Sean Bean joins Sheffield bid team

HOLLYWOOD star Sean Bean, who acted out his football fantasies in the cult soccer movie When Saturday Comes, is achieving more childhood dreams by becoming part of a consortium to take control of the quoted Sheffield United football club.

Bean, a fan of the club down to the Blades tattoo on his arm, will put up six figures of his own fortune as part of a £4m rights issue aimed at offsetting the likely loss of £3.9m of revenues owed to the club from the television deal with the now-bust ITV Digital.

Of the money being raised, £3.5m is being underwritten by a group led by acting chairman Kevin McCabe, and of which Bean is a member. The group will, after the rights issue priced at 7p against a prevailing price of 5p, control 58.5% of the company.

The loss-making First Division club has also organised a new £10m banking facility from Bank of Scotland that will pay off £6m owed to HSBC.