TYCOON Owen Oyston made another court appearance on Monday (June 7) - this time to fight an alleged breach of contract claim.

Former Blackpool Football Club director Billy Bingham had brought a civil action against Oyston claiming he had not been paid commission for bringing five players to the club who were later sold on for profit.

However, the hearing at Liverpool County Court, which was expected to last four days, came to halt after half a day when an out-of-court settlement was reached.

Mr Bingham told the court that in 1993 Oyston had a chat with him after a board meeting and revealed he wanted to replace some of his older players with under 25s.

It was agreed that if any young players Mr Bingham spotted for the club were bought and later sold on he would receive 20 per cent of the profit, said the former Northern Ireland manager.

"We shook hands on it," he claimed.

Before Mr Bingham's retirement, he allegedly brought five such players to Bloomfield Road, including Andy Morrision who now plays for Manchester City, but had not received the 20 per cent commission on all of them.

Those called during the hearing included Leicester City manager Martin O'Neill who revealed the practice of paying commission to scouts from the profits of players sold on was becoming more prevalent.

The out-of-court settlement was reached, according to Mr Bingham's barrister Jonathan Crystal, without concession or admission by either side and the details have not been made public.

The pair shook hands after the hearing and, approving the agreement Judge David Marshall Evans, QC, called the case "an unfortunate dispute between friends and colleagues.

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