"A thankless job" - Sheffield United: Prince Abdullah hailed following Blades takeover | OneFootball

FLW's Blades pundit shares his thoughts on their outgoing owner.

Sheffield United finally saw their long-awaited takeover go through at the start of the week.

American consortium COH Sports formally completed their purchase of the club, taking over from outgoing chief Prince Abdullah bin Mosaad Al Saud.

Prince Abdullah became the sole owner of the Blades five years ago, but first became involved with the club as co-chairman back in 2013. The Saudi Arabian prince oversaw an eventful time at Bramall Lane, including back-to-back promotions to reach the Premier League as well as a hugely impressive ninth-placed finish.

Although Prince Abdullah’s reign has ended with the Blades back in the Championship, he leaves the club in a much better place than it was in when he first became involved.

Prince Abdullah praised for Sheffield United spell

While there have been several ups and downs throughout Prince Abdullah’s reign, we asked our resident Blades pundit, Jimmy (aka Blades Ramble), what his overriding feelings are of Prince Abdullah’s reign.

Jimmy told FLW: “It’s a thankless job being the owner of a football club. But Prince Abdullah can look back and be rightly proud of the job he’s done. History will look favourably upon him.

“Some fans will always point out the bad times during his reign. I understand that we’ve been through transfer embargoes, and we’ve had two terrible seasons in the Premier League.

“But when you step back and look at where we were when he took over, we were towards the bottom end of League One, and he’s led us to the top of the Championship. It’s absolutely night and day.

“We’ve bought back the club's assets, all the Bramall Lane footprint is now owned by the club, our academy continues to produce great players and there are plans for a new training facility and category one status around the corner, with plans outlined by Prince Abdullah and the board.

“He's done an absolutely fantastic job for Sheffield United, and I’d personally like to thank him for everything he’s given to our club and I wish him all the best for the future.”

Sheffield United incoming owners must make them an established Premier League club

For United to keep progressing as a club, it’s hugely important that the new owners, the COH Group, continue to build on the solid foundations laid by Prince Abdullah.

For new co-chairmen Steven Rosen and Helmy Eltoukhy, establishing United as a Premier League side must surely be their goal.

The Blades have had a taste of the big time recently, spending three of their last six seasons in the Premier League. However, two top-flight relegations in the space of four years is disappointing for a club of Sheffield United’s stature.

With the gap between the Premier League and the Championship constantly increasing, it will be vitally important to the new owners that Wilder’s men get over the line this season, allowing them to get stuck into their first summer transfer window back in the top-flight.

If they can get themselves back into the promised land, everything is in place off the pitch for United to go on and become a staple of the top-flight once again.