Sheffield Wednesday have featured in an ownership protest staged by Reading fans in London today.
Ownership in football, especially in the English Football League, has its controversies.
And of course, Sheffield Wednesday are often in the thick of those controversies, with contested owner Dejphon Chansiri consistently making headlines.
Approaching 10 years at the club, Chansiri has become a widely disliked figure among Sheffield Wednesday fans, for a multitude of reasons.
But many Wednesday fans might argue that it’s Chansiri’s outbursts and demands of them, notably him asking for the fans to pay a £2million HMRC debt, that’s made him so unpopular.
There is of course other reasons and factors at play, and we’ve recently seen the formation of The 1867 Group, which is a Sheffield Wednesday fan group aimed at ousting Chansiri from the club.
But it’s another fan group that’s staged today’s ownership protest outside the Houses of Parliament, Reading fans’ Sell Before We Dai group, who want rid of their current owner Dai Yongge.
‘Time for action’, says Henry Winter
Sell Before We Dai headed to London today where they staged their protest outside the Houses of Parliament.
The group sent their message to MPs and included Sheffield Wednesday’s badge in their message, along with the badges of West Brom, Morecambe, and Southend United.
All the aforementioned clubs have had issues with their owners and all appear to face uncertain futures under their current owners.
And journalist Henry Winter reacted to Sell Before We Dai’s protest in London, posting on X:
Is change around the corner?
With regards to owners in the Football League, it’s mainly the owners’ and directors’ test that comes under scrutiny.
The English Football League obviously carries out the test for prospective buyers of EFL clubs, but too often we’ve seen buyers pass the test and then prove to be insufficient or even corrupt.
Charlton Athletic’s previous case study under Matt Southall is a prime example, and Wigan Athletic’s administration in 2020 is another perfect example of the owners’ and directors’ test failing to protect clubs from poor ownership.
Something certainly needs to change and Reading fans have made themselves heard today, and Sheffield Wednesday fans will surely be thankful that their message wasn’t just aimed at Dai, but at poor owners in the Football League as a whole.
There’s yet to be any kind of major movement against Chansiri, and with results on the pitch improving, he may well have bought himself some rare praise, especially having put together a strong backroom team in recent weeks.
He remains a hugely unpopular figure, but talk is slowly moving away from him as Danny Rohl delivers positive results on the pitch.