the shares themselves were de-listed from the financial markets over a decade ago and there is no recognised market for these shares – effectively the shares are in a private company as opposed to a public company.

Scarborough Group has been contacted for more information.