ALBION have won their first battle with Premiership giants Aston Villa.

The Premier League yesterday diverted £200,000 of Villa's TV cash to Albion, money the midlanders were refusing to pay after following Gareth Barry's 20th first-team appearance for the club.

Villa were also given a £16,000 suspended fine for failing to pay up, and warned the fine would be called in if they did not meet the other increments due to Brian Horton's play-off chasers.

And now Albion chairman Dick Knight will be demanding concrete proof that future cash will be paid.

He said: "I want a written undertaking that we will receive the other amounts as they become due to us."

Villa had paid Brighton an initial £150,000, as ordered by a transfer tribunal in October, but claimed he was over-priced and demanded the tribunal reveal the the reasons for their ruling.

Barry is viewed as one of the most exciting young defenders in the British game, and the independent transfer tribunal ordered Villa to pay Brighton on a sliding scale depending on his achievements, rising to £1million if he plays for England.

Premier League spokesman Mike Lee said: "The Premier League Board has considered the issue of monies owed to Brighton FC in relation to the transfer of Gareth Barry.

"The Board supports the decision of the transfer tribunal and has taken steps to ensure that the money owed is paid with immediate effect. All parties involved have been informed of the decision."

Albion will receive the money, plus interest, later this week from the League, but the decision is sure to infuriate Villa.

On Monday, manager John Gregory poured scorn on Albion and the tribunal, saying the Third Division club's chairman Dick Knight "wouldn't recognise Gareth Barry if he stood on Brighton beach in an Albion shirt with a ball tucked under his arm and a seagull on his head."

Gregory added: "We are being asked to pick up the bill for a football club so badly run that it nearly went to the wall.

"The fact is if the tribunal had been held in the summer, as it should have been, then Brighton would not have got more than £50,000 for Gareth Barry. It kept being delayed.

"But since then he has gone on to play for the Villa first team and has made progress at England level and all that has had a massive influence on the tribunal decision."

The Premier League Board is made up of just two men: chief executive Peter Leaver and chairman Sir John Quinton.

Their decision, which came after Brighton contacted the League, is a clear indication of their support for the transfer tribunal over any club.

If Villa refuse to pay any further instalments, as well as imposing the fine, the Premier League can hit the Premiership club with further penalties.

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