Sheffield United owner dispute: £35m payment, loss of control and points deduction warning

Sheffield United’s former owner United World has warned current owners Helmy Eltoukhy and Steven Rosen that they will lose control of the team if they fail to pay the £35million ($47million) it is claimed they still owe for the Championship club.

United World also claimed there is also a “real prospect” of a points deduction for Sheffield United this season.

The warning comes in a statement issued on Monday, two days before United World’s petition to wind up COH Sports Bidco Ltd (CSBL) — the company Eltoukhy and Rosen set up in 2024 to buy Sheffield United — is heard in a London business court on Wednesday.

How did we get here?

United World, owned by Saudi royal Prince Abdullah Bin Mosaad bin Abdulaziz bin Al Saud, filed the winding-up petition in early July, two weeks after a “board update” appeared on the club website that said the South Yorkshire-based team had a new “parent company”, 1919 Partners LLC.

The club announcement continued by saying the Delaware-based 1919 Partners “sits at the centre of the ownership structure and enables the club to attract additional investment over time”, before adding that “this development” had no impact on the club’s day-to-day running or financial stability.

The move came as a shock to United World, which sold Sheffield United and its property assets to the American duo in December 2024 for just over £100million ($135million), as it had been chasing them for missing takeover instalments.

Sheffield United were beaten in the 2025 Championship playoff final (Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Its initial reaction was to send letters, which The Athletic has seen, to the English Football League (EFL) and independent football regulator (IFR), asking them if they had approved the move to transfer Sheffield United’s shares from CSBL to 1919 Partners, while reminding them of four earlier warnings it had sent to the EFL about “the financial status of the ultimate owners” of the club.

The Athletic later confirmed that neither the EFL nor the IFR had approved the share transfer, with both organisations issuing statements that said they were making inquiries. That was nearly six weeks ago.

According to its most recent statement, United World believes there has been no progress in terms of resolving the financial dispute and claims the transfer of the club’s shares to 1919 Partners is “an attempt to avoid paying CSBL’s creditors”, namely United World.

“In short, they are trying to take the club without paying for it,” the Geneva-based company said.

Are Sheffield United at risk of an EFL breach?

United World, which has hired leading sports lawyer Nick De Marco to front its case, also claims that Rosen, the club’s co-chair with Eltoukhy, was a director at an American firm called Invacare that filed for bankruptcy in May 2023. Under EFL/IFR rules, individuals who have been involved in two insolvencies within a 10-year period cannot serve as directors of an English club or exercise any control over one.

Rosen’s relationship with Invacare is listed on the website of his Cleveland-based private equity firm, Resilience Capital Partners. The Athletic has approached Resilience for comment.

United World, which expects the winding-up petition to be granted, also notes that “once investigations are completed, there is a real prospect the EFL may have to impose a 12-point deduction” on United, as per league rules on clubs that suffer insolvency events.

“As the former owners of SUFC, United World does not want to see SUFC facing months of uncertainty that will follow the winding-up order being granted on 19 August, but in the absence of Eltoukhy and Rosen, both billionaires, agreeing to pay what they owe, we have no alternative but to take all legal steps to protect our interests,” it added.

What have Eltoukhy and Rosen said?

Eltoukhy and Rosen have not challenged the claim that United World is owed money but have issued a response to Monday’s warning.

“We are disappointed Prince Abdullah is trying to hurt the club and its supporters with publicity stunts,” a spokesperson for the owner group told The Athletic.

The spokesperson continued by pointing out that the Saudi royal was “well advised” at the time of the takeover and said the club is more “financially healthy” now than it was under his watch. Sheffield United were docked two points at the start of the 2024-25 season for making late payments to other clubs.

The spokesperson said Eltoukhy and Rosen “invited” the prince to “reinvest in the club and join the ownership of Sheffield United” once more, before adding that the co-owners “are focused on the sustainability of the club and the season ahead”.

When these points were put to United World by The Athletic, it said: “The debt is the only issue before the high court on Wednesday and the owners’ statement does not dispute the debt.”

United World noted that Rosen has also not denied being a director at Invacare at the time of its bankruptcy and questioned why the owners of a “financially healthy” club cannot pay the money they owe the former owner.

“Paying it would answer all questions about the club’s situation at once,” it said. “Instead, the owners are running a club they have not paid for and the club’s financial health, such as it is, is the result of (their) scheme to avoid paying for the club.”

When the pair bought Sheffield United, the club was top of the Championship, aiming to bounce back to the Premier League at the first opportunity. But four defeats in five games saw them slip into the play-offs and then lose to a stoppage-time goal in the play-off final against Sunderland in May 2025.

Last season, the team recovered from a disastrous start under new manager Ruben Selles to finish 13th under Chris Wilder, back for this third stint at Bramall Lane.

Sheffield United, who have had three short stints in the Premier League over the last two decades, started this season with a 0-0 draw at home to Birmingham City on Saturday. As this is their third season in the Championship since their last relegation, they will not benefit from a parachute payment to boost their finances.

The EFL declined to comment but an IFR spokesperson said: “We are aware of the winding-up petition in relation to COH Sports Bidco.

“We are engaging with the club and relevant organisation on this issue but cannot comment further at this stage.”