Former Birmingham owners bid for West Ham

Posted Tuesday, December 15, 2009 by AP

LONDON (AP)—Former Birmingham co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold reportedly offered to buy troubled Premier League club West Ham for 50 million pounds ($81.5 million) on Monday.

The Hammers are in the relegation zone after being hit last season by the bankruptcy of its Icelandic chairman and collapse of the company that sponsored its shirts.

Gold has spoken publicly of wanting to own a club in southern England after selling centrally-based Birmingham to Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung in October.

Sky Sports News reported that the pair have settled on West Ham and would give the east London club funds to buy new players in the January transfer window.

Straumur bank owns 70 percent of West Ham following the collapse of Landsbanki, another Icelandic bank in which former chairman Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson held a 41 percent stake.

Straumur director Andrew Bernhardt is West Ham’s current chairman.

West Ham has been largely unable to invest in high-profile signings over the past two years and has concentrated on offloading high-earning players.

Lucas Neill, Freddie Ljungberg and Craig Bellamy are among the players to have left.