Phillips calls for consortium to step forward

Mrs Phillips, who bought the club in 2005 with husband Bob, issued a strongly-worded statement on Wednesday morning in which she called on the consortium to "put up or shut up" with regard to any offer they may make to buy the club.

This summer saw Steelers rocked by the resignation of its management team, including GM Mike O'Connor and head coach Dave Matsos, with the exiting staff citing no confidence in the ownership.It came just weeks after Steelers' operating company - Yorkshire Sport - was put into liquidation.

The club was put up for sale soon after the mass resignation and it was widely expected that new owners would be announced within days but, despite the intervention of league bosses as mediators, no deal was agreed leaving Mrs Phillips to step up and run the day to day business of the club.

But, despite on-ice success brought about since the appointment of former NHL forward Ben Simon as player-coach, doubts over the financial sustainability of the Steelers under the current ownership have persisted among a section of the supporters, no doubt leading to Phillips issuing her latest statement.

She said: "My message to the consortium is this: 'If you still have the backers and funding available then come and talk to me.

"But you are not going to get it for free, so it is time to put up or shut up and leave us to the business of getting this club back where it belongs without having to worry about the de-stabilising factors away from the club causing unrest among the Sheffield Steelers fan base."

Phillips claims her recent attempts to meet with the consortium to discuss any possible deal have been refused and says she is now cocentrating on restoring the Steelers - who play Hull Stingrays at ice Sheffield on Wednesday night in the Challenge Cup - to being a success both on and off the ice.

"Through an intermediary, I called for talks with the leader of the consortium looking to take over the club," stated Phillips.

"Unfortunately, he has refused to discuss any future settlement with regard to the Steelers."

Referring to talks held during the summer when the club was originally put up for sale by the Phillips family, she added: "If a reasonable offer had been lodged it would have been looked at very carefully, but no such offer was made."