Former chairman Kevin McCabe reveals WHY he is appealing Sheffield United ownership decision after judge granted sole control of Blades to Prince Abdullah

After spending three months considering the evidence following a hearing in London earlier this summer, Mr Justice Fancourt published his findings in September.

McCabe signalled his intention to appeal the verdict – a process which, if permission is granted, could lead to two more years of uncertainty over the club's ownership.

Mr Justice Fancourt ordered McCabe to sell his 50 per cent share in United for just £5m, and ruled that the Prince must buy United’s property assets from McCabe for a fair market value by next summer.

“I am appealing,” McCabe said in an interview with The Times.

“I believe it’s unfair and not right. The other side do something that breaks our shareholders’ agreement to delay buying the property assets which they were obliged to do.

“By doing this they benefit to the tune of £47m, that is they get a shareholding worth £52m for £5m. It’s like they wanted to know the result of the race before putting their money down.”

McCabe’s lawyers in court objected to a 'corporate manoeuvre' involving UTB's share holding. UTB is the vehicle Prince Abdullah uses to represent his interests in United’s parent company. But by transferring a portion of its stake to a newly-registered company, UTB did not immediately have to acquire United's property interests – as the original agreement required it to when its shareholding went over the 75 per cent mark.