Sheffield United have been refused leave to appeal against the Premier League arbitration panel's decision over the Carlos Tevez affair.
The arbitration panel had upheld the original decision not to dock West Ham points over the transfers of Argentine Tevez and compatriot Javier Mascherano.
West Ham were fined £5.5m and went on to survive in the top flight while United were relegated.
The Blades will now consider their options after the High Court ruling.
""I think you can be fairly confident that things won't rest there.""
The Yorkshire club's solicitor Paul Stothard said: "We now have to go and think about what we can do.
"As chairman Kevin McCabe said recently we have a long agenda of things we can do with regard to this, we are still on the first page."
And McCabe told BBC Radio Sheffield: "I have other avenues that I think may be worth persuing, but will consult with my advisors over the weekend before making that decision.
"I firmly believe along with many others that (Sheffield) United were unfairly relegated, but that it has been difficult to probe the legal community."
The Hammers were found guilty of acting improperly and withholding vital documentation over Tevez and Mascherano's ownership on 27 April and fined £5.5m.
When Tevez and Mascherano were registered as players, West Ham failed to disclose that they had entered into an agreement with third-party companies.
Sheffield United launched their first appeal after they went down on the last day of the season and West Ham stayed up.
The three-man arbitration panel, headed by retired High Court judge Sir Philip Otton, did not have the power to change West Ham's punishment but could have ordered a new independent commission to judge the case.
The Blades went into Friday's hearing hoping to prove that the arbitration panel made an "error in law" by not ordering a new disciplinary commission to deal with the affair - but this was rejected by the High Court.
And following the verdict, Stothard added: "Sheffield United have not been granted leave to appeal aspects of the arbitration panel's decision earlier this month.
"This application was made on very limited grounds and it has also been denied on very limited grounds.
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"Sheffield United are not precluded from taking further action whether against the Premier League or West Ham."
McCabe had accepted prior to the verdict that the club would not be reinstated to the Premier League but he is looking for up to £50m in compensation.
"I think anyone who looks at it and says one club has been wronged then the only recourse to make that wrong right is financial," he said prior to Friday's decision.
"If you say that the Championship play-off game is worth £60m and Sheffield United's attendance last year was 31,000, with full hospitality boxes and restaurants and broadcasting income, you would say compensation is around £50m."
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