Town boss Joe Royle will have to wait until next week to discover whether he has won his legal battle over the compensation he received after being sacked as manager of Manchester City. The hearing at the High Court in Liverpool has lasted two days.

Royle claims his former club should have paid him compensation at an agreed Premiership rate of £750,000 and not at the Division One level of £300,000 when he was fired in May 2001. If successful, Royle stands to receive an extra £400,000 net of tax.

The question of when a club is said to be officially relegated is at the centre of the dispute.

Royle's legal man, Jonathan Harvie QC, said in court that City remained a Premiership side until the club's Premiership share certificate was handed back at the Premier League AGM on June 6th, 2001.

Royle was sacked on May 21st, 2001 with City in the bottom three, two days after their final game of the season at Chelsea.

Harvie argued: "We're saying it was self-evident that they left the Premiership or were no longer in it on, and only on, June 6th.

"That must be unfortunate for Manchester City. They jumped the gun if they wanted to get rid of Mr Royle at First Division service rates. They got it wrong and they are suffering."

Winston Hunter, acting for Manchester City, dismissed the share changing hands as being the moment when relegation officially occurs: "It is a matter of absolute certainty between the manager and the club that if the last game has been played and you are one of the last three you have been relegated.

"The certainty is not open to any sensible dispute. It is a matter that both parties to Mr Royle's contract have known as a matter of certainty."

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