West Ham and Sheffield United will face each other on Saturday afternoon for the first time since that infamous 'Carlos Tevez affair'.
The Blades were relegated in 2007 after the Argentinian forward scored against Manchester United to help West Ham avoid relegation, but at the expense of Sheffield United.
Neil Warnock's side suffered defeat to Wigan on the final day and subsequently went down on goal difference thanks to that Tevez goal at Old Trafford.
Advert
The Hammers walked away with all three points and 13 years on, it appears West Ham supporters will taunt their opponents by wearing Tevez masks.
Back in 2007, The Blades understably felt hard done by following Tevez's arrival, where he scored six goals in the final nine games.
Advert
Eventually they took West Ham to court over the controversial transfer of the Argentinian forward on deadline day, where it was found that the deal had breached third party ownership.
The Irons eventually ended up paying a ยฃ20 million compensation fee to their rivals.
But a recent revelation from Sheffield United's former owner Kevin McCabe has revealed that the settlement fee could have meant the end for West Ham, who were struggling financially at the time.
McCabe instead settled on the ยฃ20 million fee to help safeguard West Ham's future.
Advert
"We set the amount." he said. "We sorted it out rather than letting the panel decide. I wanted to do that because even though we'd been wronged, I really did feel it was the right thing to do.
"So we came to an arrangement in good spirit. We didn't let the arbitration panel decide. We did it for the right reasons.
"I had no interest in seeing a club potentially go out of business. I don't think that's what football should be about.
"Yes, we felt we were entitled to something because we'd suffered and didn't agree with how things had been handled. But people should always remember how important football clubs are to the communities they represent."
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder has insisted that the Tevez saga is no longer an issue.
Advert
"There's a lot of water gone under the bridge since and it's a long time ago. I've always got a big admiration for West Ham with the way they've gone about it in the past." Wilder said via The Daily Mail.
"I think they are a very similar club to Sheffield United - a working-class club from the east end of London and the supporters want to see them play good football and work hard.
"In terms of what happened at the time, it was nothing to do with the players and nothing to do with the supporters. It was an administrative situation that got decided by the Premier League at the time.
"Off the back of that, with social media as well and going back and forth, there has been banter flying about, but we have played them once again already since in a cup game (in 2014) and this is a new group of players."
Featured Image Credit:Topics:ย Football News, Football, Carlos Tevez, Sheffield United, West Ham
