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Intrigue ... former Manly majority shareholder Scott Penn and Peter Peters.

SCOTT PENN is no longer the majority shareholder of the Manly Sea Eagles. And for that, he can thank his uncle, Peter Peters.

In a delicious twist in the battle of control for the premiers, former media manager Peters unwittingly relinquished his family's majority control of the clubs when he donated two memorabilia items, match programs for the 1972 and 1973 grand finals, for fundraising.

Those programs, along with a couple of other memorabilia pieces, fetched more than $70,000 when sold by the Manly-Warringah Rugby League Football Club. The MWRLC, also known as the District Club, used those funds to buy additional shares which bumped down Penn Sport's stakeholding from 50.07 per cent to 49.5 per cent.

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Collector's item ... Grand Final souvenir program from 1972.

As of Thursday, Penn's majority stake became a minority one. However, he wasn't even aware he'd been outmanoeuvred in his battle for control of the Sea Eagles until he was blind-sided by the developments at a fiery board meeting that night.

Since gaining majority shareholding, Penn has complained that his stake isn't reflected in the boardroom, pointing to the fact he held only three of the seven director's seats. Last October he told The Sun-Herald he wanted to amend the constitution to ensure the biggest owner got the most seats. Ironically, he now has his wish. The Surfside syndicate comprising the Quantum group (37.57 per cent), along with District Club (12.93 per cent) together now hold the balance of power.

''If he has put that point of view in the past, the case now stands that he is not the majority shareholder,'' said Quantum boss Phil Sidney, who was recently appointed the board spokesman after Penn was stripped of the role. ''So, on his own argument, he is not the majority shareholder and he should not have the majority of seats on the board. Which is now the case.

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Manly memorabilia puts Penn control to the sword