Curbishley wins dismissal claim against West Ham

The sale of Anton Ferdinand and George McCartney to Sunderland, both key members of the Irons defence the previous season, precipitated his resignation despite having guided West Ham to a top 10 finish.

He took his case for constructive dismissal to the FA Premier League's Managers' Arbitration Tribunal and it unanimously upheld his claim, ruling Curbishley had sole authority over player transfers and the club's actions amounted to a fundamental breach of contract.

He will now be entitled to compensation. Although a figure has not been set it could be as much as £2million, something the Hammers will not be pleased about given the club's present parlous financial state

Curbishley, 52 next Sunday, was pleased to have seen the case resolved.

He said: "I am obviously delighted with this result. I very much enjoyed my time at West Ham and never wanted to leave, but on joining the club I insisted that my contract contained a clause confirming that I would have the final say on the selection of players to be transferred to and from the club.

"The club completely ignored my contract when selling Anton Ferdinand, and when George McCartney was then sold, the club having given me assurances that no players would be leaving the club after the sale of Anton Ferdinand, I had no alternative but to resign.

"My authority and integrity were undermined and my position was made untenable. I now wish to put this entire matter behind me."

West Ham had hit back with a claim of their own relating to the cost of replacing Curbishley with the current management team of Gianfranco Zola and Steve Clarke but that was dismissed by the Tribunal.

Zola appears more comfortable with the transfer policy at the club, overseen by technical director Gianluca Nani.

Having settled the case Curbishley could now be set for a return to management.