Sheffield Wednesday have been told by owner Dejphon Chansiri to come together and find £2million in a bid to save their club.
Sheffield Wednesday’s controversial owner Chansiri has revealed that the club have a £2million HMRC debt, and that he wants 20,000 fans to each pay £100, and ‘save their club’.
He says that cashflow issues means he can’t pay it himself. It’s also said that the players and staff could yet go unpaid, with their payday set to be the last day of the month, and that Sheffield Wednesday could also be placed under a three-window transfer embargo should these issues persist.
So what does this mean for Sheffield Wednesday?
Well, Wednesday are certainly in trouble.
Perhaps the most alarming thing for the club is that, if they can’t pay their players and staff on time, then this impressive new coaching team will quickly fall apart.
And if the players are going unpaid then they’ll no doubt look for the exit, and with the January transfer window coming up, it could be the perfect time for players to jump ship, and who would blame them.
Relegation remains a very likely outcome for Sheffield Wednesday this season, and with a host of players out of contract at the end of the season, whoever is in charge next summer would face an almost impossible rebuilding task.
So it could mark the start of a slippery downfall through the Football League pyramid for Sheffield Wednesday who would find it very difficult to bring in players when they’re under a transfer embargo, and when they’ve struggled to pay players on time in the past.
Chansiri insists that he’s not broke, but that cashflow issues around the world means that he’s not being paid on time through his businesses.
It’s certainly a dark time for the club both on and off the field, with the long-term future of Sheffield Wednesday starting to look somewhat insecure.
And what does this mean for the fans?
It means yet more tension between the paying fan and Chansiri.
He’s made some absurd comments towards the Owls faithful this season, who are some of the most loyal and impressive fans in the country.
And he’s now asking for more money, basically telling them that the fate of the club is in their hands.
Sheffield Wednesday fans would never want to see their club go under and so expect a lot of supporters to be willing to put their money on the line.
But after such a turbulent time with Chansiri at the helm, there’ll be a large number of fans who, and understandably so, would not be willing to do such a thing.
This season is certainly panning out to be a memorable one, but for all the wrong reasons, and the fans will just want to see Danny Rohl delivering more positivity on the pitch.
Up next for the Owls is a trip to Bristol City this weekend.