Sheffield Wednesday fans are once again despairing at another messy situation created by chairman Dejphon Chansiri, with players and staff going unpaid for the second time in 2025.
The Owls were in a similar position back in March, but Chansiri paid just in time to avoid potential punishments for Sheffield Wednesday.
As we head into the summer, a time when the club should be looking at new signings and preparing for the 2025/26 campaign, there is uncertainty everywhere you look around Hillsborough.
Manager Danny Rohl seemingly wants to leave, but no club is willing to pay his release clause. There are also thought to be numerous parties interested in buying Sheffield Wednesday, but Chansiri isn’t budging.
That would have been stressful enough for anyone connected with the club, but now, with payments failing to arrive for April, Wednesday are now in a nightmare scenario where they face points deductions and transfer embargoes.
In an EFL Analysis exclusive, we take a look at why this has happened and what’s next for the Owls.
Dejphon Chansiri has failed to plan ahead for tough time of year
We spoke to our finance expert, Adam Williams, to discern how Dejphon Chansiri has allowed this to happen for a second time in a matter of months, and it sounds like it could and should be a very avoidable situation.
He said, “Cash flow problems can arise at this stage in the season, before the EFL pays its final installment of media and central commercial revenue. Sheffield Wednesday put their season tickets on sale for 2025/26 around the turn of the new year. Other than that, you don’t have a huge amount of money coming in. At the back end of the season, that’s when the cash flows least freely.
“However, it’s ultimately the owner’s responsibility to budget for this. You know exactly when in the year there are going to be these sticky patches with revenue. I fail to see how you don’t plan for this eventuality.
“From reports, it sounds like Chansiri has tried to raise cash externally. That might be through a lender like MSD Partners or Macquarie, like we have seen in the past in the EFL. These guys usually charge much higher interest rates because they’re taking on a lot of risk. If it’s Chansiri that’s bearing that risk, fine. Fill your boots. But if it’s Wednesday, that’s clearly not a good situation for the club.
“Either it’s a stop-gap before the owner himself is in a position to fund the club again, or you’re banking on a massive upturn in revenue to fill the running costs, i.e., promotion. That’s not a desirable gamble.”
What’s next for Sheffield Wednesday?
The messy situation at Sheffield Wednesday has been branded ‘shambolic’ by figures in the press, and it’s hard to look at it any other way, really.
The deadline for payment of the missing wages was Monday, June 2. It was not until the evening of June 3 that any official statement came out of the club, and that was twinned with a communication from the EFL stating Wednesday and its owner had 14 days to respond to charges for breaching regulations.
So, what does that mean, exactly? Williams went on to explain, “If Wednesday doesn’t satisfactorily respond within 14 days, I suspect the only option is a points deduction at the start of next season.
“Previously, a ‘response’ has been to give the EFL proof of funds for something like 125% of the forecasted wage bill. It happened with Wigan twice in 2023, and they were docked eight points in total.”
Many have wondered whether Chansiri will be required to retake the EFL’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test (OADT) again in light of this latest debacle.
Williams added, “The OADT isn’t a static thing. Even if you’ve passed it, if you suddenly fall foul of one of the commitments, you could fail it retroactively. Look at Reading and Dai Yongge recently. He failed because of his debts in China, which means he wasn’t able to fulfill his financial commitments to the club.
“On Wednesday, this is the second time this has happened in the space of a few months, so Chansiri has a previous. There have been issues with money owed to HMRC in the past, too. I think the EFL will probably take a dim view of that, even if Chansiri maintains this is because of money owed to him somewhere else in the chain.”
In many ways, Chansiri being reprimanded by the EFL may be the salvation a lot of Wednesday fans are looking for, as it would essentially force him out of the club and lead to new ownership.
The problem is, even if the club gets new owners, the embargo would stand (if that is the punishment the EFL goes for). It hardly seems fair, really, that a football club is subject to the whims of one man who is proving himself unfit for purpose.
It’s a sad situation, and fans are obviously very unhappy. Now, we just have to wait and see what the next 14 days bring.
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