Sheffield Wednesday have hit the reset button. After years of chaos under Dejphon Chansiri, the club has officially gone into administration — finally paving the way for fresh ownership.
The Thai owner’s time in charge has been marred by unpaid wages, mounting debts, and fan unrest. His steep £100m valuation of the club scared off potential buyers for months, but that’s no longer an obstacle.
With the club now in administration, The Athletic’s Matt Slater reports that Chansiri would be lucky to pocket even £25m from any sale.
Wednesday now face a 12-point deduction and the looming threat of relegation, but the mood around Hillsborough is changing fast. Supporters believe this could be the start of a long-overdue rebuild and a brighter future.
Sheffield Wednesday’s new administrators reportedly received approaches from potential buyers within an hour of the club entering administration, The Star has learned.
Corporate restructuring specialists Begbies Traynor officially took control of the club’s management and sales process shortly before midday on Friday, following mounting financial pressures that included the threat of an HMRC winding-up order against former chairman Dejphon Chansiri.
In their first hours in charge, the administrators began drawing a clear line under the Chansiri era — even removing the seating inside Hillsborough that spelled out his name. After several failed attempts to sell the club, the Thai businessman will no longer play any role in Wednesday’s affairs or in the transition to new ownership.
Begbies Traynor had already held informal talks with interested parties before administration was confirmed and received further contact soon after taking over. Their immediate priority, however, was ensuring Saturday’s home fixture against Oxford United went ahead smoothly. The fan boycott led by the Sheffield Wednesday Supporters’ Trust was quickly lifted, generating around £75,000 in ticket sales on the first day after the appeal for fans to financially re-engage with the club.
Joint administrator Kris Wigfield confirmed that formal discussions with potential buyers would begin early next week.
“We’ve already had people reach out,” Wigfield said. “Next week we’ll start engaging with them properly and setting up a structured sales process. Once we’re satisfied a party is genuine and capable of buying the club, they’ll receive full information and guidance on submitting offers.”
By insolvency law, the administrators are obligated to secure the best possible deal for the club’s creditors, meaning they will not have control over who the eventual buyer is. The sale process is expected to last between four and six weeks, followed by a similar period for official ratification.
With the EFL’s fit-and-proper ownership rules set to tighten under the incoming Independent Football Regulator, Begbies Traynor will also thoroughly vet all bidders to prevent unsuitable ownership.
Wigfield — himself a lifelong Wednesday supporter — expressed optimism about the club’s future, confident that the process will ultimately deliver stability and new direction for the Owls.
Leave a Reply