Sheffield United taking drastic steps to avoid administration

Sheffield United are implementing a series of moves to help ease financial strains at the club and avoid punishments that could harm their promotion ambitions.

The Championship side have reportedly turned off a heating system under their training pitch and stopped using grass fertilizer.

Financial concerns have worsened in the last couple of months.

Along with the aforementioned money-saving tricks, the Blades have restricted software data use by team scouts, limited the use of part-time employees, and failed to pay suppliers.

According to Sportsmail, the South Yorkshire team is attempting to save money, so they don’t go into administration.

Entering administration a real problem for club

Under current English Football League (EFL) rules, any club that enters administration before next Thursday will be docked 12 points.

Like any other business, European soccer clubs go into administration by failing to make appropriate payments. A court would then appoint an administrator to take over the team.

The move also helps protect teams from any potential creditors.

However, Sheffield United would obviously like to avoid this. The EFL previously handed the Blades a transfer embargo for failure to make certain payments.

The aforementioned news outlet claims this embargo was for not paying Liverpool and Malmo for the transfers of Rhian Brewster and Anel Ahmedhodzic, respectively. 

During the January transfer window, the embargo blocked the club from registering new players. Sheffield United were relegated from the Premier League after finishing last in the table for the 2020/21 season.

They only purchased one permanent player during last summer’s transfer period as well.

Blades are performing well on the pitch

Despite the financial concerns, the Blades are having a great season on the pitch. Sheffield United are currently second in the Championship table.

Under the current format, the top two teams in the table automatically qualify for the Premier League. Teams finishing between third and sixth advance to a round of playoffs to determine top-flight qualification.

A potential 12-point deduction would be a serious blow to the team’s chances at getting back to the top flight. If the club loses a dozen points, it would take them down to seventh place at the moment.

This would obviously miss the opportunity to qualify for the playoffs. There are, however, nine more league matches currently on the fixture list to help gain traction in the standings.

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