With the Championship season about to start in just two days, Birmingham City’s board and supporters received the news they have craved as Carson Yeung officially called off his bid to take over at St Andrew’s.

The Hong Kong-based businessman has become increasingly exasperated at the refusal of his fellow owners, chiefly David Sullivan and the Gold brothers, to grant him a say in the running of the business and, according to his advisor Sammy Yu, is no longer interested in turning his majority share-holding in a controlling influence.

As things stand, Yeung holds the biggest stake having spent £15 million on 29.9 per cent just over a year ago, but his relationship with the men who sold him that share is no longer workable and he does not now want to buy them out.

“In the early days we were fully committed to Birmingham City and did want to take over the club but now we will not take any further action,” said Yu, the chief operating officer at Yeung’s company Grandtop International Holdings Ltd.

“It is time we considered our position regarding Birmingham City. We are sorry to say we do not want to go any further at the moment.

“We wish the club well but we cannot participate which makes us feel bad. We are holding 29.9 per cent. However, we are not physically involved in any operation of the club at all. We do not have a director or anyone to represent us.

“We always wanted to help the club but at the moment we cannot see any positive situation. We have shown respect to everyone at the club while we have been waiting, we have tried every single way possible but we feel a little bit fed up. Mr Yeung loves Birmingham City but he feels quite uncomfortable that he cannot do anything.

“I hope the supporters understand our situation, we are sorry we cannot do anything.”

The supporters might be more understanding if Yeung were to not only end his takeover bid but were to end any connection with Birmingham.

Since he emerged as a buyer just under two years ago things have gone from relatively good, to bad to much, much worse.

Birmingham have dropped out of the Premier League and the uncertainty surrounding the takeover, which was supposed to be completed by the end of 2007, is widely cited as the reason behind the departure of Steve Bruce. The current regime believes that in turn was the chief factor behind relegation.

But Yeung does not wish to sell his holding and that leaves Birmingham in limbo. Sullivan has made no secret of the fact he wants out while his partner David Gold was deeply hurt at the animosity directed at him and his colleagues in the aftermath of last season’s failure.

“We will not sell our share until we feel we have to,” Yu confirmed.

There may be hope for, however, in the fact Yu claimed Yeung has been contacted by third parties to invest in other clubs.

“We have had approaches from a few agents to own another club, some of which are quite interesting,” Yu said. “We will carefully study the regulations and see where we go from there.”

The latest development marks the end of one of the most bizarre take-over bids British football has ever seen. Only Michael Knighton, the man who tried to buy Manchester United in the late 1980s, can claim to have attracted more controversy.

Initially things looked to be progressing well when Yeung bought his share in July last year and looked well capable of meeting the December 21 deadline set by Sullivan.

But Yeung’s problems financing the deal combined with the situation over Bruce’s contract, which the former manager claimed he had been offered that summer, increased tension and when Yu said last year that ‘it is not as if we are buying a television’, things took a turn for the worse.

Even after the passing of the deadline he has agitated for a seat on the board, only for Gold and Sullivan to increase their stakes above 50 per cent earlier this year and effectively render his position unworkable.