Sheffield United Ready to Fight West Ham Ruling

Sheffield United have confirmed they are considering legal action against West Ham and the Premier League in the wake of the Hammers' points deduction let-off last week.

Wigan chairman Dave Whelan, who argued West Ham should have suffered a 10-point penalty, had intimated that six clubs were ready to sue the league - "two or three" of which were receiving legal advice. The Blades became the first club to publicly confirm this intent today, chairman Kevin McCabe revealing the club had lawyers assessing whether action could be taken within hours of the verdict being delivered.

"There was no hanging around, no grass growing around our feet," said McCabe. "We took this course of action independently of anyone else in an attempt to try and protect ourselves should we suffer as a consequence of this bizarre decision. We have some excellent and reputable lawyers who have already been looking at this matter for us for a week. Obviously we hope that we don't suffer as a result, but we felt this needed to be done."

Blades manager Neil Warnock is fully behind McCabe, insisting: "Each and every individual club has to look at it and decide [what action to take] from within. If the club feels strongly then they should take it as far as they want to - each and every one of them. As the chairman represents this club, I support him. We all do, and I'm sure whatever will be, will be."

Although acting "independently", the other clubs involved in the relegation scrap will be anxiously waiting to hear whether West Ham and the Premier League have a case to answer.

West Ham and Premier League officials will undoubtedly argue there has been no precedent set as the current furore surrounds third-party liability in the contracts of Tevez and Mascherano. They will also indicate a points deduction was among a list of options open to the panel as punishment, and not the sole option. In response, should the clubs pursue legal action, they will make clear points penalties have been issued before for seemingly far less serious offences.

Middlesbrough were deducted three points a decade ago for failing to fulfil a fixture as 16 players were either ill or injured, a judgement that condemned them to relegation from the Premiership. Earlier this season, League Two Bury were thrown out of the FA Cup for fielding an ineligible player, while AFC Wimbledon suffered a worse fate for a similar offence. The Isthmian League club were initially docked 18 points, which was reduced to three on appeal, and fined £400.

Simon Bourne-Arton QC, who headed the commission, also seemingly shot himself in the foot last week with his explanation of their decision. One of the seven observations was that a points sanction at this stage of the season would have condemned the Hammers to certain relegation. They added a different decision may well have been taken if the hearing had been in January as a points deduction with four months of the season remaining "would have been somewhat easier to bear".